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I bought Zelda back in 2006 from a Mercedes dealership in New Jersey... 18k miles, SPOTLESS, the girl in the red dress... I met her on an internet dating site called autotrader and drove five hours from New Hampshire to pick her up! FIREWORKS! Love at first sight!!
We had so much fun together over the years! Trips to the beach, road trips down the east coast, shows, meets every weekend, shopping online together for new parts; I thought I had finally found the perfect girl, but something was missing and we were growing apart. Something had to change or we weren't going to last.
Fast forward to 2009.. I attend my first stage rally event as a spectator in Maine, the New England Forest Rally, part of the Rally America series. Something inside me changes, a fire is lit, not a fire but an INFERNO... I want to be the guy driving 80mph on a single lane dirt road. I want to become a rally driver! I HAVE to become a rally driver! That is when the madness began!
Spend another year spectating, but I want more! So I do some searching online and find my local SCCA RallyCross club schedule and rulebook, which was a great place to start! The next step was to find a racecar!! I buy a junker 4-door Saturn ION off of my buddy for $800 and strip out as much weight as I can. Seems legit! Tires get swapped out for snows, and I attend my first event at Team O'Neil Rally School up in the woods of Northern New Hampshire! At this point I AM HOOKED!!
I pick up some proper gravel tires and spend year or so in the Saturn before realizing that it’s holding me back. It's a TANK. I need something lighter and more agile, A proper rally platform! I drive by a small used car dealer in my hometown and they have a Focus SVT on the corner of the lot. Perfect! SOLD!
THIS IS IT!! Colin McRae dominated the WRC in a Focus and there is a reason why... it is an absolute BEAST in the dirt! I spend two years perfecting my driving skills, but ultimately give up on the car due to reliability issues (reference: Fix Or Repair Daily, Found On Road Dead, or my personal favorite.. F****d On Race Day). At the time I was prepping the Z as a full-time drift car, and I decide that it would be best to concentrate all my efforts into ONE racecar.
After a few months without rally, I am losing my mind. Life feels incomplete. Then I get this crazy idea one day… HOLD MY BEER (literally)… What if I ran the Z for fun at one of the RallyCross events? It's going to get beat drifting anyways! What's the worst that could happen? As we say in rally, SEND IT!!! I load her up on the trailer and head out! At this point I am on all seasons, stance coilovers, and my car is two inches off the ground… stance nation. Guess what happens next?! I get stuck in the mud (twice!), lose a few body panels, and nearly rip off my exhaust, but I'm having the TIME OF MY LIFE!
The most fun that I have ever had behind the wheel of a car, and everybody loved it! A 350z?!?! DUDE!! At this point I realize what Zelda was missing her whole life.. she just wanted to Rally Car!!!!! So I trade in the Focus for a proper tow rig, swap my OE suspension back in, find a beefy skidplate, and pick up some 16" Z32 300ZX wheels and fresh winter tires... BOOM!!! $**t just got real!!
I spend two more years racing and making friends... friends that are stepping up to the next level (aka Stage Rally) where the cones are trees. I want to party between the trees too, so I get more involved with the New England Forest Rally in 2014 and 2015 by volunteering and learning the ins and outs of stage rally from behind the scenes. The BEST way to learn about rally is to volunteer. If you are interested DO IT! Seriously!! Being able to drive on the stage roads is a plus too
I attend every event that I can! Learning. Improving. There's always something new to learn and seat time is worth more than gold! RWD is a special kind of animal off pavement... Steer with the skinny pedal and keep her sideways!! When the car is sideways it’s easier to make a quick change of direction. More gas generally means more sideways, but also squats the rear of the car down and creates more traction (when there is traction… surfaces may and WILL vary). It's a fine line and a dance with the devil once you're in the woods, so you better make sure that you're damn good at dancing!
In the spring of 2014, Zelda gets a world class makeover in my garage. Rattle cans or die!! Serious preparations have begun and I am researching every aspect of building a rally car. A lot of stuff is universal but there are certainly unknowns when you're building a rally car that has not been built before (stateside at least). Nobody said it would be easy! I talk with Method Race Wheels in California and they custom machine a set of gravel wheels for me, the same wheels that Subaru Rally Team uses! Combine those with a set of medium compound DMACK grippa's, and it's without any doubt the first 350z in the country (and probably the world) on a 15" gravel setup! SO MUCH GRIP!!!!
So here we are now!! Prepping and saving for the safety and suspension bits required to make the step up to stage rally! Braaap braaaaaaaap!!!!!
Now THAT is insanely awesome!! Have not ever seen any rally coverage on this forum (and I don't wonder why, I guess)!
Today's History Lesson: Let's not forget that while the early Datsun road racing guys got all the glory and press back in the day, it was the 1971 East African Rally 1-2 finish by the 240Z that really showed the world Nissan's prowess in car building and racing.
I haven't really followed much rallying since the John Buffum, Rod Millen (Steve' brother) days!! (30 years ago or so!) Thanks for the share!!
I was watching some 350Z rally racing on Youtube a while back and loved it. To see a 350Z rally car in Brock colors is enough to make me forego the Viagra. Using the country club sign as an undershroud is a stroke of genius.
Thanks man!! Those were the glory days! The 240z that won the safari rally wore the number 11 too!
I just finished reading Buffums biography 'In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion'- great book!! I actually had a chance to meet him at the New England Forest Rally in 2014.. Awesome guy and a huge inspiration
RallyZ, dammit, now I'm all stoked about doing a rally build and running in NorCal Rallycross!
OK, here's the thing, I know just about dang near everything about making a car go fast on a track/road. However, I have ZERO knowledge about what constitutes an "offroad setup" for a Z33.
Just spent last hour googling "350z rally set up" and found some fairly useful information but wondered if you - without giving up any speed secrets - could give us a lowdown on proper building a 350Z for rally usage? Maybe a quick synopsis or a play by play as your season goes on.
Main focus for me would be suspension/brake/e-brake setup, leaving drivetrain stock.
On the driving side of things, I have a bit of offroad experience in one of my 240Zs, nothing major - simple gimmick and TSD rallies with short offroad stages - but know how to use the handbrake/wheel/pedal combination to get around a tight corner while fighting for traction.
Gonna need to heed my own advice about driving school... There's a couple of Rallycross schools coming up. Might change my HPDE plans to attend one of 'em.
Anyway, I'm sub'd for progress with your car/race series!
I'm on OE springs and fresh shocks right now and have more than enough ground clearance for RallyCross! The stock suspension handles the bumps of dirt and gravel exceptionally well, but I am having a set of custom gravel dampers made to handle the abuse of stage roads.
The only clearance issue that I've had is with bumper covers and sideskirts.. and if you're worried about those then rally is not the sport for you! haha
MicVelo- Aside from some left foot braking to control weight transfer, you won't need the brakes too much! I run OE rotors (slotted/drilled will pick up rocks and debris) and nismo pads. You will not need a hydro e-brake whatsoever, all of the quick direction changes will be controlled by your right foot "Steer from the rear"
Oh awesome to see you here, I featured you on @driven.z Now I can drool over your rally Z more as you slowly convert me to rally my 350Z. I've been getting a lot of practice in the snow lately (No not just doing donuts in parking lots lol.)
Damb and in eastern Massachusetts... I would have thought that this was going to be some stick town in western Mass...
That looks fun but I can barely drive on the public roads without losing my fillings. Although I dont know how much worse the dirt track could possibly be compared to Massachusetts roads.
Oh awesome to see you here, I featured you on @driven.z Now I can drool over your rally Z more as you slowly convert me to rally my 350Z. I've been getting a lot of practice in the snow lately (No not just doing donuts in parking lots lol.)
HEY! I know you haha
Thanks for all the love on the page! People kept asking if I was on the forums so I figured I would make a post
Originally Posted by dboyzalter
Damb and in eastern Massachusetts... I would have thought that this was going to be some stick town in western Mass...
That looks fun but I can barely drive on the public roads without losing my fillings. Although I dont know how much worse the dirt track could possibly be compared to Massachusetts roads.
Haha we race in Western MA (Cummington Fairgrounds) every October and all over New England- Mount Snow, Rochester NH Fairgrounds, Stafford Springs CT, Okemo Mountain in VT, NE Dragway in NH.. Each site is different and more or less rough than the roads in MA haha. The New England Forest Rally in Maine is a Stage Rally (part of the Rally America series) and a whole different animal- that's what I'm prepping for now. You get used to the bottoming out, and you learn to love all the gravel noise under the car Haha.
If you or anyone else can make it out to an event I can get you in the passenger seat for a run or two.. I have an extra helmet
Awesome I didn't think you had a passenger seat in that bad boy... Honestly my back hurts just thinking about it, but I would definitely come out as a spectacular and try to capture some good action shots...
Awesome I didn't think you had a passenger seat in that bad boy... Honestly my back hurts just thinking about it, but I would definitely come out as a spectacular and try to capture some good action shots...
Haha come on out! Planning on posting up the race schedule as I learn about it- first event is March 6th at NE Dragway in Epping, NH (may or may not attend). Followed by April 23rd at Rochester Fairgrounds in Rochester, NH- one of my favorite sites! The first two pictures in the thread are from Rochester, it's huge and we get a ton of grip.
02-03-2016, 11:59 AM
350Z Rally Car!!!!
So I trade in the Focus for a proper tow rig, swap my OE suspension back in, find a beefy skidplate, and pick up some 16" Z32 300ZX wheels and fresh winter tires... BOOM!!! $**t just got real!!
There's a couple of Rallycross schools coming up. Might change my HPDE plans to attend one of 'em.
