Stage Rally Compact OZ

[thommo 73]

Hi all

i have brought a E36 318i compact for rallying in a state campionship in Oz, all gravel events,

now i was going to ask 1 million and one questions in all the different sections but thats just a waste of time so i'll try and put it all in one spot in a hope to get more input, i have been looking at all the questions/threads posted since i joined so i may be asking questions that have already been covered but most of the info i can find are related to tarmac setups and thats no good for me.

soooo,

what the best 4 cylinder engine out of the m42 m43 m44 (yes i know the s14 is better but 9k is out of the budget atm) and the eastiest to get power out of RE: cams and engine work, turbo's arnt allowed, after market ecu's are if that makes it any better. .

suspension, what are the choices for a gravel setup, and are rear arms going to be a big problem?

i have seen that the diff is braced to the cage, any where else i should be looking at reinforcing..
brakes have to fit 15" as that's all were allowed to run (and it's impossible to get rally tires bigger over here)

Cheers
Andrew

[thommo 73]

so no one runs a compact on gravel ?

[petsracing]

Hi Andrew
I kept it simple
Standard engine(found a manual ti) m42
Z3 steering rack added a cooler to this
Z3 auto diff(4:4 ratio and lsd) i bought entire rear subframe and just added extra brace to arm and fitted toe and camber adjusters the brake calipers are slightly bigger on z3 (you need more rear braking for shingle )
made pedals box adjustable with balance bar
I used d2 gravel shocks with the softest front spring they would supply 250lb and standard rear spring no anti roll bars for shingle and they have been fine for club spec
If i had lots of money i would have gone mca suspension
I just raised the ride height 30 mm in the front from standard and it had amazing turn in
I ended up fitting a link Ecu only because i ruined the factory chip and could not find a replacement chip that would make it go (means l can fit cams if i need to go faster)
Weighs 1109kg in rally trim with factory glass and 1/2 tank of gas try and get as much weight rear and keep front light for best handling

[thommo 73]

3 months later and it's log booked and almost ready for it's first outing in 8 weeks (since i missed the dead line for the on in 3 weeks)

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and the inside,

[mrfuzzyfelts]

Thats a quick and good build!