There is an old saying that goes something like this “don’t fix it if it aint broke” Well…. I tried to fix it. What I was fixing is my need for speed. I have spent the last 5 years racing a 2 wheel drive 140hp VW jetta… not so fast. But it has been reliable and a great tool for putting down quite a few stage miles.So at this point I say to myself “You need an open class 4wd car”,.. brilliant!
Ok so I know this will cost allot more in general… big open class cars make big power and burn lots of fuel, tires, and every other part on the car. But somehow knowing all this does not stop me from buying an Audi A4 and building it into a mean rally car.
Testing begins…
Breaking in a new engine is a fairly simple process but deserves care. Basically I drive the car up and down the highway near my house trying not to go too crazy blasting the turbo etc… be nice to it but firm. Break in complete.
Test track day one…
I head over to my local secret test track for some hot laps. (the moto track parking lot) All goes well, and after blasting the turbo full on a few times I stop the car to adjust my safety harness. Holy crap this thing is fast!
Back to flogging the car around the make-shift track Im seeing just how big of a dust cloud one can create with an audi.
And then… stumble.. sputter,… stumble. Uh-oh… problem captain.
I nurse it back to the truck for further examination. “Captain, she’s out of fuel sir”
Its at this point I figure out the fuel efficiency is pretty bad on this rig.
Test track day 2…
For my second outing its off to CORE, a 100 acre do whatever you want dirt motorsports playground where the local rally community has put together a 3 mile rally course for all to enjoy. In other words, big fun. All goes well and I scare myself frequently. Mmmm, love that adrenalin.
So I could bore you with all the details but Ill give you the basics…
Over the period of 3 months I break, then fix the engine multiple times. The engine comes out of the car and completely apart 3-4 times, then buy another motor & proceed to quickly break that one.
So basically this car has crushed my spirit and my bank account.
Ohh but that speed was great!, ohh wait I hate it!
Uhh errr… hey where is that 2WD Jetta?
The new plan is, Jetta for rally, & audi for hillclimbs (if I don’t set it on fire first). Hillclimbing the audi might work better than rally as hillclimbs are usually 3-10 miles long, vs rallies, which average 140 miles. However this time I may skip the whole turbo idea for the audi and use one of audi’s V8 motors.
So we will see what happens as I change my mind every 5 minutes but that’s the plan for now.
Best Regards,
Brooks
http://4040racing.com
