My rally career....thus far

[Necx0]

Hello all,
I have been toying with the idea of putting a little diary up telling you all about my budding motorsport career and after some encouragement from a fellow FG-er thought I would . Quick background I have been driving in club events (track days, khanacrosses (autocross) hillclimbs etc.) in my trusty R31 skyline which you can see in my avatar.

It was time to take the next step. I was originally going to go karting but falling ill meant that got pushed back and back and back until suddenly a rally car came up cheap. I was going to buy that until my mechanic told me it would need a motor and suspension rebuild so instead I saved a bit more and bought the car below. 1989 Daihatsu Charade cup car. Came from the factory as a rally car.

Mine runs the 1.3 4 cylinder motor, certainly no powerhouse. However it also has Limited Slip Diff, Bilstein coilover suspension and most importantly, Albins close ratio gearbox. The 'box is set up so when you are hammering along it drops 700rpm (not a mis-type) between gears. Keeps the little motor on song. I have done 2 rallies so far this year. It has been a massive learning curve but oh god its fun. Can't wait to keep progressing but money is running thin!! Will keep you updated and happy to answer any questions! Enough of my yammering. Pics and videos of the 2008 Tasmanian Rally Series

From the latest event.


From my first event.


What happens when you run out of talent.


Looonnngg way down.


Some videos from my second event from the weekend. First two are good but a bit average quality. Third is awesome!

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

[Hazardous]

700 rpm? That's certainly close. What's the top speed with those ratios?

[Dsemaj]

Awesome! I could imagine rallying is the most amazing, fun and pant-staining scary thing ever! I like the Charade!

And damn, that was very lucky there! I bet your stomach sank when you saw where you stopped!

[Necx0]

176km/h (110mph). Saw 150k's on the weekend (well last time I looked anyway!!!!) Quite a tall first gear obviously in order to get the close ratios. 5th drops a bit though so I think that is a little taller too!

Yeh first time I drove the car my foot wouldn't stay flat in 4th. Too scary!! You get used to it quickly.

Yeh we spun about halfway through 4th gear so about 100k's or so. Quite lucky. I couldn't get out as the door was wedged but once I saw what was behind.......breathed a sigh of relief haha!

[airmenair]

Wow that is really cool! I would love to get into rally eventually if I have the balls to do it! Definately the ballsiest motorsport in my opinion.

[Karoug]

Brilliant!!

[Hazardous]

Originally Posted by Necx0

176km/h (110mph). Saw 150k's on the weekend (well last time I looked anyway!!!!) Quite a tall first gear obviously in order to get the close ratios. 5th drops a bit though so I think that is a little taller too!

That explains it. I was wondering if you have like 20 gears to get up to 80 kph on that thing with so close ratios

Good luck on the future events, and looking forward to read about more adventures.

[Vector]

I'm coming down with a serious case of jealousy after reading this!

How do you finance this?

[Jocó]

Wow, great pics and videos, thanks for them!
Keep us updated

[fbc]

Excellent!! Showing some nice form in that last vid too - good luck with it, keep us updated.

[Cubits]

I'd love to see the costs involved in this, i've been meaning to break into state rally but i have been strapped for time and money these last couple of years (uni). For the time being i will live vicariously through you.

I have a 205 gti which i've formerly used for hillclimbs and autocross which is crying out to kick some ass in the queensland forests (top speed 180, bouncing off the limiter). It's a wonderful car on gravel, but pranging it would send me bankrupt. :p

Keep us updated!

[Devon]

Seriously cool Necxo, thanks for sharing with us all. Keep us updated and all the best at future events.

[hansvonaxion]

Cool. Would love to see some in car footage if you can manage it.

[Necx0]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. In regards to funding I am entirely self funded at this stage. With this car that is probably sustainable however sponsorship would be lovely haha.

Next Event in 2 weeks. A shitload of work still to be done and its the biggest hike for the year (350k's away) but should be good!!

[Necx0]

Well ok next update!!! Just got home from the Hellyer rally. Held 350k's north of my home. After a lot of drama sorting out new brakes, gearbox rebuilds and sourcing new tyres at the last minute we loaded up the car and began the 4.5 hour hike.

Untested tyres and brakes made me quite nervous which is unusual, usually very calm before I drive. Woke up at 3:45am morning of the rally feeling terrible, certainly in no condition to drive. Just tried to get some more sleep and hopefully would feel ok. Thankfully when 6:30am rolled around I got up and started unloading the car and gradually felt better. The start was held on the northern edge of Tasmania. The view as the sun came up over the ocean was simply spectacular. Apart from the driving the amazing part about rallying is the sights and scenery you experience. Finally finished the car with about 20 minutes before start time and head off to the stages.

The stages were simply awesome. Close to New Zealand or Finland. Quite technical but with some long straights and lots of crests. Took about half the first stage to get into a rhythm, get some heat in tyres and brakes and get a feel for the car. Changed my driving a lot this rally. After a day spent in the forest with the reigning two time state champion he basically banned me from left foot braking and using the handbrake. Perhaps against conventional wisdom but he is faster than you can possibly believe so I trust his advice. Fuck it works. driving conventionally we were a lot faster but I felt a lot more in control. Heading to the lunchtime service on the transport I noticed a wierd noise in the front right hand side. It sounded suspiciously like a driveshaft problem. Not good news. Was checked at service and given the ok so decided to try and nurse the car home, as we were smashing the competition in P1 (class explanation later). Took off like a grandma at the start and avoided hitting much throttle with lock applied. Tried to stay very committed in the fast stuff to minimise time lost. One stage was cancelled due to it getting dark so one less stage to nurse it through. The 35k's back to the finish seemed very long, to break down on transport would be heartbreaking. Thankfully we made it for our third finish in a row!!!

Now the really good news (for me anyway). We won our class P1 (cars up to 1300cc) by 4 minutes from another Charade over from Victoria. We also won P2 (cars up to 1600cc) as the usual P2 winner (Mirage Cyborg which is an absolute weapon) had a problem then threw it off the road in the afternoon!!! We were quite close to him on pace anyway though, although probably not close enough. We ended up 8th outright out of 18, not bad for a 1.3litre nanna car.

Will put pics and vids up as they get uploaded. Sorry if I have bored anyone but thats my weekend!!! Rallying rocks, now to fix everything I broke

[hansvonaxion]

Great result and a whole lot more satisfying being fast in a slow car than in a fast one, if you know what I mean.

Looking forward to some vids.

[Devon]

Congratulations on your Win Necxo, sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for the report, I look forward to the pics and vids.

[fbc]

Congrats on the win! Nice write-up too. Looking forward to the next one.