March 23, 200917 yr This last weekend, I joined up with some local MN guys who have been working hard over the last 6 months or so to turn an '04 STi into a stage rally machine. I'll be joining them for 7 events this summer (I'll probably be there for all of them) working in the crew to keep it up and running. Because this is our first year in the RallyAmerica circuit, due to licensing, we cannot run with a turbo engine. so they pulled it apart and put some 11:1 Wiseco pistons in the engine, and it's currently putting down 136/136 hp/tq so we've nicknamed it the SlowTi! It's also got WRX 4pot/2pot brakes so we can step down in wheel size (currently have a few sets of RS 16x7s, and a couple sets of Team Dynamics 15s). The Brembos that were on this car are now on the Grimmspeed track car (which I did the wiring for it's '05 WRX swap). Anyway, watch for the Ziptie rally car this year. We probably won't be terribly competitive, as we'll just be trying to survive and earn enough coefficients to re-turbo the car for next year. But if any of you come out to the events, be sure to introduce yourself! http://www.ziptierally.com we'll be running: Nemadji Trail 1 in Duquette, MN Gravity park 1&2 in Chilton, WI Nemadji Trail 2 Duquette Nemadji Trail 3 Ojibwe Forests in Bemidji, MN Lake Superior Pro Rally in Houghton, MI and Rallye de Paris, in Paris, TX a total of 23 Coefficients available, if we finish all the races. we "only" need 18 to get the appropriate licensing to run a turbo car next year.
March 23, 200917 yr cool, keep the thing in one piece, start out the year slow, save the car, finish strong.
March 23, 200917 yr I know nothing about rally racing at all. in fact this is my first time visiting this sub-category. I'm happy for you, good luck and that's one freaking sweet ride!!! Love it. I'll be watching this now for your updates! Best of luck! (got anymore pics?)
March 24, 200917 yr Awesome, I've been watching Carl's build thread on DI. You guys are going to have a blast!!
March 24, 200917 yr Author yea, I can't wait. I think it'll be extremely fun. and if all goes well this year, I hope to stay on next year..... anyway, I'll be sure to keep you guys updated. either event by event, or I'll just start a general ziptie rally thread. and yea, there's a story and a bunch of pictures on his site (ziptierally.com). or his build thread here: http://www.mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29225
March 26, 200917 yr Don't think for a minute that an under powered car is not capable of hitting a ditch, rolling..., trees..We joked about a guy who had a 1.8l na car and he almost totalled it...!!! I've been crewing for a few years now with Primitive racing and we've seen it all.... Good luck and have fun...It's an easy win if ya survive all the stages/races..
March 26, 200917 yr Author Don't think for a minute that an under powered car is not capable of hitting a ditch, rolling..., trees..We joked about a guy who had a 1.8l na car and he almost totalled it...!!! I've been crewing for a few years now with Primitive racing and we've seen it all.... Good luck and have fun...It's an easy win if ya survive all the stages/races.. we don't. That is the #1 goal this year. finishing. a 136awhp STi sounds funny on paper. but it's lighter and probably 30+awhp more powerful than my wagon. not to mention the suspension and brake advantages. yea, I know we could get in trouble. really hoping we don't end up having to do "quick" replacements of any major suspension components.....but I doubt we'll be so lucky.
March 29, 200917 yr Nice. A while back the guy who owns this car? I think? was on NASIOC asking about how to run it N/A. I have been getting a lot more interested in rally too. Still at the spectating stage for now. I am going to Rally New York next weekend and also will make 2 Rally America races this year. SPTR and New England forest. My buddy and I have been giving a lot of thought to doing a super low budget pgt rally car. As in safety equipment and not much else. I have an old legacy turbo sitting around doing nothing. Lucky for us east coast people we have NASA rally that lets anyone run a turbo car and then you can move over to Rally America.
April 17, 200916 yr looks good,but I always thought it was best to start out with a slow 2wd vehicle and learn car control and how to be smooth then switch to slow AWD,then finally fast AWD?
May 10, 200916 yr Author Well....just had our first event yesterday.... 13 cars total 2 in Open Light (including ours) we beat the other car by a few hundredths every stage (4 total), with less than .1 second difference overall. but we got it. So yea, first in our class, 8th overall. no damage to the car whatsoever. pictures that i took in service: http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c108/Numbchux/ziptie/Nemadji%201/ others:
May 11, 200916 yr so um how well does a mustang do? those cars have a pretty bad suspension geometry from the factroy, as well as being really front heavy i imagine it must have been a handful!
May 11, 200916 yr so um how well does a mustang do? those cars have a pretty bad suspension geometry from the factroy, as well as being really front heavy i imagine it must have been a handful! the car was originally built by the guy driving the Capri. the mustang has won many events overall and had many G5 wins as well. it has the biggest motor allowed by the rules stuffed in there. the driver is a mutliple national champion in G5 and PGT so he sort of knows what he is doing. it handles really well but he cant use the full throttle all the time. i believe it gets wheelspin in every gear. he won this event. the mustang is also very good at moving gravel from the roads to the ditches. the red S-10 is pretty cool too. right now it has a LS-1 in there that has been moved back and down a few inches. it is a new cab on a 87 2 door blazer frame with fiberglass bed sides and fenders. that thing has some crazy baja style suspension on it with a tremedous amount of travel. it sounds amazing. L is such a great class. if i were building an awd car for rally that is the class i would go for. i hope it becomes more than a stepping stone for people getting their coefficients to run a turbo car. it has the potential to be a really great drivers class and have a pretty reasonable budget too.
May 11, 200916 yr sounds like the mustang's driver was very good. no matter what he was running in it i still cant imagine that chassis as anything but a handicap. no evos? are the times published somewhere?
May 11, 200916 yr sounds like the mustang's driver was very good. no matter what he was running in it i still cant imagine that chassis as anything but a handicap. no evos? are the times published somewhere? the car may not be ideal but this thing is far from a handicap. the mustang is way cheap to run. especially compared to the GN WRX he used to run. yeah, mark is one of the top privateer drivers in the country. he just got tired of the schedule and cubic dollars needed to win the national championships. he decided to swap those cubic dollars for some cubic inches. this car used to have a sticker on it that read "Got Torque?". here is a pic that shows the true appeal of the mustang: this thing is all about grins per mile, crowd appeal and giving people who foolishly moon him road rash on the cheeks. this was a small regional event. not to many evos run in the mn, iowa, wisc. area. there are a few down in chicago that are active but most of them are on the coasts. this is a good sample of what runs in the area. there are a few more VW teams, a couple RX-7s and sentras in the area too that were not at the event. when the results are posted they will be here: http://rally-america.com/events/2009/Nemadji1a/ under the "ENTRIES" tab. since it is a smaller event the times might not be up for a couple days.
May 11, 200916 yr Author yea, Mark Utecht pretty much dominates in that mustang. it's got a 383 ci motor putting out more than 400rwhp. IIRC, he was like 40 seconds ahead of the next car (the #591 gray GTi got second overall) on each stage he was having problems with wheelspin above 80mph before he put the saleen wing on the back he also runs Firestone Winterforces in-car of Mark's mustang on Stage 2. sound is screwed up....but you get the idea: and yea, the S10 is pretty insane too. looks like it's right out of a BAJA race. no tailgate. remote shock reservoirs mounted on the roll cage.
May 11, 200916 yr yea, Mark Utecht pretty much dominates in that mustang. it's got a 383 ci motor putting out more than 400rwhp. IIRC, he was like 40 seconds ahead of the next car (the #591 gray GTi got second overall) on each stage he was having problems with wheelspin above 80mph before he put the saleen wing on the back he also runs Firestone Winterforces in-car of Mark's mustang on Stage 2. sound is screwed up....but you get the idea: and yea, the S10 is pretty insane too. looks like it's right out of a BAJA race. no tailgate. remote shock reservoirs mounted on the roll cage. glad you had fun out there at the rally. i have crewed a few times too and it is always a lot of fun. i cant wait to get out there some more.
May 18, 200916 yr I love watching the Mustang. I go to the LSPR every year to watch, I'm sure I'll see you guys there!
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