QOTD: Help Pick TTAC's Rallycross Project

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

I wasn’t five minutes before my friend and I had gone to inspect TTAC’s Project G-Body Grand National that we began discussing the next foray into fiduciary stupidity. My friend Joey, not content with his cream puff 1986 Grand National (with a verified 38,750 miles on the odometer) wanted to know how we could “get in to rallying”.

The Maple Leaf Rally Club organizes Rallycross events a couple hours north of Toronto throughout the year. I’ve done a Tim O’Neill rally school course before, but never competed in any type of event. Joey has zero experience but is eager to learn. Based on what limited knowledge I have, a front-drive beater seems to be the best way to start.

Even though conventional wisdom suggests that a Subaru or something AWD would be the quickest path to victory, O’Neill himself seems to start his neophyte rally candidates out on front-drive cars like the Volkswagen Golf or Ford Fiesta. Having used the Fiestas during my own stint, I can attest that left-foot braking quickly washes away the cries of “fail wheel drive” from those whose competition license are issued by Forza 3.

So far the plan is to buy some kind of beater that won’t pass inspection or emissions testing for cheap (myself, Joey and another friend want to each throw in $1500). We’ll trailer the car using Joey’s work F-150 to save us from registering it, and see how our first foray into rallying goes. The only question is, what should our weapon of choice be? A clapped-out Golf or Civic seems to be the best choice, but is there anything more “interesting” (i.e difficult to repair, unreliable and from a dead marque)? Or explain to us why we’re idiots and something that sends power to the back wheels is the only choice. We probably won’t listen, but you can tell us anyways.

N.B the Grand National is nearly ready. There will be a full update. The car runs fine but we’re waiting on some interior pieces to be delivered before the car goes on the road. Joey wants it to be perfect and showroom shiny before it goes on the road – and before the inevitable upgrades happen.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Mx6er2587 Mx6er2587 on May 11, 2012

    Hmm my username bias is going to show through here but 1st gen turbo Mazda MX6 or Ford Probe. Also if you want something hard to find and guaranteed to break you can't go wrong with a celica alltrac. I swear the damn things are cursed. fwd Celicas fairly reliable. MR2 turbos fairly reliable. Alltrac? broken all of them all the time, but rarely the AWD system itself which is really the only difference between the aforementioned vehicles. ergo the cars must just be cursed.

  • Turkina Turkina on May 12, 2012

    I say go with the Subaru... Justy. There you go. Subaru heritage, uniqueness, and not sure how many parts you can source for it nowadays ;)

  • Kwik_Shift Hyunkia'sis doing what they do best...subverting expectations of quality.
  • MaintenanceCosts People who don't use the parking brake when they walk away from the car deserve to have the car roll into a river.
  • 3-On-The-Tree I’m sure they are good vehicles but you can’t base that on who is buying them. Land Rovers, Bentley’ are bought by Robin Leaches’s “The Rich and Famous” but they have terrible reliability.
  • SCE to AUX The fix sounds like a bandaid. Kia's not going to address the defective shaft assemblies because it's hard and expensive - not cool.
  • Analoggrotto I am sick and tired of every little Hyundai Kia Genesis flaw being blown out of proportion. Why doesn't TTAC talk about the Tundra iForce Max problems, Toyota V35A engine problems or the Lexus 500H Hybrid problems? Here's why: education. Most of America is illiterate, as are the people who bash Hyundai Kia Genesis. Surveys conducted by credible sources have observed a high concentration of Hyundai Kia Genesis models at elite ivy league universities, you know those places where students earn degrees which earn more than $100K per year? Get with the program TTAC.
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