Rally Spec Focus Vs M2

[mattm2001]

This is for sandwich...... Ok Instead of racetechs seats that are 700$ a piece I can get Sparcos For 300$ a piece, and they are FIA Approved. Harnesses are 150$ a piece VS 300 a piece. I dont have to buy the brake kit, the brake kit gives me four wheel discs but they are way smaller. I can run the rally wheels i have and the tires i have. Thats a significant amount of money, im fixing to turn 18, im going to college, and i have a part time job.. I dont really care if i get my ass handed to me at a race, i just wanna get out there and run stage rallys.. See my point?

[jsundelin]

This is the right attitude to have starting out. Of course, you really will care if you get your ass handed to you, and then the addiction will begin. Driving schools, better parts, more seat time. Kind of like crack without the social stigma.

A few pieces of advice though... Make a complete budget, including fuel for events, food, some form of shelter, trailer rental or purchase, or beer for whatever buddy you are borrowing it from, etc. Also make a complete budget for the car. If you still think you can pull it off, great, if not, don't be in too much of a rush. There's nothing worse than a half finished car that is just occupying space. Trust me, I have 3 of them, though one of them will at least run this weekend!

As far as specific advice, the rear brakes aren't really a performance issue, it's more of a serviceability issue. Changing the shoes is a total pain, and if you have to do it at a rally, that's about the only thing that you will get accomplished in the alloted service time. But, if you're sure the shoes are in good shape beforehand, you shouldn't have any issues unless you happen to snag the parking brake cable on something and apply the brakes.

Tires are the single most important factor behind the driver on a smooth rally. Don't fall into the temptation of using a worn set of tires. They are much easier to puncture, and when you absolutely need the grip, it won't be there, which will cost you a lot more in the long term.

Lastly, on belts, be sure to compare the replacement cost and duration. SFI approved belts are only good for two years, FIA approved belts are generally good for 5. If you can only do a rally or two a year, the per rally cost of the FIA belts may be lower, and the per year cost is almost always lower.

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John

[mattm2001]

Ahhh crack Cant wait to get addicted to it like all the RSF Guys

[jsundelin]

I forgot to put in the main reason that I posted. Don't buy the seats or belts until the car is almost ready to go (i.e. caged). FIA seats have expiration dates on them, and if things don't go quite to plan, they will expire without ever having been used.

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John

[NRS-RSF]

Guys remember we now only have deals with Ford and Team Dynamic Wheels.Any FIA seat is accetpable. The Team Dynamic wheels are required along with any upgrade Spec Ford parts. But you can run with stock parts and add the upgrades as needed.John K. ShirleyNASA Rally Spec Focus - Directornasarallysport@cs.com

[BigSandwich]

There you go man. Direct from Mr. Shirley, Racetech is no longer required.

As for the brakes. I don't know what you mean by smaller? The rear disks are the only OEM disks that were offered for Ford for a Focus in North America. Even the SVT used these rear disks. The fronts are only slightly smaller than the SVT brakes. Plus I think it is very hard to fit SVT fronts under a 15" wheel which is what you want to run for rally since the tires are a lot cheaper than 16" Are you already running something custom on the back?

A big advantage of the team dynamics rims is that if you are running a coil over like DMS there is a good chance you will need wheel spacers on the front of the car if you are using factory rims. Where since the TD rims have a slightly smaller offset so they clear the coils in most positions.

And as Mr. Sundelin said one thing about M2 is that it becomes an arms race very quickly especially if you are a competitive person and not just out there running your own race. So it might be slightly cheaper for your first rally in M2 but will be just as cheap for the 5th rally, 10th rally? You definitely have the right attitude starting out. It is a lot cheaper to start by going slow and building up the speed than trying to set the world on fire with your first rally.

[BigSandwich]

Originally Posted by jsundelin

I forgot to put in the main reason that I posted. Don't buy the seats or belts until the car is almost ready to go (i.e. caged). FIA seats have expiration dates on them, and if things don't go quite to plan, they will expire without ever having been used.

--
John

This a great point as well. It would suck to have the belts for just a long time and then have to replace them after the first rally.

[mattm2001]

Im running the ford racing euro wheels, Ceramic pads, Ceramic shoes, eibach suspension. The car is ready mechanically, all im lacking is safety equiptment, (i.e. Roll cage, Harnesses, seats) i found a co-driver. Im just saving money for the roll cage now Hopefully we will be at sandblast next year. me and my codriver are thinking of a team name.

[BigSandwich]

Are the ford racing Euro wheels the 17"ones? If so they are part of the spec focus setup for Tarmac rallies, you just need to run the Hankook RS-2 Tarmac tires Those wheels would not be a good choice for Sandblast for a couple of resons. They are not strong enough to survive the rally without getting bent and you will have trouble finding a tire that would work as well. I know that there is a new subaru in the North East that is using 17" wheels for gravel rally but I think he has to run some sort of snow tire that get destroyed after a half a rally or so.

Even if you don't want to run the spec focus series you would be much better off buying a set of 15" focus wheels out of a junk yard and putting gravel rally tires on those.

[mattm2001]

Yeah, Junkyard rims or I may breakdown and get the team dynamics, There actually pretty cheap 190$ a piece that aint too bad on the wallet.