RE: PistonHeads Goes Vintage Trialling
Discussion
Oi! Oi!
I've had an idea for a Focus RS test:
Can we, can we Mr Staurt?
I've had an idea for a Focus RS test:
ACTC said:
Class 1:
Front engine, front wheel drive production cars. This is now an up and coming class where Mk1 Golf GTIs are starting to show their merits. Other popular vehicles are Ford Fiestas, Peugeot 205s and Citroen AXs, 2CVs and one very competitive MG Maestro. A good place to start but not a class for the faint hearted!
Now i know why ford didn't go 4wd with it Front engine, front wheel drive production cars. This is now an up and coming class where Mk1 Golf GTIs are starting to show their merits. Other popular vehicles are Ford Fiestas, Peugeot 205s and Citroen AXs, 2CVs and one very competitive MG Maestro. A good place to start but not a class for the faint hearted!
Can we, can we Mr Staurt?
Silent1 said:
Can we, can we Mr Staurt?
Ford's PR department is among the more enlightened, but I still don't fancy putting that particular request in!Thanks for all the nice feedback guys. It was a fun day out, and I'm likely to be competing (although I use the word loosely) in the car again when the season starts again in October. As Ian said, trialling is generally an October-March sport.
Thanks for the welcome chaps.
L200 warrior? Not sure what that is but our rules include 2wd only, no traction control and road pattern tyres. In part this is to limit performance so we don't have to look for extreme new sections every year and in part because we want to tread as lightly as we can so we can go back and play in the same places for years to come.
L200 warrior? Not sure what that is but our rules include 2wd only, no traction control and road pattern tyres. In part this is to limit performance so we don't have to look for extreme new sections every year and in part because we want to tread as lightly as we can so we can go back and play in the same places for years to come.
Stuart said:
Silent1 said:
Can we, can we Mr Staurt?
Ford's PR department is among the more enlightened, but I still don't fancy putting that particular request in!Thanks for all the nice feedback guys. It was a fun day out, and I'm likely to be competing (although I use the word loosely) in the car again when the season starts again in October. As Ian said, trialling is generally an October-March sport.
Are you sure, i mean it's like rallying after all....Ok maybe not, we'll wait until you've got a fiat qubo in or something
Ian Davis said:
Thanks for the welcome chaps.
L200 warrior? Not sure what that is but our rules include 2wd only, no traction control and road pattern tyres. In part this is to limit performance so we don't have to look for extreme new sections every year and in part because we want to tread as lightly as we can so we can go back and play in the same places for years to come.
Ah ok, an L200 Warrior is one of these:L200 warrior? Not sure what that is but our rules include 2wd only, no traction control and road pattern tyres. In part this is to limit performance so we don't have to look for extreme new sections every year and in part because we want to tread as lightly as we can so we can go back and play in the same places for years to come.
It does have a 2wd (RWD) mode though... but i don't think it's in the spirit of the competition
Johnny said:
Awesome stuff 
, looks like cracking fun!
Trialling is terrific fun, best form of motorsport I've ever competed in, and the other competitors are good company as well as helpful when you break down - which can happen often ! All part of the charm., looks like cracking fun!A full day's sport will give you some navigation via road books, some speed tests, a passenger who needs to bounce frantically to gain traction whilst climbing the muddy hills, visits to the most beautiful and rugged parts of the country and a great sense of achievement when you clear a hill and some interesting cars to look at. All for modest cost. The cars need to be raised, fitted with sumguard, have a tough driveline and diff and a cooling system thats in good condition. Lots of ballast over the driving wheels. Tyres must be road pattern tread, no off road tyres. That's about it, apart from skill !
As a first car a reasonably competitive rear engined Skoda Rapide could be built for £1000 I'm sure. [ Don't larf, they're OK really ] FWD cars need a lot of strength in the driveline, so RWD is more popular.
The Class 8 Specials bring out some interesting cars and often weird engeneering solutions.
I believe this VW special is made using Helicopter cabin parts for the bodywork. The VW Beetle engine is in the middle, with gearbox behind.
Skoda
MG PA
Dellow
Special
OK people here is an ideal opportunity for having a first go at a classic trial. It's the Bovey Down Trial organised by Windwhistle Motor Club on Sunday 26th April. It's an excellent venue with proper forestry sections (as featured on Fifth Gear's Exeter Trial feature last year). Unlike the March Hare there is no road mileage so you get 3 attempts at 6 challenging sections. Vehicles do have to be road legal, taxed and mot'd.
Run as a 'clubsport' event you don't need an MSA comp licence and you can purchase day membership of the Windwhistle Club for the staggeringly cheap price of £2. Entry fee is £25 and it is at a venue near Seaton in East Devon. Unfortunately due to the nature of the site it is not very suitable for spectators but if you wanted to come along and marshal - which is a great way of seeing the sport - then you'd be more than welcome.
Entry Form and Regs can be downloaded from here: http://www.actc.org.uk/news.htm
Contact the organiser, Anne Whellock for more details: anne.whellock@btconnect.com Tel (day): 01460 66434
Who is going to be the first pistonhead regular to enter???
Run as a 'clubsport' event you don't need an MSA comp licence and you can purchase day membership of the Windwhistle Club for the staggeringly cheap price of £2. Entry fee is £25 and it is at a venue near Seaton in East Devon. Unfortunately due to the nature of the site it is not very suitable for spectators but if you wanted to come along and marshal - which is a great way of seeing the sport - then you'd be more than welcome.
Entry Form and Regs can be downloaded from here: http://www.actc.org.uk/news.htm
Contact the organiser, Anne Whellock for more details: anne.whellock@btconnect.com Tel (day): 01460 66434
Who is going to be the first pistonhead regular to enter???
As others have said classic trialling is a huge amount of fun especially when you get to the top of a difficult section and this gives me an opportunity to post a picture of my car in action:
That was taken on "John Walker", the final section of the Allen trial. I run in class 4, rear-engine, rear wheel drive under 1300cc and with 998cc of Imp engine you need to keep the momentum up all the time, hence the huge splash as we go through the dammed up stream at more speed than is probably sensible
. To do well in that class really needs a VW Beetle.
While the article says the sections are off road, a lot of them are actually unsurfaced public roads, but not something you'd normally consider driving a car up.
To anyone thinking of having a go, you need ground clearance. Lots and lots of ground clearance. My car has about 9.5" to the sills and it's not enough (but as much as I can manage and still get the rear springs in), it grounds out on lots of sections, particularly the deeply rutted ones and places that are completely washed out, like Big Uplands. Knocked the exhaust off on that one, not while trying to climb it but when coming back down at about 2mph after failing near the top. Going up at considerably higher speed my bouncer bruised his head when he was launched from his seat and hit the roof ...
That was taken on "John Walker", the final section of the Allen trial. I run in class 4, rear-engine, rear wheel drive under 1300cc and with 998cc of Imp engine you need to keep the momentum up all the time, hence the huge splash as we go through the dammed up stream at more speed than is probably sensible
. To do well in that class really needs a VW Beetle.While the article says the sections are off road, a lot of them are actually unsurfaced public roads, but not something you'd normally consider driving a car up.
To anyone thinking of having a go, you need ground clearance. Lots and lots of ground clearance. My car has about 9.5" to the sills and it's not enough (but as much as I can manage and still get the rear springs in), it grounds out on lots of sections, particularly the deeply rutted ones and places that are completely washed out, like Big Uplands. Knocked the exhaust off on that one, not while trying to climb it but when coming back down at about 2mph after failing near the top
. Going up at considerably higher speed my bouncer bruised his head when he was launched from his seat and hit the roof ...Insight said:
FestivAli said:
"GAAAAAAWWD!"
Hilarious. Nice looking little car though, I get the impression that it's hugely satisfying finishing a rough stage?
Wow - that video really does give a much better than any boring picture of trialling! Hilarious. Nice looking little car though, I get the impression that it's hugely satisfying finishing a rough stage?
Edited by threespires on Wednesday 15th April 18:42
I was the unlucky sod to be Stuarts sponsor for the day, which started in my local pub the night before which was also a bad move. Having got his head around the fact that i really didn't care what he revved it to, Stuart started to do quite well. The car now has a lower diff, higher springs for ground clearance and Tim / Alex Myall are now building me an engine with more mid-range so it doesn't die at anything less than 4Krpm. Stuart will probably use it for the Vintage Sports Car Club Welsh trial in October and there is no reason why he should not be aiming for a class win.
Echoing other comments, I can confirm that trialling is the most fantastic and affordable form of motorsport. I do a hell of a lot of historic racing which is rewarding and enjoyable but also high pressure. Trialling is relaxed when not nailing a section, you experience UK's most beautiful green lanes, it's very much a team sport, it's competitive but not to the point of anxiety attacks and its (in relative terms) cheap.
Go and buy a Beetle / Escort / 2CV / any old heap, join the MCC or local trials club and spend a day laughing out loud - I've been doing it for 20 odd years and still love it. PBE.
Echoing other comments, I can confirm that trialling is the most fantastic and affordable form of motorsport. I do a hell of a lot of historic racing which is rewarding and enjoyable but also high pressure. Trialling is relaxed when not nailing a section, you experience UK's most beautiful green lanes, it's very much a team sport, it's competitive but not to the point of anxiety attacks and its (in relative terms) cheap.
Go and buy a Beetle / Escort / 2CV / any old heap, join the MCC or local trials club and spend a day laughing out loud - I've been doing it for 20 odd years and still love it. PBE.
PBE said:
... The car now has a lower diff, higher springs for ground clearance and Tim / Alex Myall are now building me an engine...
I was at school with Alex and my dad used to race against Tim, (and beat him most times!). I thought Alex was involved with Minis rather than Austins and that Tim's "apprentice" was James, (who I was also at school with.)austin said:
PBE said:
... The car now has a lower diff, higher springs for ground clearance and Tim / Alex Myall are now building me an engine...
I was at school with Alex and my dad used to race against Tim, (and beat him most times!). I thought Alex was involved with Minis rather than Austins and that Tim's "apprentice" was James, (who I was also at school with.)
Wasn't the Mini an Austin car.... I did a bit of vintage tailing as well:
http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f...
A sundays out with a bunch of early 70s Landies: it turned out to be one of my fav automotive outings of that year.
Top PH-article: more focus on classics is a big thumbs up from me guys!
http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f...
A sundays out with a bunch of early 70s Landies: it turned out to be one of my fav automotive outings of that year.
Top PH-article: more focus on classics is a big thumbs up from me guys!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff