I bought my IX RS brand new in 2006, it replaced my 2003 Evo VIII and the plan back then was to turn the car into a full-fledged rally car. This will be my 7th season of doing the RallyX thing, but I always wanted to do something more challenging, so I settled on the Colorado Hill Climb Association events as being a good fit for me as far as time and budget.

The car is about 450 miles away from me right now at Davenport Racing getting a package build. Davenport has been building rally cars for 12 years and built a couple of cages for JB Niday. Car is getting a Rally-America legal cage tied into the uprights, underbody protection and mud flaps. Included are some of the little things like harnesses, hood pins, intercom, warning triangles, spill kit, first-aid kit, FIA padding, etc... to make the car truly R-A Super Production legal. Before I sent the car to Davenport I already had Sparco Evo shells, Hotbits DT2 rally suspension (2 corners of which Davenport are rebuilding) and a custom 11.75x1.25" Wilwood front brake setup to clear gravel wheels which are the old Enkei ES-Gravels wearing Michelin gravel tires.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but what about the engine? Bone stock. Stock tune. Stock exhaust. Stock transmission & diffs as well.

First event is June 11th and I have some work left to do on the car when it gets back, need to pull the air conditioning, tint the windows (CHCA requires "anti-shatter" film on the windows), brake pads & fluid changes, bolt the suspension back on, etc..

Here's the pics in chronological order:

Half-lateral:


Main hoop/Half-lateral:


Halo "V":


Side View (Cage is tilted and dropped to weld top):


N/S Side Front Turret Tie-in:


Half-Lateral Shell Reinforcement box:


A-Pillar Gusset:


Front View:


Main Hoop Shell Reinforcement box:


Rear Turret Intersection:


Door Bars Tacked In:


That's it for now!

 

Build is lookin' pretty beastly there

 

NICE!!!!!!! So when is the first rally event? Do you have a points to get in the AWD turbo class? Check that out too. I thjink hill climbs if you run it as a rally car give you points towards top that. But then you need a codriver too

Congrtas for the car !

 

Build is looking good!

Be sure to post some of this on DirtyEvo.com!

 

Thanks!

First event is June 11th @ CORE out in Colorado. It's a hill climb in name only, it's actually a big gravel "road course" around 2 miles long. Should be a great first event.

No R-A stage rally events, I don't have any coefficients, but CHCA doesn't require anything like that, just a log booked car. They do require a co-driver for the rally class cars, and I have one lined up, a complete greenhorn, but that's okay, we'll learn this stuff together. The plan is a pace well within my comfort zone and I'll just be driving the road until we start to click and maybe then I'll start listening to him.

I think I can probably at some point apply for a waiver with R-A based on hill climb experience, but that's long way down the road. Worst case I tow the car a billion miles and enter a NASA event.

 

Woot!!! 2 red evos tearing it up in colorado this summer!

Dave

 

Just an opinion. Since you invested a lots money and time in this project. here is my takes for your in the first steps towards to rally or hillclimb.

MOST essential is to get a codriver who actually did rally events a LOT. An experienced one.
There is many reasons why but here is one for start , he will make you much faster also you will learn a LOT!. Thinking about him as a codriver -instructor. He will tell you things - tricks - racing lines etc. what you never experience outside of rally.
Here is the website where you can ask around about that, i might even say, Dave can help in this , if im right
But if hie is not then still this forum will help you to find a good codriver for you.
Remember you are as fast as your codriver.
http://www.specialstage.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=8

there is million reason why i say this, but im too lazy to explain it. LOL So i leave it like that.

nothiung against your buddy, but first you need to know how things worlks. It is better for you and your buddy for later when he will get in the car.
Also very likelly for your car too

Rob

ps: enjoy the season and keep us updated!

 

Sell me your arm rest brackets! my rs was missing it. i know we dont have a armrest, just dont know what else to call it.

 

The CHCA events are pretty low key and since you run the same course over and over, they're actually a great place to break in a new navvie. You don't have to worry about time cards, checking in too early or late, or getting lost on a transit.

Unlimited recce is a good bonus as well, as alot of Colorado based teams had recce experience which helped them deal with 2-pass recce that recently started happening at rallies across the country.

That said, be sure to ask for help if you need it, everyone's happy to assist when they can!

Dave

 

All the trim that could go according to the rules has already went. Center console needs to stay to keep the car SP legal. Actually that's a little bit of a grey area, but I'm erring on the side of caution.

 

Thanks for the reply, and I'm sure once we're out there we'll be full of questions!

 

tell your co-driver to go through this pages , for start
you should do it might as well.

http://www.fyrhstrm.com/codrivers/

 

Hey, awesome! Thanks!

 

Couple more pics:





Waiting for word from R-A on pics sent to them before paint and finishing up the interior. Underbody and mud flaps are getting started on today. Gettin' close!

 

Okay, I pick the car up a week from today. Apparently it's nearly done. Clean up the interior, paint the cage, put in seats & harnesses and a bit of trim left to go back on. Underbody is all done, aluminum sump and rear diff guards and HDPE floor and fuel tank guards. I had Davenport re-do my mud flaps since the ones I had on there didn't offer that great of protection. Here's few pics: