rollcage group buy anyone???

[Chris_C]

Kaos, are you doing road rallying or stage events?

Special stage rallies - silverstone BTRDA etc

Hope you've got some pennies stacked up dude Won't a BARS and umpteen signatures be needed before you can get to that level? +fully logbooked car, so indate belts, seats, overalls and helmet?

[kaos]

Kaos, are you doing road rallying or stage events?

Special stage rallies - silverstone BTRDA etc

Hope you've got some pennies stacked up dude Won't a BARS and umpteen signatures be needed before you can get to that level? +fully logbooked car, so indate belts, seats, overalls and helmet?

pennies ive got a year till the next one lol. I'll be entering the Somerset Stage of the BTRDA this years entry costs for a car up to 2l non WRC spec was £400 minimum. for the whole 2 days inc the insurance and management vehicle( crew-mechanics etc)

Car needs logbooking - slowly working on that trying to get hold of the local scrutineer to go over the car with me, poitn bits out and then do me the logbook.

BARS is in talks at the moment test is £180 + 40 blue book + 40/50£ for the license + medical £££

but i'll be doing my BARS as an extra on a group day rally expirence so thats £295+ £30 for bars

So i'll be going round local business ive used and my own day job looking for a bit of sponsorship - belts seats etc

if i dont make next aprils one theres the year after etc, as long as i get my license sorted were good

[sven360]

Is BRTDA series National B or National A??

If it's Nat A you'll need three sigs for finishes on Nat B events before you can upgrade to Nat A.

Is the Silverstone upto 1400cc??????

[garth]

Did I just read that they're charging you £40 for a blue book plus another £40 for a licence?

[Jason B]

pennies ive got a year till the next one lol. I'll be entering the Somerset Stage of the BTRDA this years entry costs for a car up to 2l non WRC spec was £400 minimum. for the whole 2 days inc the insurance and management vehicle( crew-mechanics etc)

Car needs logbooking - slowly working on that trying to get hold of the local scrutineer to go over the car with me, poitn bits out and then do me the logbook.

BARS is in talks at the moment test is £180 + 40 blue book + 40/50£ for the license + medical £££

but i'll be doing my BARS as an extra on a group day rally expirence so thats £295+ £30 for bars

So i'll be going round local business ive used and my own day job looking for a bit of sponsorship - belts seats etc

if i dont make next aprils one theres the year after etc, as long as i get my license sorted were good

Right, time for a quick dose of reality... which may save you many pennies before you get too ahead of yourself! - I think you have massively underestimated the cost of rallying!

Ok, so you have the correct price for a BARS test... a bluebook + licence comes to £48 for national B stage rallying (they come as a single pack not separately). Getting a car logbooked is relatively insignificant in terms of cost. From here onwards is where you have massively underestimated. Firstly the car will need seats + harnesses + fire extinguishers + cut-offs + cage, all in date FIA spec - the cheapest possible seats (used to be sparco sprints at £110) are still a fair bit, and you definitely wouldn't want to use them if you were vaguely serious as they'll be stupidly uncomfortable. Harnesses will set you back a couple hundred quid and they are not something to be bought second hand for proper rallying (that also implies that you shouldn't get cheaper harnesses with thinner straps etc.) Then you need to get hold of a proper set of overalls and helmet.... there are many many items I haven't mentioned too. Also you have mentioned the somerset stages so I take it you're intending on doing gravel events? - the car will require much more work to simply get it to the finish of a gravel event, lots of strengthening re-wiring and suspension stuff (dampers will need replacing every two events if lucky) - This comes at a greater premium due to the fact that it's a volvo 300 without any available cheap rally parts.

You'll be glad to know that's the cheap bit out of the way, I'm afraid entry costs don't equal event costs, £400 will get an entry but then you need to factor in at least one or two sets of tyres at around £350, travel to the event, paying for a few mates to be service crew and their food etc, then on top of that you will need to repair damage after the event. The amount of damage will depend on how much money has gone into the car in the first place so it's a vicious cycle, but factor in regular service changes of things you wouldn't normally consider too.

I would love to be able to afford proper stage stuff eventually, but at the minute I'm building my car towards an endurance rally format which is still expensive, but much much cheaper than btrda.

If you are serious, then go for it... but do it properly and actually budget for everything then add 20% to that budget (it always gets more expensive).

Best of luck

Jason

[garth]

You said it. I can't remember if you added membership to a motorclub, petrol, brake pads, petrol competion insurance etc.

[Chris_C]

The ideal route I reckon is still join motorclub, do 12cars, autotests, Nat B roadrallys, Nat B single venues to get some signatures, then by that time you'll either be broke or be earning billions of pennies

Sven, did you ever do any stages?

[garth]

If you wish to do road rallies, then do a clubman one and you don't need an msa licence. I've only done 1 stage event, 1000's of raod rallies but I own a Stage National B licence, due to the fact I had it before they fetched this BARS stuff out.

[kaos]

Guys, ive got a blue book in front of me

this years regs and 2 of the people that do metal fab for where i work run in the local stage only.

next year i need nomex suit and fireproof helment thats mega moneys alone. Tyres have to be road legal as your driving on the road between stages. and the services bays are back at base or with the mobile crew etc.

i know the vehicle needs more work. and its more tempting to do a fiesta up for it as the parts to repair are cheaper.

insurance was £20 this year as its 2 days.

the BTRDA goes up to WRC1 spec cars.

as ive said up there the license is more important to me first as i need that before i can do anything else. i havent underestimated the cheapness as i know it will cost lots in the end, heck the stage that runs up the hill in the village is lethal theres no side barriers even though its tarmac, on are way home we were helping pulls coobys and mk2 escorts out.


yes theres lots to consider, but this event happens over 2 days each year, im not going to go off and go do the other stages as that would be more money than sense, plus i wouldnt be able to afford it all. I intend to take it serious as i can, but do like the guys i mentioned earlyer, do the stage every year and the local sprints and so on with the local motor club. wether i do it in me volvo or another cheaper car, the license is pretty much for life


edit: Sven its national b special stage rallies.

[sven360]

Chris-yeah,rich man's hobby.

Last stage event 2002-went 13 miles @ total cost of £320 before diff let fly.

That total doesn't include the diff or the n/s rear quarter I clattered.Or the 20 quid of limmy oil I left on the start

Don't need to be Einstein to work out it ain't cheap.

[kaos]

Don't need to be Einstein to work out it ain't cheap.

exactly. but then neither is running a car half the time. all depends on how you drive condition of parts used and all that. entry fees are all well and done its just running costs for the event after that really - if a transmission goes yeh im screwed same for drive shafts etc. if nothing breaks youve done well and so on.

heck i might not even make it past the doctors medical which would put a stop to it all straight away.

[Jason B]

all depends on how you drive

therein lies the problem mate, you've just paid £400 to drive on a (in theory) totally clear gravel stage... I know I sure as hell wouldn't be babying the car round for a finish... the red mist appears long before then

also, paying to do up a car etc etc for one event a year is senseless, surely its cheaper to hire a car and gear for the event? (though I've no idea what hiring a car would cost)

If I were you I'd join a motorclub (if you haven't already) that does some road rally stuff and just get out and give the car a thrashing... that'll soon let you know whether the car (and you) is up to it without the expense of a bars test.

[garth]

We aren't knocking you kaos, we just want to explain that it ain't cheap as some make out. You've given a good run down of costs but there's always something that catches you out or that you've missed. Honestly I'm not trying to wind you up, but don't be dissheartened if costs rise after your 1st event, hell if you're running a volvo I'll personally come and service for you free of chagre if you decide to do it.

Serious note, do a road rally, see if the car is up to the thrashing that a stage event'll give it. If it survives 20miles of whites, she'll be ok.

[kaos]

Aye,

i used to throw the car round handling courses




Motor club has a hill trial coming up so i'll probably be along to that as its at one of the rally runners farm.

filthy as you say yeh its probably cheaper to rent, im tempted to buy a car prepreped. I let a 2l nova go the other day that was all preped - probably even cheaper to build a ford to spec. but we only live once.

one stage is tarmac - thats the one through my village
one is dirt/sand

dont know the other one but think its dirt/sand again as its 2 forrest stages and a tarmac one - ive got to go see the chap that runs in it again soon anyway to pick one of my engines up and get a ride in the mark 2 escort with honda s2000 running gear

[Jason B]

I've been to the somerset stages twice now, and although most of it is definitely much smoother than say the rallye sunseeker, it is still very rough on a car. I would definitely get out and do a road rally that uses some whites, as that will highlight potential problems before any money is spent.