I'm planning on entering the Big Bend Open Road Race next year and am wondering how I should prepared a vehicle for it. I was initially thinking of running the truck this year, but then got to thinking about roll over and safety equipment - and I wouldn't feel safe in it without spending money and installing a roll bar (not an option). So I plan on entering a G2 integra in the Touring category and 100mph class. Current line of thinking for the car is this:

1 - Autopower roll bar (getting this anyways for autocross - Kirkeys and harnesses need it)
2 - oil cooler system (already have it)
3 - proper diameter tires (maybe Kumho MX's?)
4 - GPS for accurate mileage

Anything else I should think about for a preparing a car for a 118 mile open road 'rally' race in a 100mph class? It's been so long since I've driven an integra and I've never averaged anywhere near 100mph in one.

And what kind of strategy should be used for this event?

Vracer111, who does stuff like this when cruising on long trips (using passenger,calculator, and mile markers to figure mph and fuel mileage)...

 

Where is it? Every year we build a few sets of shocks for people who run the Silver State Challenge in Nevada, La Carrera Panamericana in Mexico and events like that. Just built some some for Mopar Muscle Magazine who is doing an article about doing the Silver State in a boxy early '80s Dodge ex-cop car.

Sounds like fun but I've not done it. If the event is that fast and basically pretty straight with little to no tight corners, better to set handling up for neutral to slight understeer as you don't want rotation. Lots of caster would help keep it going straighter at speed. Just some thoughts and suppositions but no experience.

 

This years event looks to have tight turns along with fast sweepers and blind turns too Course notes.

The Big Bend Open Road Race is in the Big Bend area of Texas near Fort Stockton near I-10, per the website (around 100 miles before El Paso). It's less expensive, 'faster', and longer than the Silver State Challenge...God Bless Texas!

 

Tight turns, etc and you expect to avaerage 100mph? That's ballsy (well, it sure sounds ballsy). Never done one, but always wanted to.

 

I would NOT do an open road event in a car that wasn't prepared to at LEAST club racing safety standards - including a full cage. I would feel safer if it were prepared to rally rules with the extra cage bars and gussets. Fire safety standards (fire system, driver suits) ought to be higher than road racing standards, too since if the worst happens, you aren't going to be within 100 yards of a turn worker.

There aren't many racing disciplines where the danger-to-safety-equipment ratio are as bad as they are in open-road events - and the death rate accurately reflects that, I think.

K

 

Ive done them here in upstate NY in the winter, it was mostly on seasonal state roads, partial paved sections, etc. We do road rally events all winter long up here to keep the brain happy It was so hard to figure out the math AND focus on going the proper direction aat junctions/intersections, etc. But in the end it was prettymuch haul *** and enjoy the drive...

It sounds like you will be reaching speeds MUCh faster than we would, so be careful man!

 

Maybe I should slow it down and plan to enter the street rod class then (slowest at 85mph average)? Calculations might require a little more thinking than 100mph...

- Check on good fire system, definately want a non intrusive race system.
- Not planning on cage (daily driver to be resold). Maybe take an autocross class hit and stitch weld everything between (and including) the A and B pillars.
- A rally trunk kit would be good too right? Spare tire, caution triangles/flares, toolbox, etc...

Vracer111, who doesn't have the new integra yet, but if the current shell that is keeping him from getting a running one doesn't sell within a few months then that shell will be going to the scrapyard so I can have room for a running one. That would be sad to see a perfectly good G2 body junked, but oh well...

 

Don't forget your curta calculator.

Cheers,
Sean

 

and a video showing the crash.
http://my.so-net.net.tw/s3sport323/hr%20crash.wmv

 

To be clear, there is a huge difference between one of these open-road speed events and a Time-Speed-Distance (or TSD) rally.

TSDs reward accuracy on a course that is supposed to allow a crew to zero the event while adhering to the posted speed limits. An open-road race has maximum speed classes that are like breakout times in bracket racing - the goal is to go as fast as you can without blowing out of your class, each of which has incremental requirements for safety equipment.

Simply entering the 85-mph class rather than the 100-mph class doesn't mean that you won't conceivably chuck yourself into the desert at 120mph. If you do, having the shell seam welded won't make any measurable difference.

K

(who would do one of these events if he were close, but would do so in a racing car)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RAB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
and a video showing the crash.
http://my.so-net.net.tw/s3sport323/hr%20crash.wmv
</TD></TR></TABLE>

In the video, it sounds like something broke....what happened?

 

If I remember right from the Car and Driver issue a few months back, either a rear tire blew or it was rear suspension failure...

Full roll cage would be something I would like for an open road event...though I don't plan on keeping the integra for too long and it will be a street legal daily driver. Maybe add a cage to the roll bar before the event and remove it after...or leave it and let a buyer decide later on if they want the cage or not.

 

I've heard it was a blown rear tire. But I don't know for sure.

 

http://www.silverstateclassic....2.htm

insanity

 

I just watched the Porsche-get-destroyed video. Is it just me, or does this event look boring and dangerous? I assume there is a turn somewhere.

 

http://www.bborr.com/course.html

 

Oh yes there are turns in the Silver state challenge...Course notes

BTW, that car was a Nissan 350Z...