Tag Archives: Sparco

Another Rally xD Podium at NEFR

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Our favorite rally team, the TEIN-supported Rally xD, had a pretty good weekend at round 6 of Rally America,  the New England Forest Rally event. Although not at the top of the podium, they were able to secure a 2nd place finish.

As they had dealt with in past events, a few troubles came their way. This time, a transmission swap was necessary to keep the xD in competition. After about 35 minutes, the team got the car back on the gravel.

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By then, the damage had already been done. Driver Matthew Johnson had a lot of ground to cover. He and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey did well, cutting the margin to within a couple of minutes. Again, enough to garner a second place finish.
As always, the hard working driver and crew pushed beyond their limits to get the car to the finish.

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Great job, guys!

 

 

A Slight Change in Fortunes

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Our favorite competitors in the Rally America series, the Scion Racing Rally xD team, put in a great effort this past weekend at the Oregon Trail Rally. Gearbox gremlins prevented from giving the xD a full-fledged attack, and driver Matthew Johnson did his best to baby the car through the stages. The onset of this eventually trickled down to engine problems, followed by a retirement from the race.

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Ford-backed driver Andrew Comrie-Picard was able to nab a 2nd place finish, allowing him to pull away as championship points leader for the 2wd class as of this event, for the time being.

I don’t think that is much to worry about. We’ll see the Rally xD team back in proper form for the next event, STPR Rally in Wellsboro, PA on May 30-31.

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Please lend your cheers to this hard working crew as they do their best to bring home their first ever championship this season!

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Links:

Rally America

Scion Racing Rally xD

 Scion Racing

Rally xD Team- Same Great Car, New Driver

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We’re catching up with our friends, the Rally xD team, to see what’s in store for their 2014 campaign. But it seems that as soon as we do, they’re right back out there racing again.

Sticking with last year’s competitive chassis, the team has  made a few upgrades in a quest to be a reliable gravel spitting machine. We’re glad to be on board once again as their suspension provider. In fact, they’re using the same suspension they used last season.

rally xd 2014 (dampers)

 

All we did was clean them up and checked them out. Fortunately, their custom Group N. dampers got a clean bill of health and ready for more abuse. Or racing, rather.

Also in store for the team is a new driver! Read about him in the link below

Matthew Johnson

Being that the upcoming Sno* Drift Rally kicks of this weekend, the crew has already started enjoying their Winter wonderland in Atlanta, MI and doing some shakedown runs.

rally xd 2014

Best of luck to these dudes. Oh, and happy birthday to their Crew Chief, Philip Chase!

Be sure to follow the Rally xD team on their Facebook page

Another Great Season for Rally xD!

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If you want to finish first, first you have to finish.

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Although they fell short of the 2wd championship for Rally America, the crew at Rally xD went full force for the season, showing that hard work and determination really pays off. It was far from easy this season, having to face teams with some super competitive machines, improving their xD with a complete overhaul, and having to overcome the typical hurdles that rally racing has in store for them.  That’s no short matter to these guys. They kept on truckin’, and that persistence pays big dividends towards the end result. They took the 2013 season in second place!

The preseason started with a fresh slate. The team put together all their ideas for building a new Scion xD and preparing it for the abuse they were now quite familiar with. In went a reconfigured seating arrangement for driver and co-driver, pushing them rearward just past the B-pillar and helping redistribute some of the weight from the stripped and caged chassis. Their proven power plant from a previous season went back in along with some upgrades to cooling in an effort to keep the boosted engine reliable under load. A redesigned rear suspension (a true coilover instead of the factory setup) allowed them to reinforce the twist beam where it was weakest, a problem they’ve faced once before.  The new chassis was looking more like a formidable opponent to the factory-backed Ford Fiestas, which are much lighter than the xD.

However, nothing ever comes easy in this sport. There are too many unknowns, and sometimes you find that your best preparation was still not good enough. But, that didn’t deter this team from finishing the season strong. They visited the podium in every event, showing that they could still maintain good pace even with a few setbacks.

At any rate, I continue to maintain that this is one of the hardest working teams in the series. TEIN is proud to be their suspension partner for the past few seasons, and we’re glad to see this team grow into the true professionals that they are.

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We wish them the best for next season, as we sure they are ahead of schedule in coming up with another competitive package!

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Congratulations, you guys! We know next year will be just as exciting!

New England Forest Rally Report

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We’re glad to see the Rally xD team embarking on another race on much more familiar territory- gravel. Fresh from their run up the summit of Pikes Peak, the team reconfigured their rally chariot for long stroke suspension and wheels/tires much more suitable for the task at-hand. The NEFR race was not exactly an easy one.

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The team had dealt with transmission problems- a failed 4th gear. At least the team put down a quick repair and got the car back out, suffering a minimal penalty since they were unable to complete the swap in the allotted service time.

Next set of problems were the front axles breaking at two different stages of the race. Fortunately, those were an easy enough swap during the service interval.

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They did as much as they could to make up the loss in time, eventually finishing the event in 3rd place. Just enough to maintain their points lead in the championship.

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Once again, another great performance from the hard working crew. We will certainly be rooting for them as this series gets close to the season end.

TTT (TO THE TOP)!!!

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Quite the anticipated event that it is, this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb should be better than last years.

As we saw last year, the newly paved roadways not only added tremendous amounts of grip, it drastically cut transit time to the top of the summit.

The Sparco Rally xD team is under way in getting their rally car prepped for this event. Since this is essentially an all-tarmac event, their suspension needs change. No need for dampers with long stroke- in its place are a different set of TEIN Specialized Dampers with higher spring rates more appropriate for this event. Gone are the gravel tires, replaced with semi-slicks over 18″ wheels. It’s all about maximum grip on the asphalt surface. Other than that, the xD is left relatively the same as it is for rally events.

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I’m definitely looking forward to what the new car can do this year. It’s been competitive throughout the year so far, even with the minor setbacks in the last two rally races. Let’s see if they can better their Pikes Peak performance for this year!

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Pikes Peak International Hill Climb takes place on June 24th (tech inspections and practice days during the week), with race day on Sunday, June 30th.

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For more information, please visit the following link- http://www.ppihc.com/

pics sourced from Scion Racing, Speedhunters, and Rally xd

Rally xD Takes 2nd Place at Susquehannock Trail Rally!

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In my last post, I made mention of the Rally xD taking a bit of a tumble during practice in preparation for this past weekend’s event at the Susquehannock Trail Rally.

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A continued effort by the team, not only in rebuilding and repairing the car but also to see the event the whole way through, paid the largest of dividends as they brought home a 2nd place finish in their class. Considering the hardships they’ve dealt with these past two events, that is an incredible result! So far, it’s been a podium finish for all four events to-date!

STPR Final

The Team still holds first in the points standing for the 2wd class! Our most sincere congratulations to the team for getting the car right side up again and into battle mode!

 

Rally xD Takes to the Susquehannock Trail Rally

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After suffering from a grueling race at the Oregon Trail Rally earlier this month (finishing 3rd in class), the Sparco Rally xD is rebuilt and ready for the upcoming event, the Susquehannock Trail Rally.

For those that have been following, you may remember seeing some pics of the rear end with the rear twist beam axle being ripped out from both sides. Lessons learned, my friends, because they’re ready to attack again.

Where they're going, they don't need roads.... Oh wait, actually, yes, they do.

Where they’re going, they don’t need roads…. Oh wait, actually, yes, they do.

After suffering from that rare DNF last year, leaving the car looking somewhat like a DeLorean Time Machine, the crew made some revisions to the rear suspension, reinforcing some key areas as to address the axle beam fatigue that rally racing brings.

To think, previous season of racing were on a completely stock axle beam. I still find that pretty impressive, considering how many well-funded teams use some beefed up components.

Oh, and while doing some testing in preparation for this event, the team had a minor setback. Seriously,,,,,, minor

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Whoops

But the car is right side up again, running, and doing some sweet jumps

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We’re sure this time around will be just as eventful, but in a much more positive way. I expect to see this car race from start to finish, and you should too. Please be a pal and cheer these guys on directly on their Facebook page!

Susquehannock Trail Rally 2013 is May 31-June 1.

 

Rally xD Makes an Appearance on Car and Driver!

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Yes, yes. Another post about one of the best built FWD race cars. NO, AGAIN, THAT IS NOT AN OXYMORON. FWD race cars can be pretty damn fast.

You gotta hand it to these guys- this year’s Rally America competition Scion xD is quite amazing. As I stated in my previous post, it may look very similar to the previous cars, aesthetically speaking. But, when you get to the finer details of this car, that is when MINDS GET BLOWN.

By the time you’ve read this, the Rally xD will have already completed its maiden voyage at Sno*Drift in Michigan and 100AW in Missouri. Results which you can find on

http://www.rally-america.com/

Again, aesthetically, it isn’t a far cry from how it’s looked in previous seasons. Love the new Baja Designs lights fitted into the bumper!

I’m not sure if Andrew Comrie-Picard’s legs got longer over the off-season, but that seat is pushed back pretty far… You can see where the B-Pillar is  in reference to the seat, just at the bottom right of the pic.

Looks like driver and co-driver have extra security sitting right inside of the B-Pillar section. That, in conjunction with the fabricated safety cage makes for an extra safe section of the car to be seated in.

Catalytic converter mounted as far rearward as allowed.

How blinding?!

Check out Car and Driver’s article on the Rally xD online

http://blog.caranddriver.com/scion-shows-off-latest-xd-rally-car-for-rally-america/

For starters, they continue to use quality products from quality aftermarket manufacturers. We’re quite flattered to be considered one of those manufacturers!

Sponsors this year are (in no specific order)

Sparco

TEIN

RAYS Wheels

GReddy

Motul

Brembo

Baja Designs

TRD

Exedy

KAAZ

RÄZO

and of course Scion Racing!

I’m sure I missed a few key sponsors, unintentionally. Please forgive me. I’m just really glad that TEIN can be a part of a great team. We feel they’ve helped to represent us very well!

Anyway, keep track of these guys on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@RallyxD).

You can also track their progress during this year’s Rally America series at the following link

http://www.rally-america.com/

Just Another New Year,,,,, FOR RACING!

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Not only is 2013 an exciting year for TEIN in regards to new products, but we are also prepping for a great year of racing. One of the teams we assist in Rally America, and who we are quite fond of writing about, the Sparco Rally xD team is starting to put the finishing touches on this year’s chassis.

Aesthetically, it may look to be just about the same. But, as the saying goes, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. And this chassis lives up to that saying!

Much more fabrication is going into this new car. As it is, the Rally xD team are facing some serious competition. Some of which are tried and trued platforms used internationally. The Rally xD is one of few cars that doesn’t have that sort of background. For the past 4 years, this team has been the guinea pig in getting a Scion xD into a competitive vehicle. As I’ve stated  before, and as I say again, these guys are doing such a great job at it.

Although I don’t feel at liberty to cough up the details on the new car, I will say that their TEIN dampers for 2013 are a big step up from the HG-based dampers of years prior. This year, they’re using 2-way adjustable dampers based loosely off of the Group N. dampers. Basically, it is height adjustable and compression and rebound adjustable. This damper project was completed through our Specialized Damper Program- a program also available to the public!

Below are a few photos of the team’s progress on the vehicle, as well as their new TEIN dampers.

I’m sure I can dig up a few more photos of the car build. But I’m sure they’d appreciate if you gave them a follow on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (@RallyxD,,, easy enough to find!), which they are very active on. Tons of photos for all of you to see! So, please do so and be sure to wish this hardworking crew the best of luck for 2013!

Other than this team, we look forward to another great program of events for the year ranging from Time Attack to the Formula Drift series. As always, we’re glad to be involved!