I just got back from the first round of Rally America – Sno*Drift. The event is held about 4 hours North of Detroit in Atlanta, MI. The area is beautiful and the people are friendly BUT the weather is really cold. Coming from sunny and warm Southern California means that I am used to 60 degree Winters with an occasional rain storm. 10-20 degree temps and wind chill put most of the California based team into survival mode.
2010 2WD Champions are back in a new Scion xD.
2010 Champion Driver, Chris Duplessis getting ready for battle.
2010 Champion Co-Driver, Catherine Woods who is usually is all smiles is in competition mode.
The xD was already in Detroit when the crew arrived to Michigan as it had been on display at the Detroit Auto Show the week prior. If you cannot tell this xD is not the same as the car that was run last year. This is a brand new xD which was built just before SEMA. It only had 50 miles on the odometer when the Rally started.
The brand new car needed a thorough tech inspection.
The engine remains almost stock with the only additions being a TRD drop in filter, aftermarket header and Greddy exhaust. The transmission has been upgraded with a Quaife differential which was installed only two days before the event. Coilovers are a custom application HG which have 2-way damping force adjustment. Light weight Volk CE28 wheels and BFG snow tires round out the performance mods. This new car is lighter with various carbon fiber body panels, lexan rear windows and chassis weight reduction. Seats, belts, steering wheel, in-car comm., helmets and driving suits are all Sparco. The guys at Design Craft Fabrication did a great job building the car and getting it ready for the event.
The rally started on Friday in the early afternoon. After the first 6 stages Chris and Catherine pulled out a solid lead in the 2WD class. There was only one service during day one in which the xD came back missing both light pods. Going into the night stages the service crew scrambled to get the recovered pods back onto the car but only 1 made it back on in the limited service time. The lights only lasted about 5mins until the relay blew out forcing Chris to drive with only the OEM lights. A flat tire on stage 7 put Chris and Catherine about 10mins behind the 2WD leader at the end of day one.
After day one the service crew repaired all damage, checked over the car and made preparations for day two. Luckily the folks at a nearby resort allowed the crew to use their heated garage.
On the start of day two Chris and Catherine were determined to make up the lost time and fight for the top podium spot. The next two services went smoothly and the only damage to the car was cosmetic. Chris’s skill on snow and ice served the team well as he was able to make up about 9mins. in 7 stages (truly amazing). There simply were not enough stage miles for the xD to make up all the lost time.
The Rally xD finished in 2nd place in the 2WD class which is a great finish considering this car had ZERO testing.
Great job Gordon Ting and the crew of the Rally xD.
Photos courtesy of Duane and Joey of the Octane Report. See more event coverage at the OctaneReport.com