Any E30 rallyists here?

[SlapDash]

I am currently building (slowly but surely) my '88 325is into a rally car to use for stage rally and rallycross. I plan on doing both tarmac (Rally New York) and gravel stages (Maine Forest).

I have a few questions for any others out there, like do you/can you LFB with a RWD car? I've been to Team O'Neil several times, but used mostly front wheel and all-wheel drive cars.

Also, where did you have your cage built, how much and is it Rally America compliant? Know of any reputable builders in the Northeast?

Thanks!

[Hick]

ran for fun an 84 325e, stock with a limited slip at the local rally cross. did very well the first outing, not so much the next time when the field was a giant mud pit.

[kamotors]

I've always wanted an E30 rally car. good luck

[SlapDash]

Thanks, I'm gonna need it! There's not too many RWD rally people out there...

[Jand3rson]

Thanks, I'm gonna need it! There's not too many RWD rally people out there...

With good reason.

[z31maniac]

I dream of a raised ix with knobby tires.

[jlevie]

For rallying on other than paved surfaces, I'd think the only E30 to consider would be an ix.

[SlapDash]

I cruised the Rally America rules and rookies have to start out with two-wheel drive, non-turbo cars until they have a certain number of races under their belt. But that brings up another question: Can regular E30s be upgraded to the AWD format without too much fabrication?

[nando]

aside from the ix, the 318is makes a great rally car. Good balance, maybe a little slow, but light and easy to toss around.

For the ix, there's www.teamd.org (I happened to pass these guys on the freeway on their way to the alcan 5000 a month or so ago, I thought a vortex might open with 3 ix's in one place) or J at www.bigfishmotorsports.com. team d has been rallying the ix for quite a while now, I think they have two. They were at the E30picnic a few years ago too, and seemed nice, maybe they'd be willing to answer any questions for you.

the E30 M3 was also rallied back in the day, I don't think it's neccesarily bad to have RWD on a rally car (there's been several sucessful RWDs), but it was hard to compete with 500+awhp cars that did 0-60 in a few seconds on dirt..

[Dyno4mance]

I used to co-drive/navigate on multi venue stage rally events when I lived in the UK and in the early days a bit of road rallying.
We started in the early 1980's a 1965 ex yepres mini cooper s with a 1430cc stroked A series (fwd of course), then we jumped over to a Mk1 Ford Escort RS2000 with a 2100cc OHC engine (RWD) and then finally we went to a Mk2 group 4 Ford Escort that had a dry sumped 2.0 Cosworth BDG (RWD)
As far as LFB the rear wheel drive cars responded the best to that kind of driving
I remember though having adjustable bias braking so we could set up the car more biased to the rear for loose surface forest stages and the opposite of course for tarmac events/stages
Hope this helps

[SlapDash]

Yes, this does help. Thank you. I started some minor LFB on my commute this morning to re-train my brain on the LFB action without tossing myself through the windshield.

And to Nando: Both thank you and curse you for those links. Now I have to empty my bank account to do the Alcan 5000! That looks like a pretty interesting event. Buzzing around those Ice Road Truckers could be fun.

[bimmerking1357]

haha you are my hero.....every day i dream of my e30 as a rally car

[SlapDash]

"Hero" or "misguided" I can't tell which. Thanks for the post!

[gearheadE30]

I think it would be a blast, and I don't see what people have against RWD rally cars. I think with a smooth driver they can be quite competitive, at least from what I have seen. iX would be the natural choice, though. Suspension could be done with coilovers, long springs (summitracing.com has tons) and maybe custom shocks. Then you just need bars and perhaps some fabrication to fix the geometry....

[nando]

I think it would be a blast, and I don't see what people have against RWD rally cars. I think with a smooth driver they can be quite competitive, at least from what I have seen. iX would be the natural choice, though. Suspension could be done with coilovers, long springs (summitracing.com has tons) and maybe custom shocks. Then you just need bars and perhaps some fabrication to fix the geometry....

fix what geometry?

those alcan guys run stock ix suspesion with bilsteins... the guy at big fish is running GC coilovers and bilsteins, and otherwise stock suspension.