[JWA]

I thought that you guys might like to read my response to Dmbrown's PM:

Hi Dmbrown34,

Yes, I started out running a couple RallyCrosses with some surrounding SCCA regions last spring and ended up running (and winning ) the last half of the National Challenge season. RallyCross is a great combination of AutoCross, Solo, and stage rally - and a TON of fun. It's also great being involved at the begining years of the sport. Last year was the first year for the national program.

There are some differences from autocross, the main being that events are scored cummulatively, adding up the times off all runs throughout the event as opposed to FTD winning in autocross.

That said - running an Elise in a RallyCross is an interesting proposition. It has some precedent. There's a picture floating around of a dirt covered Elise interior that was used in an SCCA ad for RallyCross. I never found out who that was. There's even a guy who ran an S1 Exige in the New Zealand stage rally circuit.

The biggest issue is that it really isn't likley that you'll be able to run an event without leaving a mark of any kind. It will get dirt and dust in EVERY nook and cranny. So much that it is likely that you would never get all of it out. The amount of dust depends on the surface at the event that you run - but the range goes from "a lot" to "Grapes of Wrath Level Dustbowl". Also, a lot of regions will need to water down the surface between run sets, so you'll be looking at mud. Additionally, rocks are likely to be involved, so you will need to protect your rear fenders or they'll be sandblasted or worse. A gravel course will obviously be even harder on the car. As none are commercially available, you'd need to figure out how to fashion some sort of mudflaps to help a bit.

The next area to worry about is the front clam. Due to the nature of dirt, ruts and berms will form and it isn't uncommon for me to bottom out the front of my STI when going into a bad corner. I have ripped the bumper cover off twice, as do most others are some point, and scraping the bottom of the bumper is a given. In the Elise, I can assure you that you will scrape the life out of the bottom of the front clam on even the smoothest of surfaces. Maybe worse if you are on a soft surface or a corse with heavy braking zones.

So, those are the downsides. Honestly I wouldn't think of running my Elise in a RallyCross. Another problem is that RWD cars all have so much trouble hooking up that they are much slower than FWD and AWD cars, so while it may be some fun, it's also likely to be somewhat frustrating as a stock automatic Cavalier smokes you (happens all the time). It would be better to take a rental car out and enter it into an even to have some fun and feel it out before thinking about bringing out the Elise. Some regions even have a club car that they rent out and treat like a spec class, which is a good way to get into it.

Now to the practical aspects. There's the aforementioned mudflaps. You mentioned air filters. You'll have to have a hardtop. To run in stock class you can't have made many mods more than a cat-back exhaust - and you'll want to run in stock class because Prepared and Modified allow rally tires which are only made in 15" and a likely too tall to fit in the Elise's wheelwells but basically required to be compettitive.

For stock class tires they have to be street legal and (for this season) they can't have any grooves other than circumferential grooves that are more than .34" wide. So, snow tires are generally best - but depending on the surface someties a good all season works better, at least on heavier cars.

There's a series that is run along side and in conjunction with the SCCA RallyCross program that's centered on the SouthWest that you can look into here: FRX, RallyX, Dirt Trial, rallycross, Rally Sport -- Formula RallyX (sm) I think that a lot of the guys in the CA regions congregate there.

In the end, my advice would be definitely to go check out a RallyCross - but know what you're getting into and think about it before jumping in with the Elise. No matter what, it you'll have a ton of fun. and, if you do bring the Elise out, be sure to send me some pics .

--Josh

I should reinforce that you WILL bottom every corner of the car - both suspension against stops and body against ground. Depending on the course you will encounter MUCH worse than any pothole. The biggest success at last year's national challenge was that no one rolled that year. If you're intent on doing it, ask around and look for the smoothest and hardest surface you can find.