New to the sport

[Benizzle]

G'day guys,
im new to this site and i have been given a 93 Hyundai Excel GS Hatchback manual i think its a GS... lol...
I was given it for no particular reason just was a spare car which has now been replaced so its mine :)
Because its just a basher, and i have always been intrested in rallying i wouldnt mind getting into some amateur stuff (nothing serious just to have some fun), is there anything available like this around? Im in Perth, WA.
Also to make the car, more race ready so to speak is there anything cheap and easy to do, Im thinking, strip the interior, racing harness/seat and possibly some cheap rally rims/tyres.

Anyway your help would be greatly appreciated. Also im 15 just to let you guys know, Just trying to get an early start in the sport :)

Cheers,
Ben

[HMCA]

Ben

A great place to start rallying is with your local car clubs in WA. Have a look on the CAMS web site for a car club in your area. Be sure to go for a club that is rally based and also do MotorKhana's and Khanacrosses.

MotorKhana's and Khanacrosses are the best place to start learning car control, they don't cost too much and you can do them in anything from a Excel to a Lambo ( and you would probably be quicker in the Excel then the Lambo too)

The Cams site also has a calender to look at whats coming up. I'm not sure of the min age but I think you are probably OK at 15 to start this type of motorsport. Crazy Dave knows more cause his club have a lot of events for Junior members.

Cheers Mick

ps. Start saving- Rallying cost's heaps!!! but its a like an adictive drug!!! you will love it!!!

[Crazy Dave]

There is a lot of fun out there for not too much money. For staters getting in early and developing your skills will be a real advantage to you, not only in motorsport but in road driving skills as well. Hopefully this will also give you your outlet so that you can encourage mates to come and race with you and not on the street.

The best place to start is with a local car club that does lots of motorkhana and khanacross (the best) events. Khanacross are sort of like a little rally in a paddock, and are just plain cheap fun. You only need a car, a helmet (to AS1698 standard which should be a sticker on 99% of helemts in Aus), neck to wrist to ankle clothing (jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt shirt), 1 fire extinguisher in the car, a blue triangle to represent where the battery is (can be done with blue electrical tape). Standard seat belts are fine and you can slowly rip stuff out of the car to lighten it up. You can also run a few people in the car at one event so share any costs and work involved in maintaining the car. Cars get scrutineered for safety to make sure the brakes and steering work but thats about it. Try to get out to one and have a look or if you are ready just contact the club and have a go.

Hopefully we will have the series up and running in WA when you are old enough to rally and then you can keep an eye out for an X3 excel and start building it.

The main thing is that everyone is having fun. You can be competitive at the same time, but khanas will also help you with your driving skills and how to approach a corner. Watch, listen and learn from the experienced people, especially front wheel drivers.

[Benizzle]

thanks heaps for that guys, also im only concerned that the car does not have power steering, i know from driving family/friends cars that it definetely makes a huge difference, do you guys think its worth it with the excel or just flogging it off cheap and buying a newer one? (im selling my motorbikes to get into rallying haha so trading one addiction for another hopefully) but i also have a part time job so yeah i havea bit of cash flow coming into help it along :)

[Benizzle]

ive found this:
http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars/dealer/HYUNDAI/ACCENT/details.aspx?__N=441%20904%20834%20285%20258%20287&l=du&__Ns=pCar_StatusSort_Int32|1||pCar_Price_Decimal|0&__Nne=20&__Qpb=true&seot=0&distance=25&silo=1000&Cr=1&PriceMax=2500&State=Western%20Australia&R=1713485&__sid=115055995508&state_id=83&trecs=10

note the high k's but body looks straight and in good nick, would have to go test drive it first of course but what do you guys rekon? i mean what would it cost to get a new motor for one of them anyway?

Cheers,
Ben

[Crazy Dave]

You don't need power steering. Best thing to do if you want to be competitive is get a couple of second hand rally tyres for the front of the car. If you can't find them check out the local tyre places for some winter tread retreads. Once you learn to throw the car around you find you steer a lot more by throttle and brakes and the swing of the car with momentum etc and you just learn to keep ahead of things. You have a couple of years before you can drive in a rally but will be able to navigate from 16 so keep that in mind. But as has been said, find a club that does lots of khanas, as if they do dirt stuff they normally do rallies as well. Dirt cheap car but probably won't be any quicker than the X2 at a rally. Save your money and invest it into doing the khanas and getting ready to rally, navigate etc with helmets, maybe race suit if you want, but not a requirement until you do state rounds.

[haggers]

You don't need power steering. Best thing to do if you want to be competitive is get a couple of second hand rally tyres for the front of the car. If you can't find them check out the local tyre places for some winter tread retreads. Once you learn to throw the car around you find you steer a lot more by throttle and brakes and the swing of the car with momentum etc and you just learn to keep ahead of things. You have a couple of years before you can drive in a rally but will be able to navigate from 16 so keep that in mind. But as has been said, find a club that does lots of khanas, as if they do dirt stuff they normally do rallies as well. Dirt cheap car but probably won't be any quicker than the X2 at a rally. Save your money and invest it into doing the khanas and getting ready to rally, navigate etc with helmets, maybe race suit if you want, but not a requirement until you do state rounds.


Ben

This is good advice. The quick guys have generally spent lots of time throwing cars around on paddocks in their "mis spent" youth and you should just try to get the basics of car control sorted first. Khanacrosses are good for that and there are plenty of people who will give you advice about technique. Good technique when applied even to a basic car will take you a long, long way. Fanging about in khanacrosses is great fun.

Cheers

Haggers

[Benizzle]

yeah sweet as guys thanks for the advice, im gonna try and get into some motorkhana sort of events soon. i cant wait to get into it, I use to have an 89 VW Jetta which i wanted to do the same sort of things i plan to do in the excel but it wasent registered so it was a bit of downer and didnt really have the time to register it but that was an awesoem car to drive for the price and reliable as hell, thats where it sort of took from and now i cant get enough of driving... haha, by the way if you can pick up an old jetta/golf cheap its a good idea, i bought mine off some dude up the road for $150, learnt to drive in it, sold it for $800 and the otehr day i saw it in the local classifieds for $3500 haha.

anyway again guys thanks heaps, im looking at the "light car club" of WA, they see to do motorkhana and rallies etc so it looks like a wise investment.

Cheers again,
Ben:)

[Crazy Dave]

Car does not need to be registered, as long as you can get it there by a trailer.

[Curly]

If you're in Perth, definitely check out the events run by BORMSA out at Beverley.

It's a bit of a drive (1.5 hours from Perth), but well worth it. We've been racing out there for a few years now, and it's the best, cheapest motorsport around.

We've been running X2 Excels (like yours) since we started. Once you get the weight out of them and throw some second hand rally tyres at them, they're an outright contender.

As for power steering - you don't want it. Both of ours haven't had power steering, and while the steering is heavy on the road, once you hit gravel it's very light. The best option might be a depowered power steering rack as it would probably have a higher ratio, so less turns lock to lock.

Entry will cost you about $30, and on a good day they have 3-4 stages running at once, meaning you'll get close to 20 minutes of stage time. Doesn't sound like much, but you'll be exhausted at the end of it.

http://www.bormsa.asn.au

[macksrallye]

The light car club is a good option, they run two state rounds and some very good club event (that's where i got my rally liscence) and have some very knowledgeable and helpful senior members in the club. when you first go to an event see if one of the older guys will jump in the passanger seat and give you some pointers, they did it for me and i owe so much to them for it.

Like crazy dave said, you can nav from 16 and this is a good way to learn what rallying is all about, so think about it.

Also keep looking at this site, there are a few of us trying to get an excel series up and running in wa and it will be a great group to learn the art of rallying with.

[Curly]

Yeah, I was a member of the LCC last year, they run some great events.

You'll get more time behind the wheel at a Bormsa event, but probably more variety with the LCC.