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Wilson update. Not much to say.
He has 80/100 Watt bulbs in now. Tested them 2 nights ago. A deer tried to kill himself & me & Wilson all in one go. Happy to say that Wilson & I survived without a scratch & the deer might think before he acts next time. But probably not. Some of those wild animals are so skittish.
Thinking a lot before acting with big ***** styles. What do I want? Well having 2 Porsches now allows me to compromise less I suppose.
I am fascinated by rally driving. But too scared to really let loose. So need to take it slow. It is so warm lately that winter driving is now coming to a close & I want to be ready for a lot of Auto X events and maybe even a session on the big track. I will buy some good rubber this year. And just get some seat time.
Funny in the past I usually HATE winter. But now that I have awesome winter tires & weight in the back of Wilson, it is a lot of fun actually.
Which brings me to mods.
Mods....
I am not really in the "mod mode" but I need to address suspension & alignment. After that, tires & seat time. But do I stiffen the suspension? If so, I think I'd like adjustable shocks to ease the pain of the long drives. I thought about going with SPAX coil overs but I don't know if I can run at stock North American ride height... which I think is ideal for the road/track/gravel type of mixed driving I do. I also don't know if SPAX can be shipped to Canada because "pressurized".
That is a very interesting video. There are a few things that really stand out to me.
1) Clearly Volvo is a very popular rally car in its home country.
2) That particular junction where many cars completely missed the turn suffers from one or more problems. Either a) it is not well marked in advance with pointer arrows, b) the teams are not using stage notes, or c) there are a lot of drivers that are not paying attention to either (including their navigator).
3) Many of the spectators are not overly concerned for their safety. One thing I learned a long time ago was to try and find a very large tree to put between yourself and rally cars. Based on how sloppy many of these drivers were - I would have been especially careful of this.
4) There is a positive to this lack of safety concern, though. The spectators definitely feel more a part of the action. Witness the guys helping to get cars back on the road or, in the case of one car (potentially), out of harm's way. Here in the states - the spectators are roped into designated areas and kept "safe" by the marshals.
For what it's worth - CARS have a few western Canadian rallies. It might be worth investigating if you want to get involved with stage rally. I would think there are also other forms of rally available with a lower level of commitment, both in money and preparation level. We call them Road Rallies or TSD (time, speed, distance) here. It's a good place to get started with car prep and driver/navigator team building.
In Sweden rally is almost a national sport. That gives a lot of cars and spectators.
Volvo original cup(VOC) is very popular. Volvos are cheap, and easy to tune.
In local rallyes, pace notes are not allowed. They use Safety notes. Very simple notes like:
Start
10km. T junction turn left.
5,5 km.
Finish
Each weekend you will have 3 -5 rallyes in a radius off 100 miles. With 40 - 130 starting cars in each event.
So the spectators have quite a routine in rally spectating, and take good care of each other.
Yes, there’s just something about a sports car with knobby tires being piloted off pavement that seems so perfectly delicious. Rally teams have made a reputation for going full throttle through the woods. It’s freaking insane what these people do and the level of driving skill commands respect.
Last weekend my buddy Brian (aka “the Beard”) and I chose to participate in the “Trail of the Gnu”, a Time-Distance Rally in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada. This was my first rally and Brian’s second.
My main concern was the exhaust system on “Wilson the Great”. Wilson is my 1988 naturally aspirated 944. And although Wilson is generally really well maintained, I had an exhaust failure that needed repair.
With last minute custom exhaust patches & brackets & bushing hangers fabricated, the fart cannon was re-attached to Wilson’s underbelly & tire pressures were checked & lugnuts torque. The hatch was closed & at 5:30 am I placed a cup of coffee on the driver’s door & picked up the Beard in the city.
On the way to Rocky we had the most violent of tire failures. At this moment it seemed like we were doomed; not even half way to our destination point & this happens. Fortunately we had the 28 year old oem “space master” spare. To our surprise, this skinny tire worked excellent.
Finding a replacement winter tire in spring time actually was quite a challenge, but the mighty Bearded Brian took matters into his own hands & with some sweet talkin’ we were soon rollin’ on some new rubber. Yesss.
Eric Grochowski was our contact at the hotel when we showed up in Rocky. He and his team of staff got us on track with a minimum of waste and time. Soon after our arrival we were lined up and ready to rip-****-up in the outback.
Conditions are dusty and the sun is bright
Wish I caught more sleep last night
The car is loaded, more than ever before
I got a tire carcass, a full tank, Bearded Brian and more
“1, 2, 3… GO!!” the Beard says and so I hit the pedal in 1st. “in .7 kilometers turn left at the 3 way intersection”
My heart is pumping. I am nervous. We start on tarmac & the road twists & turns. Soon it becomes dirt. Every few moment Brian tells me instructions or coaches me otherwise. This is a team event & he’s the navigator. I just concentrate on the driving… don’t hit a tree or deer and watch for oncoming vehicles. Simple, right?
Driving on the dirt is fun. I have driven on snow and gravel before, but never dirt. This dirt allows for more sure-footedness and far less tire squirm compared to gravel. It’s more interesting than paved road because of the uneven and dusty surface.
“Watch out for this corner. Double caution!” Brian later remarks that last year going over the edge of the cliff was a distinct possibility and his only near death experience because their car was carrying a bit too much speed.
We get to the end of the Regularity (timed portion) and proceed through the Transit (non timed). At a casual pace… sometimes going through “quiet areas” and low speed sections. What I noticed this morning was compared to Autocross events, there is a lot more driving time. There is about a ten minute wait before the beginning of each regularity (as each car leaves on time, typically one minute apart) and then we start on the next seven or so pages of directions that help us navigate through the second Regularity. Today there are 48 pages of directions… that’s a lot of driving!
“Go!!” Brian yells as I rev the engine up to 4000 before second gear & we have 1.5 kilometers of straight on this road before any turn. Wilson (the car) is originally from New York, USA and as such, his odometer is in miles. This factor is one of the reasons I am nervous, because any time there is calculations involved, there is an opportunity for error. One wrong turn can send you completely off course. And it’s easy to get lost out here.
Somewhere in the middle of this regularity it gets rough. I’m thinking about the front control arms & oil pan at this point. There are big ruts created by big trucks in the past when conditions were really wet. It has been so dry for so long that these ruts are as hard as rock now, and to hit them in the wrong way is going to mean death for Wilson. Yup. All the way out here in the middle of nowhere. I can’t accept that. So I go slow through these technical sections, and pick up the speed wherever possible. Honestly my objectives this first time around is to: 1) Survive 2) Have fun 3) Learn
After the second regularity, I’ve loosened up and the driving is better, smoother, quicker. No longer am I tired. I feel invigorated, and Brian & is cackling with his Dr. Evil laugh. This transition happened in the muddy sections… pick a line & carry speed through. Ridiculously fun and entertaining! Felt exactly like driving a four by four in the mud, just with less clearance. At this point I am shocked at the 944’s ability in this arena.
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Fun Facts:
-De-powered steering was not a problem whatsoever.
-Newish soft compound winter tires had plenty o’ grip.
-By disconnecting the air box intake tube from wheel well we increased the height of the water line limit, but water/mud still splashes over the nose into air box.
-At just 160 horsepower, the engine was MORE than enough power 80% of the time (for my driving skill), 10% of the time it was just enough torque & 10% it felt underpowered.
-The mighty 944 had enough clearance in stock North American form to perform the tasks in the outback for this level of Rally driving.
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So the 944 felt like the perfect weapon of choice for me. Brian and I were both very pleased & agree the weak link is the driver. These truly are versatile & capable machines even in stock mode. A warning however: You will probably get water on the floorboards, so carpet will get wet. Wilson was fine because he is a semi-race car & carpets are a thing of the past.
After lunch we drove out again; paved, gravel, dirt, potholes, mud… you name it. This is the most fun we could possibly have in our car. A few regularities & transits later & we noticed a rear tire had a big tear in the side-wall, non repairable. To the rescue was the “sweepers” of the organization… they helped guide us back to civilization. And from there we had a scenic drive home… on 3 mis-matched winters and one Porsche space master tire.
I’d like to thank Calgary Sports Car Club, Rallysport and all of the volunteers & organizers.
Photo credit: Brian Storzuk and Shawn Bishop
AWE..........SOME!!!!! LEG...N....DARY Truly, totally, completely amazingly incredible. Panorama needs to pick up your rally story!!!
Do they not sell 10 ply tires up there??? LOL When delivering papers the only way our guys could get tires to hold up on rural routes (dirt roads) was 10 ply's. I haven't done rally, or even looked into it, but I'd think something along those lines would be in order. As your experience shows. I'm sure they make rally tires right? Might be something akin to the 10 plys. I don't think I would subject my current P-car to this abuse, but a track car sounds like it would be a blast.... May need to find me my own "Wilson"......
You have me really wanting to look into rally now.... not sure if I want to thanks you.... or slap you! LOL
Thanks so much for sharing this Noah!!!! These are truly amazing cars.
EDIT: Considering I just threw my 944 on the concrete floor, I'm not sure rally could be much worse. After my treatment a Rally might be a vacation for my poor 944.....
EDIT EDIT: Wonder how you submit a story to Pana for consideration? Anyone know? Anyone have contact over there? Wilson and his first Rally would make a good article.
Wonderful to hear your story of rallying. Rally is so demanding and fun.
You should buy a set of rally tires. It will be cheaper in the end. They got stronger sidewalls, and do not puncture so often. Put tubes in the wheels. If you break a rim. Sometimes the tire will still be drivable.
951Dreams, boy you sure no how to compliment... I blush at you. Thank you. I am happy to be a part of FLUSSIG MAGAZINE presently though.
Per, great idea on the tubes. I should pack tubes as emergency maybe. One volunteer said he runds winters with tubes in the winter, but also credits true rallye tires for being *much* more substantial.
He said 15" is the standard Rallye size. Is that the same in Denmark?
Noah -
Howabout picking up 3 more "spare wheels" and using those as your rally wheels?
Surely the steel will hold up better to abuse than an alloy (bend vs crack).
You'd have to run a narrower tire but that doesn't matter a whole lot on gravel/mud, does it?
02-10-2016, 11:43 PM
951Dreams, boy you sure no how to compliment... I blush at you. Thank you. I am happy to be a part of FLUSSIG MAGAZINE presently though. 