I’m far too lazy to google this so hopefully one of the STW petrolheads know the answer.
I’ve been given a Suzuki Swift that is prepped as a stage rally car (full cage, rally computer,extinguisher etc…) along with the spare engine that needs fitting. The previous owner has ‘moved on’ to rally raid type stuff in between work related trips to Ghanners so it has sat on his drive for a few years. He gave it to me with the understanding that I ‘used’ it.
Once I’ve done the engine swap, how hard will it be to get into rallying the thing? Would it be easier to try and find a driver and learn to nav for him or vice versa? Is there proper billy-basic novices rally thpe circuit where I can get to grips with it with less chance of binning it? Anyone in Hants region want to lend a hand/experience?….

No forms of motorsport are cheap.

Find your local car club they should be able to help with information.

Short answer – easy/very.

Find a local car club that specialises in rallying.

Whereabouts in Hants are you?

Check out Autograss, can be pretty cheap

If you are too lazy to google it, chaces are your going to be too lazy to find the money to do it, prep the car, sort the problems, find the contacts, get up to go to events.

Give up mate, it’s all too much like hard work!

The previous owner has ‘moved on’ to rally raid type stuff in between during work related trips to Ghanners

😉

No form of motorsport is cheap, it’s just cheapER to get into some bits of it (and the car is probably the cheapest bit of it!). As above, if you can’t google it you probably can’t be bothered doing it and just fancy a go at it. Getting into it properly takes dedication, time and effort.

Ta Matt500, I was worried a typically STW response wouldn’t be forthcoming. Bow ny day has been validated.
Off to investigate autograss now, with presumption that its grass track racing like they did on Top Gear a while ago.

Friend of mine was getting an Impreza ready to rally, we were both going to get licences so that I could navigate… he pulled the plug though as it was costing too much and the race fees were going to be silly.

Plan delayed until we hit 40.

No that was rallycross, grass track is oval racing in a field basically, loads of classes from standard mini to insane open wheel creations.

Loads of info on that on the net, just google Autograss

Also worth checking out autotesting as a cheap and easy way to test out and get used to the car with very little risk of crashing it.

Join motor club. Talk to the old hands at the club. They always offer sound advice.
Apply for RAC MSA licence, take the training.

It can be reasonably cheap. Lots of single-venue events around the UK which should be the place for you to start.
Intense competition and a good way to shake down yourself and the car.
Forestry Commission events cost more.

I navigated for 15yrs up to international level. Entry fees & time away from home escalate but the rewards (non financial) are great!

I used to autograss a while ago, great fun and not too expensive if you don’t crash

I am not sure which class your car would go in (depends on engine size and FWD/RWD etc.

I still have a class 8 open wheeled special in my garage that the OH is desparate for me to sell if anyone is interested? (Honda CBR 1000 power……….really quite fast!)

You could use the swift now for autotest events, again local car club or Pistonheads would be your friend there!

To echo other posts above none of this is effort free though!

What or where is Ghanners?

…Af…Ghanners…Tan maybe?

My mate does a couple of the scottish rallies a year in his 205. He can’t afford to do any more, entry fees are something like £400 and then you have to have a trailer and tow car to get around, accomodation for you and your crew, and then all the car running costs I guess. Not sure if you need a motorsport type licence too. He loves it though. And the car is frickin cool.

Pop along to your local motor club’s club night and have a chat. I do some navigating.
http://www.msauk.org/site/cms/localGroupFinder.asp?category=469

I emailed the secretaries of a few local clubs to find the ones that have a sizable contingent of their membership who do rallying. Getting out on some 12-cars or doing some autotesting etc will help you get used to the car once you find a club you like.

Full on staging is pretty pricey. Road rallying can be fairly inexpensive, but events are few and far between in the SE. Provided your engine is less than 1400cc, I suggest you look at endurance rallying (ERRC).
http://www.endurance-rallying.co.uk/

There is no cheaper way of going rallying IMO, sounds like you have a prepared car, all you will need is a nav, some sportway control tyres (not even these if you’re not going the championship this year) and a national B licence from the MSA (currently £41).

Also have a squint on the british rally forum:
http://www.britishrally.co.uk/forum/
Be warned that the BRF is even more squabbly and fractious than here!

Have fun!

1300cc engine in the thing.
Looks like there are a heck of lot more options than I thought, sure there will be some sort of sport I cn find to do in the car. I’ve done a couple of off road trial event things in my Landrover but that scene seems a bit more ‘ad lib’ than ‘rally’ type motorsport. Think I’ll get the car running and take it from there. Endurance rallying looks like something to look into further.
Worst case scenario I’ll have to hang out on Lee on Solent seafront in it with all the teenagers!

Perfect for endurance rallying then 🙂

Bullnose in Oxford would be a perfect starter event:
http://www.oxfordmotorclub.co.uk/bullnose-rally/

My two penneth worth based on situations 30 yrs ago! My old man was a very promising rally driver, he first raced coopers the he used our family car which was a mk1 mex as his rally car. He could never secure the sponsorship to maintain the car and hold down a full time job. Eventually he had to give it up due to financial reasons. It’s still a revelation today when I let him loose in my impreza!!

A mate at schools dad did it, it was a £4/500 entry fee, one race he crashed on the 1st stage, put a stick through the radiator, cooked the engine, went home. Next one failed scrutineering, didnt even drive it.

Add in fairly frequent servicing, a huge spares pot, etc and it gets expensive very fast.

No that was rallycross,

Now there’s a silly idea. 😀

Autograss is certainly one of the cheaper forms of Motorsport. As has been said already get in touch with your nearest motor club. If you want to move into rallying then you must sit a wee test to gain your license. Single venue rallying is a great form of the sport with entries usually around £200 -£250. Forestry stage rallying is where the proper debt starts with entries about £500. Add the costs of fuel,tyres,pace notes accommodation etc it’s not a cheap weekends fun. I used to run a Nova with the aforementioned Suzuki Swift engine in the Scottish Tarmak Championship for a few years,it was shed loads of fun but I,ll stick to the bikes these days

Jedi course for wannabe rally drivers 😉
http://www.billgwynne.com/

So in answer to my original questions; not that hard to get into but will probably be pretty expensive. Autograss looks fun but although cheap to race will be likely to involve contact so hard on the car. Are there ‘rally’ equivalents of track days, I wonder? Off to my favourite search engine again…

One thing I’d say is that rallying skill is harder to master than track driving. So many different lines to take depending on conditions etc. It’s a real get out there and see sport. My old man took the local landlords son under his wing (had a few quid to blow) and tried to teach him, used to do his spanner work also! Drive him absolutely nuts cos the lad just wasn’t goo enough and would be on the handbrake at any given opportunity!!!

i have been rallying since i was about 13.

Join a car club as others have said and go from there.

If the car is a stage spec car then you won’t be able to take it on “enduros” etc without putting interior back in it and it may be over specced as enduro rules are much tighter than class rules for stage rallying.

I have a tarmac spec stage vw polo, that’s currently getting rebuilt. Single venue tarmac rallying is relatively cheap – entries from as little as £130 and alot less hard on the car compared to the woods.

you’ll need a co-driver – we used to split the cost between us, co-driver pays entry and buys pace notes (if required) i would supply fuel, tyres etc etc for the running of the car. normally works out about the same.

You’ll need to go to do a BARS test at a rally school to get the license (national B Stage)

you could also look at gravel sprints, but there are alot less events and you need a gravel spec/forest spec car, which generally needs more maintenance