Project RS

[premiershine9]

SWEEETT, looked like a fun event Scotty!

[ScottyB]

SWEEETT, looked like a fun event Scotty!

that was the October event. i will do a decent write-up of yesterday's when i get a chance to breathe this week. some of the photogs that were there will have some pretty pictures posted up too, hopefully.

stupid, stupid fun. more fun that i've ever had in a car. all i can think about is the next event.

car survived fine over 8, 60-second runs, not a single problem other than some beat up mud flaps and a chip or two out of my rocker panels.

[premiershine9]

Ah gotcha- looks like I need another cup of coffee this morning

Excited to see some pics!

[ScottyB]

so let me tell you about how pants-crappingly fun rallycross is. if you like autocross, cars, noise, dirt, powersliding, cheap thrills, and America - in any particular order or combination - then congratulations! you have just qualified to launch your car into the great filthy realm of sideways rally action that is rallycross.

last weekend i showed up at a vacant fairground with about 20 other cars to slide my subaru to hell and back for the better part of 60 to 70 seconds at a time on a dirt and gravel course in order to compete with other cars against the clock. i got 8 runs in over the afternoon. classing is hilariously simple - 2WD street tire or rally tire, 4WD street tire or rally tire (YMMV depending on who runs it, but it should still be pretty simple). the course is built mostly around existing pathways in the dirt and used cones to create slaloms and direct some of the larger turns, just like autocross.

the reason the classing works with such a stupidly simple model is that for the most part, power means nothing. you are pretty much entirely traction limited and your speed and time are decided largely by how well you maintain your momentum through the turns, except that if you botch it up, you really lose a lot of speed. here comes the best part...you maintain that momentum by keeping the car's speed up and picking an efficient line, and on a low traction surface that means hanging the ass out all over the place. when you get it right, and link together a series of turns and slaloms by snapping the car back and forth between 20 or 30 degree powerslides at speed, it feels like you just passed the field at Sebring in the General Lee while high fiving Bo Duke and getting a lap dance from Michelle Jeneke at the same time. i was yelling shit in the car that didn't even make sense, i was having so much fun.

its also a bit of a sensory overload at first. not only are you dealing with overcoming the fear of purposely getting pretty sideways at 30+mph, you've also get to get used to a new type of braking: ABS is worthless, threshold brake and throw the car sideways to slow down. it feels way too aggressive at first and requires a lot of wheel work, but when it comes together it totally makes sense and is very effective. add in the noise too....it sounds like someone's dumping a bucket of gravel on the roof of your car, but its really just the helmet focusing all the noise in the cabin. on this particular course i was getting deep into 3rd gear which is about 60mph. even in a straight line and on the smoothest part of the course, the car wants to squirm all over the place and it feels closer to 80. quite the rush.

can't recommend it enough. however, you will want to be sure you have at least 4 or 5 inches of ground clearance. it helps to not care about your paint...i have a few chips on the bottom of my rocker panels now, despite my mud flaps. if the course isn't packed dirt, you'll also want to be driving on something like an all season to get some level of traction (if it is packed, you might actually be better off). otherwise, show up and have a blast.

we had everything from open-class WRX's and a Civic rally car to daily driven cars that people brought their wife and dog in. friendliest people i've ever encountered at an event (that wasn't populated with MM'ers ) and tons of fun ride-alongs. i think this is the first hit off my new favorite go-fast crack pipe. i'm already looking for a set of used all-seasons or rally tires.

because it was a non-points event, the timing was kind of half-assed and nobody really got around to posting times after the event. from what i saw before i left, i did about mid-pack, and had one run that would have put me in 2nd. however, i think it was a mis-time or some kind of fluke because none of my other times were close. don't even care though, i was just glad to drive.

the course. basically a figure 8. normally i'd be dissapointed by such a simple course, but it was more than enough to deal with.


this guy was literally backing the car into some turns. it was kick ass.


stock Lesbosled XT, it did great out there.


open-class 2.5RS. due to ECU issues it was limited to 4,000 RPM, but was still really fast.


my closest competition....'04 RS. pretty sure he beat me.


this $500 shitpile was literally burning oil so bad, there was more oil smoke than dust coming off the back of it. it was being rotated between 4 guys and was just being beaten without mercy. on old used snow tires...it was pretty damn fast :lol:


i thought this thing was some kind of joke considering it looks like an APC catalog vomited all over it. turns out it just got back from kicking some ass in the Sandblast Rally and was really fast.

[CaptainHenreh]

Capital!

[JPolen01]

That is awesome. I think MM needs a shitpile like the one above to do awesome stuff like this in.

Oh and this had me lol'ing:

i was yelling shit in the car that didn't even make sense, i was having so much fun.

[Jake]

I think MM needs a shitpile like the one above to do awesome stuff like this in.

We did, it was spraypainted blue and barely ran, but autocrossed like a mofo :thumbup:

[Beej]

:thumbup:

Dude, love it. Tearing ass on a dirt road (not surrounded by trees) has always been a fantasy.

I'd actually expect more paint damage than you described. Also, I can't begin to imagine how much more fun rwd/awd are than fwd.

[ScottyB]

I can't begin to imagine how much more fun rwd/awd are than fwd.

i'd love to try RWD on dirt. speaking of which, you could just put a hefty skidplate on the M3 right? i hear the NCCAR facility has a sweet rallyx course.... 8)

[D_Eclipse9916]

I can't begin to imagine how much more fun rwd/awd are than fwd.

i'd love to try RWD on dirt. speaking of which, you could just put a hefty skidplate on the M3 right? i hear the NCCAR facility has a sweet rallyx course.... 8)

Summit Point has a ridiculously good rallyx course because of it being a government training facility for off-roading (think shitty roads in afghanistan, not rock climbing).

I did one this past Sunday and I echo everything you said. Its a freaking blast, and then they wet the whole course down during lunch so its just straight mud everywhere. :lol:

I had an awesome time and would love to have a chump car that could also do rallyx. That said, I prefer grip-driving; but not too bad a way to spend a weekend.

[ScottyB]

up she goes.


after 105k miles of use it was time for a refresh. the strut clunk from the rear was intolerable and the car was getting sloppy. strut bodies are enroute to the fine town of Rancho Cucamonga on the left coast for a revalve/refresh courtesy of Feal Suspension. just got the new Whiteline tophats for the front last night and steering rack bushings are coming.

unfortunately due to turnaround times on the struts, it won't all come back together until after New Year's. didn't plan it that way, but that's just how it panned out...oh well.

also, after pretty much a decade of working on my car in apartment parking lots, i really, really....really....appreciate having a garage now.

[SlimKlim]

I get excited when I see updates in this thread now, I read the CV boot post like 3 times and still almost died laughing.

So what are you replacing this time, upper shock mounts? The stock design on the E36s RSMs is hilariously bad, you could show an elementary school student how it all went together and ask him if it would last and he'd say no.

I love getting new suspension, going from my old Bilsteins to Mike D's not-so-old Koni Yellows was probably the most significant improvement I've made to my car in the time I've had it. Good luck on the install!

[ScottyB]

thanks man...looking back that job sucked so hard at the time. at least someone is getting amusement from my pain.

full list of replacement items:
- stock STi struts for revalved/regreased STi struts
- stock front tophats for Whiteline Com-C offset tophats (groupN rubber hardness)
- stock steering rack bushings for Torque Solution poly bushings
- stock RTA bushings and rear knuckle TA bushings for groupN (i've had these squirreled away for like 2 years now)
- alignment

the rear tophats do so little its pretty pointless to replace them unless you're going straight to plates. i would have liked to do the bushings in all the rear lateral links, and the rear trailing bushing on the front control arms but ran out of funds. next time.

the car should, hopefully, ride better, steer better, and handle better especially with more camber/caster up front now.

[Goodspeed]

Awesome Scotty, I like all the little tidbits here and there/attention to detail. Should come together in a nice little package I'm sure. I don't know how I missed it earlier but I read through the rally-x writeup, that looks like a total blast. I think this could lead to the perfect trifecta - rally-x beater that is driven in the winter and tows a go-kart - the cheap fun to don't-give-a-shit ratio would be off the charts.

That picture of the $500 shitbox being beat is just the greatest one that ever was.

[SlimKlim]

I'd love to do a rallyx at some point, maybe if I buy an AWD daily I'll find one with a relatively gentle course and squeeze one in. I know some people get away with driving their dailies.

I have a buddy on one of my BMW forums that buys old AWD pieces of crap and rallyx's them until they quit working. His last victim was an ancient Legacy wagon and now he's flogging the life out of an old Audi sedan.

I really should sell the E36 and buy a DD and some cheap pile to have fun with, but I feel like I'd regret it so hard in a few years...

[Beej]

What's the reason for going with a rebuild of the struts as opposed to new or Konis or something?

I dunno why I like seeing pictures of cars on jackstands - and I'm jealous of the roomy garage! Underhood my-car-isn't-as-broken-as-you-think-sir head nods to neighbors in apartment parking lots gets real old real fast.

[ScottyB]

I think this could lead to the perfect trifecta - rally-x beater that is driven in the winter and tows a go-kart

well the whole idea from the get-go was to have a car that was cheap and simple, but i could do anything with. i think its getting to that point now. yeah, its a big compromise, but i'm having fun which was the whole point. and i've said it before...i would LOVE to kart as opposed to taking a full size car on track. i'm so envious of the west coast with all their local kart tracks. if i was out there i would totally tow one around on weekends with this thing.

I'd love to do a rallyx at some point, maybe if I buy an AWD daily I'll find one with a relatively gentle course and squeeze one in. I know some people get away with driving their dailies.

its really a blast...like to the point where its the main motorsports thing i want to pursue now. but, i'll be the first one to tell you i'm not doing the ideal thing by using my DD. what makes it tolerable though is that its a cheap car. i could never take something like, say, a $20k evo or S4 out there unless i didn't have a lot of sympathy for the niceness of the car. if you end up with a cheapish AWD car that stays reliable, i would totally try out the track at Summit...its really pretty smooth, to the point where some guys can run with summer tires on the grippy clay.

What's the reason for going with a rebuild of the struts as opposed to new or Konis or something?

I dunno why I like seeing pictures of cars on jackstands - and I'm jealous of the roomy garage! Underhood my-car-isn't-as-broken-as-you-think-sir head nods to neighbors in apartment parking lots gets real old real fast.

the rebuild is basically cheap, easy, effective, and corrects all the issues with the stock struts. more to the point, the stockers are actually pretty decent units and are very stout (the strut shafts are nearly as thick as those in die-hard rally struts), so they're worth saving. however, they are way overdamped from the factory for some reason, and are packed with ineffective grease - so that after a good number of miles the strut shaft locks up on the seals instead of sliding and the strut action becomes really jerky which causes the clunking sound + poor handling.

because i'm running stock STi spring rates but wanted a durable shock to just plug into the car, i didn't even consider coilovers. koni yellows were out from the start too - they don't handle the big hits well (at least in this application) and i'd have to hack apart my struts to install the inserts, which is more work that i wanted. Tokico D-specs, the next up in the price rung, are plug-n-play and adjustable but not cheap. after that, the next option is basically Ohlins which are $texas. plus, all of those require time to get the rebound valving dialed in. the strut revalve service can accomodate anything from a cadillac ride up to handling 500+ lb./in springs, so i just gave them my rates and i'll get struts back that are matched perfectly. easy button!

jackstands = agreed. i'm always like, shiny new parts!...when i see those shots. looks cool in a means-business kinda way.

thanks about the gay-raj, but don't be fooled. the car's in there half sideways because i couldn't work on it parked normally, not enough room in the front/back! not complaining though, not complaining...

[JPolen01]

Have you ever looked into race comp engineering springs? They are local to me and I always read good things about them on nasioc.

[ScottyB]

oh yeah...they are some of the best springs you can get for subaru struts.

i'm not interested in higher rates or lowering though so it just wasn't applicable to me. if i wasn't doing rallycross and/or hauling a baby i'd be looking really really hard at their "black" springs which are almost perfect for a sporty DD.

[ScottyB]

been putting in some quality time under the car and have the dirt and crap falling into my eyes to prove it. some notes for the MM scooby clan:

front Feal struts in:

the lower perches on all corners were chewed up from rocks and road grit, and i also caught the paint with the threads on the spring compressor a few times so i hit it with a couple coats of clear. that should keep any corrosion from starting. remember to put the rubber spring cushions back in the right orientation when you reassemble, its easy to forget or get disoriented.

Whiteline tophats:

offset for an extra -1.5 degree camber and .75 degree caster, great for a plug-n-play street car application. you can flip them for minimum camber if you want (applicable to wagon guys with sedan lower control arms for wider track). i'll aim to set these up for -1.5 with the lower crash bolts. DO NOT overtighten the top three bolts, they will snap off. its something stupid like 14 lb. ft. of torque to tighten, i just tightened a little past "twisting off a beer cap" with my smallest socket wrench.

there ends the fun/easy installations. let us now begin the tiring, why-do-my-fingers-feel-broken installations.

steerin' rack bushings are in the big gold brackets (OK, crusty gold brackets, closest one is already undone). stock durometer rating is somewhere around stale gummi bear. these got replaced with poly, front of car is right:

just 2 brackets hold the rack to the car, but of course you have to drop the jacking plate to get there, and then the bolts are overtightened from the factory like a bastard. you will also need to loosen the steering shaft U-joint from below (you can access it clearly that way) to allow the rack to drop so you can weasel the bushings out from around the rack. sounds easy. is not easy. what you can't immediately see is that its basically impossible to actually drop the brackets away to access anything...you can only push them out of the way (barely) since the PS lines block them in. my fingers feel like i've been doing Bruce Lee pushups. if you unbolt every PS line bracket its still barely any room to move the rack brackets out of the way. the passenger side comes out easy, please do not use this side to bolster your confidence.

basically the only advice I can give you is to not be afraid to bend the PS lines a bit, and lube the hell out of the new bushing so you can somehow fit it around the square bracket on the drivers side. be careful not to overtorque when reinstalling the brackets, just because the stock bolts were torqued by Gozirra from the factory, they don't need to be retorqued the same.

Trailing link bushing installation - rear trailing link bushing: bustified.

i found it was more time and money wasted to try to press bushings into my stock trailing links than to buy new ones with the bushings already in place. ultimately i still think it was the right move. the best way to take that link out is to actually drop the whole bracket that the front is mounted on, in addition to taking off the bolt on the hub. i will say this: don't be afraid to beat the crap out of the rear trailing link bolt. i put a 17mm box-end on there with a socket+pipe on the other side, braced both, and just went Hulk-SMASH with a deadblow on the box-end. it was actually easier on the bolt to do it that way...i almost rounded one off trying to be all nice to it with steady pressure.

once it's off the car, you can remove the front bolt by just putting the link+bracket on the ground and putting a breaker bar on each bolt, then standing on the combo to steady it. play "JUMP ON IT!" in the background.

i drilled the old rear bushing out with a regular old cordless drill, one full battery lasted just enough to do both. it takes a while, but once you lose enough material you can just rip the bushing right out with a set of vice grips. i pressed in the new 2-piece (WHY DOESN'T EVERYONE DO THIS) bushings with a c-clamp, like zeese:


the last trick is getting the new trailing link on...it will not want to fit over the rear bushing. the best thing you can do is HULK that thing up and onto it with a rubber mallet, and then pop the bolt in finger tight. THEN go ahead and bolt in the front bracket. otherwise you won't be able to get the leverage to fit the rear of the link onto the bushing.

front bushing - 85 lb. ft.
rear bushing - 66 lb. ft.
front bracket - 75 lb. ft.