Rally driving

[Joe]

Everyone keeps going on about track days but ! what about the whole reason for the car been made in the first place. Does anyone go offroad on rally days. This must be a complete different ball game with all the loose road condidtions.
Im not just on about in the scoob, i was thinking of these old fords and minis and and and ??????????????????????

[marky mark]

I have been over a few lawns and through a couple of garden fences on one particular ocasion but it was not planned so cant contribute to this thread other than to agree with you - its a totally different ball game.

How about crashing a bike into a river in Holland, does that count?

[POESY]

Rally drivers are the in my opinion - best drivers around.

Would love a go - but not in my car, no way hossai

[Gangsta Smurf]

I have been over a few lawns and through a couple of garden fences on one particular ocasion but it was not planned so cant contribute to this thread other than to agree with you - its a totally different ball game.

How about crashing a bike into a river in Holland, does that count?

I destroyed a nice bit of roadside grass and a fence in Essex ... so I guess I did do a bit of rallying.

Seriously though if I ever get into the position where I can afford to just throw

[jd]

Been on a rally course at Bill Gwynne a few years ago, great fun.

Done a couple of tarmav events in my old Mk2 escort, great fun, until a tree jumps out at you.

[WR 1mposter]

Down here on the farm we use to use old Triumph 2000, Rover SDi 3.5's
and race them ronud the farm lanes, absolute great fun, especially when it's p1ssing down, and going through a massive puddle which covers your windsceeen with dirty water and no windscreen wipers and then trying to judge where the gate is ....... or was after we hit it and mate ended up in hospital with a broken leg

[marky mark]

looking forward to an invite Martin!

[WR 1mposter]

Sorry Mark, we dont do it anymore

[Joe]

Ive booked to go birbecks rally school, its only 20 mins away so this could be a regular day out for me.

Ill let you all know how i get on, maybe a good venue for a meet as it has a nice hotel next door, all rally based.

[WR 1mposter]

So what do you reckon fella's arrage a "rally driving meet" instead of a
RR day???

[Joe]

sounds like a bit more of a laugh, would see how good some of the wr1 oc are??

[The Swede]

Everyone keeps going on about track days but ! what about the whole reason for the car been made in the first place. Does anyone go offroad on rally days. This must be a complete different ball game with all the loose road condidtions.

Yes, 6 months a year !

Agree with you that trackdays are not what the scoob is about.

I'll hapilly join in on a trackday to have fun with some friends, but I just BY FAR prefer small roads with constantly changing conditions, never knowing what to expect. You got to improvise and rely on fast reflexes to catch the car before it goes. Lose concentration for a split second and it can all be game over ! Just love it !

This is the only reason why I really like living in Scandinavia.

[Joe]

I agree mate.

I love the way you have to wach out for the cambre of the road on tight corners, the whole feeling is trnsmited through the car to your body. Id love to do it without having to wory about the Old Bill or other motorists.

The only thing that wories me is the brakes, they dont seem to be constent when driving hard i tend to rely on the engine alot, is this a good thing??
Im thinking about uprating any sugestions.

[The Swede]

Mr. Policemanen doesn't often venture into the small roads, but there are quite a few Finns who want succeed to Vatanen... and then there are the elks !

My feel is that you need to be much more concentrated when 'rallying' than on a track. On the track, you'll only lose a bit of time if the car suddenly goes sideways. Get it too much sideways on a small road and the guy coming in the opposite direction might just take the back off all together.

Have had the issue with the brakes too. They're OK for 7-8 miles at full tilt on small twisty roads and then suddenly... nothing anymore ! (left foot braking not always good )

Few things you can do before actually going through the expense of upgrading the brakes:

1. Change the brake fluid for racing stuff with a higher boiling point. I'm pretty sure that every time I had issues, it was the liquid that got too hot. Better liquid should solve most problems.

2. Fit breaded hoses. The normal hoses always 'expand' when you hit the brakes and this expansion will logically vary (i.e. get worse) as the liquid becomes warmer. Breaded hoses should give you a more constant feel of the brakes.

3. Fit other pads that are more heat resistant (and hence transfer the heat of the brakes less to the liquid). Not my favourite though as a different pad will always be a compromise (slower to warm up and e.g. grip, noisier, ...)

if you go for other brakes, before going 'bigger', you might again just consider fitting similar sized crossdrilled or perforated discs. These will stay cooler and avoid that the liquid hits boiling point in the first place.

If you live in an area where the roads are often very dirty, remember the holes in the perforated discs will fill up. You'll lose the cooling characteristics and if small grit gets incrusted, you might damage your pads (which is why you'll never see a 4x4 standard on perforated discs).
I like crossdrilled ones as they also avoid build up of water in winter. Something to which the STi's seem very prone.

[Joe]

Thanks for that.

[duffnote]

I'd be up for a rally day - with an overnight stay somewhere - sounds good. Used to do rally cross - alot safer - using old Audi's & Beeltes. We could have an annual rally cup for amateurs - see if we can beat this Torrekens fellow with his Finnish honed skills.

[Joe]

Bikbecks will be the ideal spot Ill find a link

[Houdini]

'Yikes! Too scary for me, Scoob!' said Shaggy.

A wise man indeed. Mine wouldn't last 2 mins on a stage cos I would have totalled it. I've been around too many good drivers to know I'm not one of them.

A spirited run through the Scottish Highlands is my limit, and even then I'm cautious - it's horrible to find a logging lorry coming toward you on a single track road

[The Swede]

I'd be up for a rally day - with an overnight stay somewhere - sounds good. Used to do rally cross - alot safer - using old Audi's & Beeltes. We could have an annual rally cup for amateurs - see if we can beat this Torrekens fellow with his Finnish honed skills.

Let's book the rallycross track in Oulu (approx 0.5m from where I am moving to) for next January

Mind you, rallycross still has the 'downsides' of track driving, i.e. you don't really need to improvise so much and there is room for missing the ideal driving line by a few feet...






Just a thought ! 25 GBP per day hires you 10 square mile of forest in the middle of the country here... You can set out your own real "Rally of The 1000 Lakes"-stage and no danger for logging lorries coming in the opposite direction !

PS: Where is Bikbecks, Joe ?

[Joe]

Not sure of the spelling.

Its a rally school run by an ex rally driver called Chris Birkbeck or Birbeck or or or or. Its based at a lttle place called Broton on the coats between Redcar and whitby. You have to drive through Brotton Golf course to get to it.
Ive been trying to find a link.

[Joe]

Found it

http://www.gorallyschool.co.uk/index.html

[Houdini]

I'd be up for a rally day - with an overnight stay somewhere - sounds good. Used to do rally cross - alot safer - using old Audi's & Beeltes. We could have an annual rally cup for amateurs - see if we can beat this Torrekens fellow with his Finnish honed skills.

Let's book the rallycross track in Oulu (approx 0.5m from where I am moving to) for next January

Mind you, rallycross still has the 'downsides' of track driving, i.e. you don't really need to improvise so much and there is room for missing the ideal driving line by a few feet...






Just a thought ! 25 GBP per day hires you 10 square mile of forest in the middle of the country here... You can set out your own real "Rally of The 1000 Lakes"-stage and no danger for logging lorries coming in the opposite direction !

PS: Where is Bikbecks, Joe ?

Oh yes! Got to get the car to Finland. I'll bring my bubble wrap with me