Clubman rally car build in <2 months
If you’ve been following us for a while you would know a few months ago we started a journey with a Clubman rally car build and a girl. Well those plans have changed. After a couple of false starts we began moving in the right direction in late March. By then it was just under…
How much does it cost to build a rally car?
How much does it cost to build a WRX rally car? This year I’ve been asked at least 20 times: “How much does it cost to build a rally car?” To be honest in the past I’ve hesitated posting about it because there are a LOT of variables. Now however I think now it’s time…
Subaru WRX Rally Car build – Part 2
Blog lagging build It’s been a long while since we updated the blog on the build of this Subaru WRX rally car. It was actually completed in mid 2019 so we’re a bit behind! Righto, let’s continue from where we left off from WRX rally car build part 1. Fuelling the Subaru WRX rally car…
LED light bar mounts for Rally Cars
This is a review of new LED light bar mounts. We’ve been searching for a solution to conventional rally car lighting for some time. Almost as long as the sport of rally has existed there’s been night stages which means racing in the dark. That presents its own unique challenges and one of those is…
WRX rally car build – Part 1
It’s actually been quite a while since we’ve done a WRX rally car build from scratch. The last few Imprezas that we’ve had in the workshop have been second hand rally cars. We’ve only had to modify and re-prepare them before taking them onto the stages. That all changed late last year when a customer…
2019 Fire Extinguisher Rules
Many seem to trip up on the requirements for this simple yet mandatory safety equipment. Let’s take a look at the 2019 fire extinguisher rules for motorsport. Hand Held Fire Extinguishers Testing How often does a fire extinguisher need testing? The straight answer is every three years. This is determined by the date stamped into…
Fitting a Hydraulic handbrake to a Ford Fiesta rally car
R1 Spec Ford Fiesta Effectively the R1 spec Ford Fiesta is an entry level into the Word Rally Championship (WRC). The class was developed by Ford and M-Sport based on the production model car. Many of us are probably familiar with the Fiesta World Rally Car or Ken Block’s Gymkhana machines. Ford wanted to include a…
Daihatsu Applause rally car build part 3
Snatched from the jaws of the crusher post 3. Rear Brakes Now the suspension was sorted, the rear brake fittings could be completed. First task was to remove the obsolete factory cable handbrake and blank off the cable openings in the tunnel. A new hydraulic handbrake meant making up and welding in a mounting bracket as…
Daihatsu Applause rally car build part 2
Saved from the crusher post 2. Our attention then turned to the interior of the car. We set about completing some minor seam welding around the rear towers, tidying a few areas and removing the factory seat mount brackets. The owner wanted different race seats from those already in the car so we also added some…
Daihatsu Applause rally car build part 1
Rescued from the jaws of the crusher post 1. This story started with a casual chat at our end of year car club presentation in November 2015. As with any motorsport function, the conversation got around to cars and particularly what may be available to use for the Clubman Cup. At that time there weren’t…