For those of you who do rally im there subes im curious as to what body mods have you done to your subaru to help you compete better. Wether it be a requirement or not. What is the best size wheel and tire(brand and size) for rallying. Im thinking in the future i would like to take my car off the road and do some rallying.

 

mike

look through the photos page. The member rides one has everyones car in there.

 

There's all sorts of things you can do to it

 

subarubrat and mudrat have some big lifted soobs and there is a bunch of other cars with 3 inch lifts and 25-30 inch tires

 

If you still want the car somewhat highway driveable with decent gas mileage, this is what I'd do

 

5 speed D/R 4wd tranny

Fuel Inject'd EA82

3 inch lift

5 or 6 lug rims with 28 inch tires (some fender trimming might be required)

Accel ignition coil

LSD rear end

some extra skid plates

86-89 Honda accord front springs (put on the back struts)

and get rid of the stock exhaust (at least muffler)

thats all good advice thank you. but i should have mentioned that my car is an Rx (my fault). But whats this about the accord springs what is the benifit of that?

Do you mean rally-x? Or just messing around in the woods and trails?

 

For rally-x, I haven't seen anyone that's done any more than beat the ridge down in the front fender wells. The courses are generally pretty flat, and soobs already have decent clearance for a little mud and stuff.

 

For real off-roading, a lift is really the answer. The 3" seems to be the most popular, and what I am running right now. I have 28" tires on my wagon, but even with 3.5" blocks on the front, I had to beat the fenders quite a bit, and do some cutting as well. Had to cut a bit on the rear too - in front of the tires. If you want to almost completely cut the fenders and such out you can fit 27" or so without a lift, but you'll beat the underside of the car up like a soda can. It's best to just get a lift, and save the frame of the car from too much damage.

 

GD

For an RX - all you need is some knarly tires, and your set.

 

GD

narly, would you say upgrading to the xt6 20mm sways will help with some handling a course. Also i did mean woods and trails rally. I found an awesome like abot this kinda stuff incase anyone else is interested.

 

http://www.rallylights.com/useful_info/the_cost_of_started_in_rally.htm

 

Mike

The accord springs are a couple inches taller and somewhat stiffer as well. Probably not the best thing for high speed stability, which is what you want for a rally car. For an RX, I would just get some good tires and maybe pump up the engine a bit with an intercooler, increased boost, and freer flowing intake and exhaust. Oh, and lots of stickers;) .

haha stickers are key for rallying! Thanks snowman.

um rallying would not be so good in a lifted sube the are high enough. I ran my RX in two RallyX events last year. I went overboard on the tires. keep em small. they make some little 13" khumo rally tires. I clearanced the fenders. sway bars are kind of a bad idea. they will limit your traction in rough sections. no sways with some stiff springs would be the best. I have the honda springs on the wagon but left the RX stock. they would probably lift you too high. If you really want to get into it let me know I have had some experience and training with club and pro rally as well as rallyX

Rallying is different than 4Xing. For higher speed stuff the RX already has enough clearance. Better tires are key to handling and your safety.

 

4Xing is a whole different world. Alot of what you do depends on what it is you are doing. If you are flying down mainline roads and drifting and such then the set up is still going to be OK for that. I would step up to 14" wheel/tire combo's. If you are following Jeeps and 'yotas then you'll need quite a bit more. 3" lift minimum, aggressive terrain tires, improvements to carburation and exhaust. The EA82 cars will accept tires up to 27" with very minimul trimming/cutting. You also want a LSD rear diff or welded diff to get through the really rough stuff.

 

So, to get the most relevant info you should really be more specific on what it is you'll be doing.

 

Oh, BTW, I have rallied my lifted Hatch and finished in the middle of the entire group of entrants(100 or so). So, it is possible to run them but it is usually frowned upon by the safety stewards.

my bad.. we dont do rallyx up here in alaska, so when he said rally I figured 4x'in.. Thats what I call it.. Alaskan Rallyin

 

disregard everything I listed then if its rallyx you are after

Its ok torxxx thats all good info to.

 

Qman why are the ea82s frowned apon by safety people? due to the age of the vehicle and such?

 

Mike

Not EA82's. Anything lifted is generally not allowed to run. It is up to each individual steward but most sites state that they will not allow lifted rigs to run.

I made these minor mods to my '87 RX Coupe and the handling improved DRAMATICALLY!!!

 

1) I decided to retain the RX struts, they weren't leaking and the dampening force is much higher than any other EA82.

 

2) I kept the front springs, they have the highest spring rate of the EA82's except maybe the XT6. I did however cut 1/2 coil from the spring and reshaped them for the spring pocket, lowering the car about 1/1.5 inches.

 

3) I replaced the rear springs with 4wd wagon springs. They have a higher spring rate than the RX and they are longer. (EDIT, I found out that the RX coupe and wagon springs are the same spring rate.) I cut 1 coils off these springs and reshaped them for the spring pocket. This made up for the additional length and lowered the car about 1/1.5 inches.

 

Note: after cutting the rear springs 1 coil they were just long enough to have tension with the strut fully extended. Any shorter and the might make funny noise or even come out of the spring pockets when the suspension is unloaded.

 

4) I replaced the stock 18mm front sway bar with a 19mm unit from a RX sedan and the 16mm rear sway bar with a 20mm unit from a XT Turbo.

 

It took just a few hours for this ghetto job. I would like to lower the car more and look for springs and/or struts from other cars that might work since after market EA82 performance suspension parts are rare.

The car has a much more appealing stance now and handles MUCH better! Overall I'm pleased but would like to do much more.

 

The car used to push really bad, especially on pavement, now it handles great, nice balance. It also has a lot less body roll. I have a 20mm front bar that I haven't tried yet. I also added some period style Enkei wheels, they only weigh about 6 pounds each and greatly reduce unsprung weight to keep the tires on the ground.

 

I've had good luck with the car at the local Rally Cross races.

Wow thats some damn good info thanks alot.

XSNRG mostly good stuff there but I disagree about the sway bar issue. It is considered a bandaid for poor springs and struts to go bigger with the sway bar. the sway bars actualy keep the tire off the ground thru the rough spots by making the suspension function more like a straight axle. I was lifting tires a bit when I ran and it was sugested by the pro rally guys that I may want to remove my swaybars.

 

not tring to pee on your popsicle but its just what I learned at rally school, the rally pits, and rallyX.

hence my board name RallyRuss;)

 

I have to say your mods would be great for auto X

Russ, so your saying that for rally purposes no sway bars are actually better?

I cannot say that I have tried removing swaybars on my RX then rallyXing. but it has been recomended to me.

 

the general idea is that a good set of springs will give give you all the stiffness you need yet allow free indepenant travle.

 

at the last RallyX I watched a lot of the really fast cars. they had a lot of body roll happening but the tires were getting grip because they stay on the ground.

 

of course there is a real ballance with the rest of your suspension components but am considering the removal of one or more sway bars. probably the front one.