I know this isnt a road race question, but I couldnt find a thread for rally racing, so I am sorry if I offended anyone for doing this but...

I was just curious if anyone has rally raced a honda/acura? If so, how did the car do? What kind of suspension parts did you have? Any pics?

thanks..

 

I am assuming you mean non tarmac

Basically at the very most you would only lower the car .5in or less. This can be accomplished by using Eibachs 1/2 in drop kit and some good shocks like billstein.

The main thing is to reinforce the suspension more than change it.

You would have to be more specific for the kinds of terain.

 

FYI promotions eg civic won best in class and set a course record at last years pikes peak race and several integras and civics run in SCCA's pro ralley FWD class and consistently come in the top 3

 

You are correct, I mean non-tarmac. The terrain would be dirt or sand.

 

I was a rally co-driver back in the day when Peter Cunningham and Real Time Racing dominated the Production national championship in an Acura Integra. They would know as much as anyone what it takes to make a Honda survive/thrive in a true rally environment.

Pikes Peak, as cool as it is, isn't really a good representation of a rally road. It's very smooth compared to most special stages in North America, and consequently requires much less suspension travel and durability. The two cars we prepared for Pikes Peak when I was with Road///Race were probably set up closer to HPDE/road racing cars than rally cars.

A great internet rally resource is SpecialStage.com.

 

I (will) race a 92 Hatchback later this year...



You need real suspension, DMS, Hotbits, or something like that... You can use re-valved bilsteins, with some ground control parts or something like that... That is what I will be doing for my first few events.

The biggest problem with honda suspension is #1 Travel, and #2 durability.

You can increase travel by adding taller mounts, and hats.. Like the Ground-Conrol units.

For durability, you either need to reinforce your suspension parts, especially the front upper balljoint. Or make custom tubular arms and the like. I would like to do the latter later on.

Some people talk of converting to struts, to circumvent the entire durability problem.

I will let you know how mine works out later this year...

 

I co-drove for about a decade in a Golf. The Hondas are generally (a) weaker, and (b) harder to modify/reinforce than the VW products. That said, there are a few out there...

Kirk

(EDIT - it goes without saying for those who have done it but it is a little shock to newcomers to discover that they break a LOT of parts. A LOT OF PARTS.)

 

good luck this season mattjohnson, sweet looking rollcage.

As to the durability issue, when I look at posted results there does seem to be proportionately a lot of Honda/Acuras listed as DNFs.

I'd be interested in knowing the specific weak areas of Hondas, for every problem there is usually a solution to get around it. For example are the suspension parts too lightweight? is the unibody too weak in certain areas? Or are most of these DNF's from engine problems?

Anybody have insight into this?

 

I rally sprint a 1990 Mazda 323. It's quite a tough car, like a Japanese Golf. I never considered rallying a Honda, but someone here in Quebec has a sweet ITR-powered EK hatch in the provincial championship. His cage has about twice as many tubes as mine, so I guess it's tough.

 

one of the Pike's Peak ITR's is for sale. the driver (who's name eludes me atm) posts on here.

you need decent shielding on the bottom, strong wheels, and the suspension durability does sound like a weakpoint.

I'd put in a good rollcage and seating with 5pt belts to hold you in too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tweakmeister &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">one of the Pike's Peak ITR's is for sale. the driver (who's name eludes me atm) posts on here.

you need decent shielding on the bottom, strong wheels, and the suspension durability does sound like a weakpoint.

I'd put in a good rollcage and seating with 5pt belts to hold you in too.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Blake Fuller Met him in person at a Chin event. Cool guy. He can make that ITR fly around a track too!

 

Anybody else have experience rallying / ?
What about doing Rallysprints or rallycross in a / ?

 

rallie is phun.

unfortunately, it is even more expensive than Road Racing, more dangerous, and requires even more travel to get to rallies.