I went rallycrossing yesterday! A few observations...

"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
12/14/2014 at 22:37 • Filed to: None

Overall the event was a bit of a farce as registration and organization issues held us up for FAR too long. I don't think it was worth the price of admission but I also feel like a lot of the problems were out of their control. The surface rapidly degraded and it was a bit of a joke by the end of it all as people were fighting the ground for traction of ANY kind rather than the course. But still, I got a decent run out of it.

A few notes

0.5) A few people asked me at the event if I was affiliated with Jalopnik.......I am not. Just need to clear that up, apparently.

1) Mud gets VERY slick, very fast. I was in the first run group so I had traction. And if you watch my video, you'll see how loosely I use the word "traction"

2) When your event is supposed to have the first car rollout at 9:30, 10:00 at the latest, but your driver's meeting doesn't get started until 11:00......yeah, you've got some problems. But the next event will "start" at 10:00 again.......hopefully things get fixed

3) I had an instructor sit in my car so I didn't ruin it the first time out. Thankfully I have enough experience autocrossing that his advice was limited to the more technical aspects of rallycrossing instead of "Okay, PLEASE stop hammering the gas and brake, they are pedals and not switches". So to all newbies - I recommend having an instructor sit in on your first few runs..... but I ran into a bit of a problem about his recommendation for left foot braking that leads me directly to.....

4) Those of you working turn #1 saw me stall on my third run. I took my instructors advice and tried a bit of left foot braking to rotate my car for that turn. But the electronics of the car cut ALL my power and nearly stalled me out while spitting error messages at me. I don't know what system does this as I disabled traction control completely. So for my recorded run, I just worked the throttle as best I could

5) I apparently did pretty well not on raw speed, but because I never hit a cone....outside of grid. But that doesn't count. So, like autocross, rallycross rewards control over power/speed. I was one of the very few competitors in my run group to not take out this one cone section caused by people entering it way too hot in too little of tire. Take a guess which corner in my video.

Photo credit goes to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , video is my own.

DISCUSSION (30)

Brian Silvestro > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/14/2014 at 22:39

0.5) A few people asked me if I was affiliated with Jalopnik.......I am not. Just need to clear that up apparently.

this has happened to me 3 times already.

Must be the car

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Brian Silvestro
12/14/2014 at 22:42

Yep. I was asking if someone had some sockets to tighten down my battery and multiple peopel said "Oh, youre the guy from jalopnik, right?" and when asked "Well I heard someone from jalopnik would be here in a fiesta ST"

....

............

................................................

*PRESSURE INTENSIFIES*

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/14/2014 at 22:44

I feel like I could do pretty well in those conditions in my 4Runner. Too bad the closest rallycross is a tank and a half away.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
12/14/2014 at 22:45

The wrangler rubicon did VERY well, as did the Rav4s. I aparently did quite well in my Fiesta ST in the 2WD classes. If you can drive it smoothly, you should do well.

Brian Silvestro > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/14/2014 at 22:45

Kinja's being an ass with the comment loading, so I'll just comment here again.

I've come to the conclusion that the Fiesta ST people are just "the guys from Jalopnik"

Was everyone there like "omg this car is new and not old hurr d durrrr" because that's my experience most of the time

That course is strangely tight and technical. It unnecessarily ruins most of the fun.

All Motor Is Best Motor > Brian Silvestro
12/14/2014 at 22:46

It's the Oppo stickers.

TheBaron2112 > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/14/2014 at 22:47

This may be a me problem, but I feel like the Fiesta's suspension isn't really cut out/set up/meant for rallycross. I would be very worried about it in something like this.

All Motor Is Best Motor > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/14/2014 at 22:48

Video sounds like a furiously fapping furry.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > TheBaron2112
12/14/2014 at 22:49

It was a LOT less bumpy than the camera would lead you to believe. I did very well for a first timer and the car's suspension and chassis gave me a very high level of control. It is absolutely capable of autocrossing as long as you have some decent tires on it.

Takuro Spirit > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/14/2014 at 22:50

I need to rallycross the Camry.... Not sure why I never did it with my Subaru, same thing goes for ice racing.

Hmm, maybe once the timing belt gets done. Don't want to pull an Orlove and break the motor on the ride home.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/14/2014 at 22:50

I'm guessing the 4WD class went last?

Brian Silvestro > All Motor Is Best Motor
12/14/2014 at 22:51

Kinja'd!!!

I can't load your comment towards me so I'll just reply here.

I actually have a jalopnik sticker on my car so....

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Brian Silvestro
12/14/2014 at 22:51

No, everyone wanted to know how much I had driven it. Apparently in Michigan not many people buy them but those that do rack up a lot of miles very quickly........this was an abnormal year so I *maybe* put on 15k in 8 months.......but who cares, really?

And the course is tight because the course falls apart fast. At around the 1:15 mark, people were sliding off left and right in the later runs. I worked those last few corners and it was BAD. Subarus were unable to traverse it decently and multiple people took out 10+ cones on each run. It was a disaster by the end of it all.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Takuro Spirit
12/14/2014 at 22:53

Yeah, just be gentle and smooth with the throttle. I feel like having the power/torque of my motor helped out a ton as I just had to gently nudge it to get what I needed. I never stomped it. The stock cobalt and the xB in stock front that were on full throttle all the time? They hit a ton of cones. My FiST retained composure and I got a decent showing for the morning session. Too bad the course fell apart by the afternoon.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
12/14/2014 at 22:53

Yes, after the stock front and rear classes went, modified/prepared 2WD classes went, then there were two groups of AWD classes.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > All Motor Is Best Motor
12/14/2014 at 22:54

Yeah, welcome to poorly mounted action cam videos. I'll try to fix it for the next one.

Brian Silvestro > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/14/2014 at 22:54

gib moar clay fields

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Brian Silvestro
12/14/2014 at 23:00

Next event is supposed to be better. This one took place in a famer's old pig sty......I'm pretty sure I mean that literally as it was a farm and we were inside a fenced off area.

Next one is January 3rd and I'm bringing along some good luck. I'll make another post then.

Takuro Spirit > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/14/2014 at 23:01

That track looked like shit... and the one time you COULD get traction... yeah.

My Camry has too much low end for slippery conditions so I'm sure it'd be horrible on that kind of mud as well, and I'd be hard pressed to not gun the shit out of it to get 'er goin. Plus my local rallycross track is a few hours away, I would need to buy a helmet, pay admission, not piss off the wife..... Still wanna do it, at least once.

TheBaron2112 > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/14/2014 at 23:18

Autocrossing, I don't doubt. Rallycross is my fear.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Takuro Spirit
12/14/2014 at 23:20

If you're near west michigan any time soon, let me know. I might have an open seat or let you drive if you want.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > TheBaron2112
12/14/2014 at 23:21

It all depends on the course. Rlalycrosses without many rocks or gravel are just fine. And during the winter, the snow helps even out the course so you don't have as many bumps and whatnot.

Takuro Spirit > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/15/2014 at 08:11

I never make it across the Mich. :(

Captain of the Enterprise > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/15/2014 at 16:29

Fellow Michigander here, where is the event and how can I participate?

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Captain of the Enterprise
12/15/2014 at 16:33

Detroit area SCCA rallycross events

Bacon > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
01/03/2015 at 19:59

You can't left foot brake in modern cars anymore without some modification, thanks to the whole "Unintended Acceleration" fiasco a few years back. However, in the Fiesta, you might not need to, as the traction control does understeer correction for you (which is the point of left foot braking). I have not rallycrossed my base '14 Fiesta yet, but it does doughnuts quite well without needing to use the parking brake.

How did you like today's Rallycross?

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Bacon
01/04/2015 at 22:28

Yesterday was epic. The first few runs were incredible and I had plenty of grip to really go at it compared to thistle hill. The afternoon got slick but the third run was good. Bit of a shame some water got on my camera for that run. I'm also kicking myself for letting the mian battery die in the camera. I brought a spare but the grid was too tight for me to have the time to change it before recording any of my awesome runs including my last run of the morning where I basically went nuts with the sideways action.

Bacon > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
01/05/2015 at 00:39

Nice. I just couldn't discipline myself enough to stay out of the power, haha. BTW, you are allowed some time for a "mechanical" in between runs if you need to do anything. I believe the time limit is 10 minutes before you are given a MAX for that run.

Curt Styler > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
01/12/2015 at 11:18

Hey sauceman, manwithsauce, sauceyman, etc...

I know this is a month old but I'm curious how the FiST held up to the rattles of rallycross. Any damage to the body work or underbelly? Did having an extra person drop the suspension at all?

I'm looking at a Fiesta ST but am also planning a few road trips that would lead me down very many dirt roads in the western US. I want to get some idea of how it could hold up long term. I understand a rallycross course isn't the same as 400 miles of gravel roads, but I'm trying to piece together info where ever I can. Any thoughts you have would be helpful.

Thanks!

-Curt

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Curt Styler
01/12/2015 at 15:29

It handles the rallycrosses quite well, but it has a lot of torque so I'm still learning how to be "delicate" to get the power down. The suspension seemed better with two people in it and there was no lowering or dropping that I noticed. three people + about 300lbs of cargo? That *did* make things difficult......

I did do a 4000 mile road trip in 5 days.....alone......just me and my car. Loved every second of it . Plus I got to do the ST octane academy program where they teach you some basics of getting more out of these cars. Highly recommend these little buggers if you want both speed, fun, and a cheap price to buy and run. Insurance on this thing is CHEAP compared to the FoST for me.