offroad rallying

[slaterd]

How do you get sponsors? Might save me a little extra $$ down the road

[Jaxx_]

How do you get sponsors? Might save me a little extra $$ down the road

write letters and promise promotion. it's usually more work than people want to put in.

[slaterd]

I have a lot of time on my hands. What sponsors would be best to partner with for a beginner in offroad rallying

[SlapDash]

Sponsors are verrrry few and far between, but they are out there. And it is a huge amount of work. Mine was quite serendipitous, plus he runs an E30 rally car.

I would suggest starting extremely local, like your dentist, or a place you shop at all the time, even if it's like a junkyard or something like that. Maybe do a couple of events before you go knocking on doors.

[slaterd]

I didn't think that a dentist would sponsor a rally car. Ha. But it makes sense. How any have you had so far and how many races did it take for you to actually "snag" one. I know these questions are a little premature but i'd like to know where to expect to set realistic goals instead of going in with foolish hopes you know?

[SlapDash]

All of my hopes are foolish.

The dentist is the first one you're going to go to when you smash your face into the steering wheel after hitting a giant seguaro, or whatever other 'trees' you have down there in AZ. Of course he'll cut you a deal!

All kidding aside, please, may you never smash your face (but if you do, let's hope you have a full-face helmet), sponsors will be hard to come by. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. I lucked out and had some services to offer in return (enter your own joke here).

Honestly, I would plan on not having any sponsors. Do it because you want to do it. And if someone offers you free lift time, or a discount on parts along the way, take it and be grateful -- and don't forget to thank them!

I actually gained a sponsor on the way to my very first stage rally, which was two weeks ago. This is quite rare.

And if you start in rallycross, the costs will be minimal. As in you can take your car right now, as it sits, and take it out rallycrossing. A skid plate might be helpful, but stock everything will do the trick until you learn the car, your skill and the courses.

I have six autocrosses and one stage rally under my competition belt. That's it. Prior to this, I attended intro classes at a NASCAR-type school, at Skip Barber (formula Dodge at the time) and a four- and a five-day class at Team O'Neil five years ago.

Go and participate first, then try for sponsors, but sponsors come in many forms.

[MDVDuber]

Here's another shot...

I almost cried when the guy announcing the Super Special on the second day identified your car as a Nissan Sentra "or something"

BTW - It was a pleasure to see an E30 run.

[u3b3rg33k]

Speaking from experience, as I have rallied an E28 and two different E30s, I'd say stock suspension is your best starting point, but get some Bilstien HD springs, you will need dampening. Keep the stock sways in there, or you will lose control. Run some 195/70/14 snow tires on stock wheels.

Hey, that sounds like the setup I use for rallyx and ice racing. Only thing I do differently is run non-winter tires for non-winter events.

If you've never driven an e30 with a refreshed suspension (all new rubber bits, new shocks, working sways), hop in someone's and ask them to beat on it. It's night and day.
Aside from that, the most important things I can think of is don't lower your car, and skid plate it (which has already been mentioned).

One more thing - make sure someone's there to take pictures:

[slaterd]

Yeah I plan on getting a storage unit to use as a garage cause I have shared parking and can't work on it. But I plan on rebuilding the suspension completely so I have a clean slate to start off with. Then beef it up as I go

[Wild Ride]

Yea, Zimmermann drilled + good pads. In offroad (non asphalt) conditions I doubt they would fade because 1) you'll have lots od wheel slip 2) you won't be getting to track speeds.
A hydraulic hand brake would probably be good.

Cross drilled rotors would get all kinds of things lodged in them in the dirt.

[u3b3rg33k]

I can't think of a single reason the stock braking system wouldn't be 100% ideal for offroad rally. Tarmac rally might be another story, but I'll just point to the spec e30 folks for that argument.

[slaterd]

That's wht I was saying on the first post ha. Stock brakes would be more than ideal for offroading. Maybe just better biting pads

[u3b3rg33k]

That's what spec e30 does for balls to the wall track driving as well... Race pads and stock brakes.

[Fusion]

How about shocks guys? Which brand could take the ass whoop and maybe even a jump here and there?

[u3b3rg33k]

I haven't broken my billie HDs yet, but unless you're building a baja vehicle you take a risk every time you go off a jump, right?

I feel like I need to link this thread in:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=106796