Rally America tv shows right here

[SubaruNorway]

Apparently all rounds are uploaded at youtube by the organisers themselfs
Not bad quality either.

http://www.youtube.com/user/RallyAmericaSeries

realy cool to folow, better than BRC i think

[Maui J.]

Thanks for the link SubNorge.
Great videos of the whole championship. Look like some great roads.
Wow! Energy Drinks seem to power the Rally America Series... Travis with Red Bull, Block with Monster, Tanner and Pinker with Rockstar.
Energy Drinks are the new cigarettes I guess. Not sure what will kill you first.

Can someone explain the 3 main 4WD groups please. Open, GT and Production.
Is Production the same as Group N?

[L5->R5/CR]

Can someone explain the 3 main 4WD groups please. Open, GT and Production.
Is Production the same as Group N?

Open is a a blend between N4 and WRC type specifications.

The cars are similiar to N4 cars but there are fewer restrictions, so most of the teams run larger motors (2.3l seems to be the sweet spot), different and more powerful turbo set ups (a top spec open class car is claimed to make up to 450 foot pounds of torque for instance), up graded brakes, lighter body panels, different gear boxes and can do more to prepare the shells like more engineering in the sub-frames and things like that. A top spec Open car will cost around $300,000.00 to build...

In the US a top spec N4 car will cost around $150,000.00 to build

Production GT is a US specification (shared with a similar formula in Canada). These are basically stock awd turbo vehicles. You can remove the rear interior, take out the head liner and carpet, and make safety modifications. For power you can do whatever you want to the boost but can't touch the motor, turbo, or intercooler. You can put in whatever suspension you want as long as you use the factory pick up points (RS&SP suspension is really popular in the class right now) and you can also install passive mechanical differentials. All of the consumables like filters and brake pads can be replaced with aftermarket parts but you have to use the factory housings. Piggy back ECUs and re-flashes are allowed so it is possible to have anti-lag but virtually nobody runs it. Some teams are probably putting in cyro treated gears but they have to be mechanically identical to the stock parts. With race fuel, increased boost, and ECU modifications most PGT teams are getting to around the 190-220 BPH range. Top spec PGT cars cost around $18,000.00 + car to build.

Production is a similar specification to Production GT but for 2wd and non-turbo charged vehicles (although with a small enough motor you can run AWD in production). You can basically make safety modifications and thats it. Production will cost about $10,000.00 + car

We also have a Group 2 and Group 5 class. Group 2 and Group 5 costs are too variable.

Group 2 is sort of a free for all for limited displacement 2wd vehicles. You can run from a Production car with re-enforced parts to a S1600 type vehicle (I actually think should someone be inclined that a s1600 car would be legal). In Group 5 you can do all of the same things as Group 2 but with bigger motors. You could run a big V8 or a turbo/super charged power plant if you wanted to.


To give you a range of speed that classes are basically in this hierarchy (in terms of potential):
Production-----G2----Production GT--G5---N4------Open


In terms of how the classes actually perform the Production GT class has good competition so those drivers are really trying to get everything so they get a bit closer to the N4 cars and normally beat most of the G5 cars.

If you have any more questions just ask. I work as a photographer/journo here in the US and I focus on rally and I also work with/for one of the top PGT teams (although 2007 was not so good for us).

All of the prices are approximations to have a shop build a top spec car, most cars are that are actually running in the series are built for less if not a fraction.

[Maui J.]

Thanks for the info L5.
I didn't realise the Open Class had that many horses under the bonnet.
Is there any moves to realign the championship to make it more international spec, ie Group N? Could be a way to encourage more manufacturers especially with S2000 growing so fast.

Another question regarding the Hyundai Tribion. Is this car AWD in production form? I'm not too familiar with this car, but it looks the same as the Hyundai S-Coupe which to my knowledge was only 2WD.

Another question while we are at it. Any more news of Travis doing the PWRC next year. I spoke with Ken Block at Rally NZ and he said Travis was all set to go, but basically that's the only news I have heard regarding this matter. Any updates?

[SubaruNorway]

Tried to get them to upload it on streetfire but it's not realy happening it seems

http://videos.streetfire.net/profile...ricaSeries.htm

[L5->R5/CR]

Thanks for the info L5.
I didn't realise the Open Class had that many horses under the bonnet.

I'm not exactly saying they make that much, just what they are claimed to make. The reality is probably closer to 330-360, but its a lot.

Is there any moves to realign the championship to make it more international spec, ie Group N? Could be a way to encourage more manufacturers especially with S2000 growing so fast.

Not really. There are a lot of FIA inspired or based rules but there isn't really a focus on alignment or "internationalizing" the series. In fact, due to lack of participation, Group N will be discontinued as a championship class for 2008.

Another question regarding the Hyundai Tribion. Is this car AWD in production form? I'm not too familiar with this car, but it looks the same as the Hyundai S-Coupe which to my knowledge was only 2WD.

These cars are jokingly referred to as Hyundabishi's in the US. They are Tiburon coupe bodies, and are now running Hyundai power plants, but the drive train is based on that of a Mitsubishi Evolution. In the Open class you can modify the drive train and configuration (if you convert a front wheel drive to rear wheel drive you will be put in Open class for instance). The Tiburon's were originally developed and built by US Rally Legend John Buffum for an importer/Factory backed Hyundai team. All the cars running through this year are hold overs or a reshell from that project. Antione L'Estage has support from Hyundai Canada and I believe is working on a full evolution for next year.

Another question while we are at it. Any more news of Travis doing the PWRC next year. I spoke with Ken Block at Rally NZ and he said Travis was all set to go, but basically that's the only news I have heard regarding this matter. Any updates?

There isn't really any more news except that there doesn't appear to be a single date conflict with the Rally America series and a PWRC campaign schedule (there will be a handful of back to back rally weekends though which might prove interesting going from US Open to N4 so quickly). Travis's co-driver posts on these forums sometimes so perhaps he will chime in but I'd say no news is good news?



And re: streetfire. Street fire has a less than desirable reputation to it in the US than YouTube. It's not about how many people see the videos but what kind of added value there is, YouTube with its "limitations" offers more value than StreetFire.

[SubaruNorway]

In that case youtube has a less than desirable reputation it in Norway. It's the same all over the world, think youtube is even baned in Turkey and some countries in Asia. 2/3 of streetfire are americans so it doesen't hurt to get it on there as i've heard many people doesen't even know there are an rally championship in US, they've only heard of wrc

[Maui J.]

Thanks for all the info again L5.
John Buffum is known by many NZers because of his duals back in the US champs Group B days against ex-pat Kiwi Rod Millen.

Ahh, the Hyundabishi! That explains a lot. I wondered how it was so competitive against the established AWD cars.

Look forward to seeing Travis down here at Rally NZ '08 in the PWRC.

[L5->R5/CR]

In that case youtube has a less than desirable reputation it in Norway. It's the same all over the world, think youtube is even baned in Turkey and some countries in Asia. 2/3 of streetfire are americans so it doesen't hurt to get it on there as i've heard many people doesen't even know there are an rally championship in US, they've only heard of wrc

The problem you are overlooking is that putting the videos on YouTube isn't about reaching the most people, it is about creating value for sponsors. YouTube in the US has a quantifiable commercial value, StreetFire, not so much.

There is a very delicate balance that has to be found between Rally America paying for the footage to be shot and produced, working with ESPN2 so that they are happy and willing partners in the original broadcasts, and finding a way to increase the commercial value of the series. StreetFire is great at getting views, but its demographic value is much narrower and its commercial value much more difficult to determine. If it was just about getting viewers a broader net of Google Video, Streetfire, YouTube, and any number of other sites would all be appropriate, but its not.

The reality is that in all likelihood there is more value to sponsors if you can sit down and say; "We get a .6 on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD with a demographic breakdown of ________ and average over 150,000 views in the first week on our YouTube channel." In the US a whole heck of a lot more companies know about YouTube and see value in it than say in StreetFire.

[L5->R5/CR]

A little clarification on the Tiburons.

The information I had was a little sparse, someone a bit more in the know than I on the specifics of at least one if not both sent me an e-mail to let me know that the rear end is from a Subaru WRC. Essentially the drive train is a hodge podge of proven rally parts from the usual suspects (I was under the mistaken impression that they were mainly Mitsubishi but they are at least partially Subaru).

They are very nice and very well built cars.

Here are the weights from the New England Forest Rally, you can see the Tiburon is much closer to the minimum weight than the SRT-USA cars

#199 3160lbs - SRT USA Subaru
#17 2892lbs - Tiburon
#43 3063lbs - SRT USA Subaru

Here are weights from the Susuehannock Trail Rally:
Car 11 - Tiburon weight 2842 lbs
car 199- SRTUSA Subaru weight 3130 lbs
car 5- SYMS Subaru weight 3129 lbs
car 74 - Private Evolution weight 3061 lbs

And here are weights from Oregon Trail:
5 SYMS Subaru 3147
43 SRTUSA Subaru 3125
34 SYMS Subaru 3268
11 Tiburon 2910
18 Private Subaru 2925