Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Gorman Ridge Rally in my EGT

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Gorman Ridge Rally in my EGT

    Gorman Ridge Rally
    2007


    I didn’t think much about it, until we were on the first stage; it’s been over a year and a half since I last raced a full stage rally. So, I guess it’s been a while since I’ve had to write one of these for a full out stage rally. Don’t get me wrong, Rim of the World was a rally, just one of a different sort, closed stadium style. This was the end of a very long month of working late nights and weekends on the car to get it strong enough to take the abuse it was about to see. As it turns out, Gorman was the roughest it has been in it’s 25 years of running, so they say. Seemed about like the last two times I ran it, but this year I’ve got a much better car and a much better suspension.
    For a new twist at Gorman this year, we got to pre-run (recce) the roads Friday afternoon and write our own stage notes. It was definitely time well spent. My co-driver Jen and I loaded up in the truck along with Jeff Rados and his co-driver, Jack in the Box food and all. Every stage was run twice with nobody going more than about 20 miles per hour. It was shocking to see so many racers going so slow; everyone was busy writing their notes. With four of us in the truck, it was very helpful in getting the best perspective on what everyone thought each corner was, “is it a 3 or a 4”. That night Jen went and reviewed and re-wrote her notes with yet another co-driver, to double check for accuracy. This seemed to work out perfectly as her notes were nearly perfect first time through each new stage. I would call out for one or two miner changed for the next time through and sure enough, next time through, spot on.
    Now to the real racing, ours’ was going to start out slow, get a feel for how the car and my driving would be, then progress from there. By the end of the first stage I was pretty frustrated. My car isn’t finished being built for racing, so it has a tranny with the 1st gear syncro missing. What does that mean, it means I wasn’t willing to down shift it into first gear unless I was desperate. On stage one, I only did it once. This means I was loosing a huge amount of time climbing the hills. The next stage wasn’t too bad, not a lot of up hill sections, just one very surprising jump in a very rough section. I knew it was there, just wasn’t thinking. I hit a small jump in the middle of a riverbed looking section of road doing around 40mph, down hill. When the front hit the jump, it popped the nose up at a 30 or 40-degree angle, nothing but sky. I had enough time to think “this is the end of the race for us (fill in your own profanity here)!!” As the back end of the car rolled over the jump it somehow leveled out perfectly and we landed like jumping on a big pillow, so smooth. Huge shy of relief and a quick note for Jen, make me slow down next time through. I don’t think we would have been so lucky the next time. Stage three was a repeat of the first and this time I felt a little better about the car going sort of slow. I was able to carry a bit more momentum up through the corners and dropped .20 minutes off my first run through.
    At the first service, the only thing we found wrong were a few nuts and bolts loosening up on the newly installed rear suspension. I had tossed the factory pieces aside in favor of steel tubing and heim joints (hardened steel pivot bearings). So far, they seemed to do the trick. The next three stages were the reverse direction of the first three. The roads flowed a lot better in this direction, improving our short stage time by around .25 minutes. This is also were I found my favorite section of the race. Down hill over three water bars, into an easy left, into short straight, into a tight right through the “Devils Sandbox”, into slight right to medium left, double jumps in 100. By the time I got out into the straight, I was full throttle, middle of third gear, push the clutch in right before the first jump (around 60mph), coast over, catching around 3 feet of air and flying around 50 feet, land with the car in neutral, coasting to the second jump at around 50mph, back up in the air, shifting into second gear with the clutch still in. As soon as the car lands for the second time, the clutch slips out and the throttle is back on the floor, now powering up a slight hill into a sweeping left hand turn. If you’ve ever jumped something (car, truck, bike, skateboard, water ski, boat, etc…) off the ground, you’ll know the feeling of exhilaration!! The rest of you will have to use your imagination. It puts a very big grin on ones face, just thinking about it, does it again.
    Now, to why I really love Gorman, the Tri-Tip BBQ. In the past it was a post race dinner, but for the last couple of years it’s been a long mid day break lunch/dinner combo. Again, the BBQ beef was amazing, my only problem as a competitor, I didn’t want to over eat, my loss. This break was also a three-hour long service. The only thing we found wrong with the car now was its’ rapid tire wear. I’m running the hardest compound tire available, but with all the rocks, decent power and only one wheel drive (open diff.) the front tires were disappearing like a pencil eraser at a grade school math quiz. We decided, with my limited budget, to simply rotate the tires front to back, rather than destroying my only other two new tires.
    The second half of the day saw the use of a new stage section, new to me anyways. The road is an extension of what was already a long, rough stage, but with the big jump section taken out. By the end of this new stage, my mouth was very dry and my mind in a daze. It takes a lot of concentration to race in the dirt. The cars’ heat, thick driving suite and helmet all make it for a bit of a dusty steam bath, also making concentrating difficult. To back up a bit and talk about the car, as a work in progress, certain things have been done and certain things haven’t. One of the things that hasn’t been removed to make the car lighter was the A/C. I couldn’t have been happier about this. Right before each stage we had it running full blast, cooling us off and getting the inside of the car down to about 75-80 degrees. We would pull up to the start line, wait until about 15 seconds left, then turn it off. By the end of each stage the inside usually gets back up to around 110-120 degrees, sometimes more. I’m now strongly considering leaving it in and even repairing it if/when it does stop working. The second half of the day also saw a change in my driving attitude. If the car dropped to 20mph, bang it into 1st gear. It’s amazing how little you hear gears grinding with all the engine noise and helmets on…
    The last three stages where in complete darkness, a whole new view, or more like, lack of view of the roads. Again, our service was easy, wash the windows, check the suspension bolts, check the lug nuts and now, mount the light bar to the front bumper with it’s two HID off-road light. We didn’t have the time or place to properly adjust the lights, but this didn’t seem to hurt anything, they were close enough. The HIDs are very bright, flooding the road in front of us with white light. Not much excitement on these last three stages, we just kept the driving clean, too far behind the next two competitors and miles ahead of the two cars in our class still running. Jen and I made the decision to drive at a reasonably safe pace, don’t push it, but don’t give up a lot of time either. It all paid off in the end, 3rd in class, 9th overall. It was a great finish for a car that is barely more than stock. I dyno tested it a few weeks back, a whopping 115hp at the wheels.
    Can’t wait for the new engine, new tranny and the NEXT race!!

    Jon Rood
    Car# 306
    Ford Escort GT
    Attached Files

    #2
    Sounds like a great time man. I keep meaning to find out how expensive it would be to enter the Maine forest rally up here.

    Would you mind talking about your suspension setup a bit? I ice-race my Protege and am interested in what you found works for you in rally environments.

    Clint
    1994 Mazda Protege DX (261Kmiles): Eibach springs, Tokico struts, Addco sway bars, massively ghetto-fabulous OBX camber bolts set to max. -ve, Energy Suspension LCA bushings, disc brake conversion, Carbotech XP8 (front) and AX6 (rear) pads, ATE Superblue, 15x7 Kazera KZ-M w/ 205/50/15 Avon Tech Ra (track), 15x6 Miata wheels w/ 195/50/15 Hankook Ventus R-S2 (street) and 14" stock wheels w/ Blizzak WS-60 (ice racing), A/C delete, BP swap, POS Pacesetter (w/ leak), 2.25" custom exhaust, cage and full SCCA ITA prep possibly in the works...

    1995 3000GT VR-4:Tein Flex, 332mm Stoptechs, manual steering conversion, custom brake lines with cockpit-mounted prop. valve, AWS delete, DSM sidemounts, full ATR single-exit, 13g/9b mismatch w/9psi WG springs, DN o2 housings, SAFC, AEM wideband, much more, etc.

    1987 BMW 325is:Bilsteins/H&R Springs, very solid motor mounts, 220k - stodgy daily driver

    Comment


      #3
      sounds like an awesome time... i wish i could afford to do build/race a car like that :D. did you get your rally computer working yet?

      his suspension
      Escort GTR -- 11.87 @ 117.6 mph -- 320 HP / 325 Ft. Lbs. @ 23 PSI
      ... The first FWD BG with a Toyota E153 transmission conversion in the USA!
      Looking for BP x Toyota E153 adapter plates? PM me or contact me on Facebook: Riel Performance Parts

      Comment


        #4
        Well planned indeed. That's a great finish.
        '90 AWD Protege, full GTR drivetrain swap, ~320 whp daily driver, RIP, and
        '90 AWD Protege, yet another GTR swap, Open class rallycar with a Toyota GT4 gearbox swap, thus crossing the line between hobby and mental illness. And a Brabus E55 K8, removing all doubt.
        http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/vbpi...?do=view&g=110
        http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2599486

        Comment


          #5
          Thanks guys, all the hard work paid off. Every car I've built seems a little easier than the last one. This was the forth full rally car build I've done, 2 for myself, and two for other people. I also helped do an entire rebuild on another one. (Jon) Yeah the ABS rear hubs worked out great. So far, I've only installed one of them, along with a Miata front end sensor I picked up for about $5. I built a heavy mounting bracket that uses 2 of the brake backing plate mounting holes. What's up with those things, huge bolts for holding on a thin sheet of stamped steel?? I'll take a picture next time that wheel is off.

          -Jon R.

          Comment


            #6
            not to go totally off topic but i know what you mean about those backing plate bolts being complete overkill. my friend actually designed custom brackets that mount to those bolt holes so he could use 323/DX front calipers/rotors on the rear, giving him 4 wheel vented discs. had trouble getting the brake bias set properly though.
            Escort GTR -- 11.87 @ 117.6 mph -- 320 HP / 325 Ft. Lbs. @ 23 PSI
            ... The first FWD BG with a Toyota E153 transmission conversion in the USA!
            Looking for BP x Toyota E153 adapter plates? PM me or contact me on Facebook: Riel Performance Parts

            Comment


              #7
              Jon.

              Glad you and Jen had a good result... It was fun to actually get out and spectate for once instead of wrenching... I am still trying to decide what to do with my 4wd once my Jeep is back on the road... Here is some of the pics that I took of you on saturday...
              Attached Files

              Comment


                #8
                Nice pictures, thanks Scott. Yeah, spectating is great when you can get the chance. I certainly know how boring it is sitting around waiting for service, I did it for three years straight and still do it occationally, for the right people, a certain VW comes to mind... I feel pretty good about the finish considering the tranny is missing the 1st gear syncro and the engine is still stock. Do you think Bill M. was pissed that I beat him at Rim and forced him to push harder at Gorman? 35 minutes late to a stage due to a little side trip to change a blown shock seems like someone who is very determined to finish in front of me.

                -Jon R.

                Comment


                  #9
                  The only thing we found wrong with the car now was its’ rapid tire wear. I’m running the hardest compound tire available, but with all the rocks, decent power and only one wheel drive (open diff.) the front tires were disappearing like a pencil eraser at a grade school math quiz. We decided, with my limited budget, to simply rotate the tires front to back, rather than destroying my only other two new tires.
                  What tires are you running. We run the medium compound hankooks and don't wear them too fast. Rotate them after one day of racing then sharpen them w/ the iron and do it again. W/ the escort it seems to be spin alot in one gear or bog in the next. We do seem to wear tires faster than the spec foci running the same.

                  To back up a bit and talk about the car, as a work in progress, certain things have been done and certain things haven’t. One of the things that hasn’t been removed to make the car lighter was the A/C. I couldn’t have been happier about this.
                  We kept the ac too. thats how we do it in the southeast. I have replaced the condenser twice (one off, one closed the hood w/o the secondary release brace thing and poked a hole in it) but I have parts cars. We're slow anyway. Might as well stay cool.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I was running the G30, hard compound tires. Yeah, I couldn't believe how fast they were wearing either. But, granite and quartzsite rocks make for a very abrasive surface. They are gone, I would keep them for spare and testing use only. Oh well, that's racing. Other races out here aren't so hard on the tires, more sand and hard pack dirt than rocks.
                    I'll be hanging on to the A/C as long as I can, and the cruise control.

                    -Jon R.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Jon.

                      I have another set of the michelins the narrow 15"s.. I think two 8's and two 9's if your interested... Its looking like were going to do laughlin again this year...

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I'm trying to build a new engine and a new tranny to run Prescott Oct. 5th, seems like another month and a half without sleep. Piers said they were planning on doing Laughlin. I was just up there last weekend with the organizer, giving charity rides on the Blake Ranch road. As for tires, I'm sticking with the Hankooks for now, but may be interested in the Mich. for spares, if the price is right.

                        -Jon R.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Sounds like a blast, and congrats on the good finish!

                          I'm kinda bummed, because I think the only rally-ish experience I'm going to get this year is a rallyX in november, since I'm not going to be able to make it to LSPR this year. Might try to make it to sno-drift, though, maybe helping with tech or something.

                          --sarge

                          Comment

                          Working...
                          X