The rallynotes.com site is up and running with the latest and greatest version of WordPress! A small panic had set in this afternoon when the file I used to import the posts became corrupt, but we stuck with it, and it turned out fine. All SEVEN + years of rallynotes posts are up! The theme is based on ‘Twenty Ten’ (the new 3.0 theme for wp), but I took it apart and re-wrote it for some heavy customization, and I’ll probably be tweaking a few visual things over the next few days. I’ve added most of the legacy pages, but I need to dig in and get the links checked and moved over. If you notice anything blatant -drop me a comment!
With the release of the new website, I have linked the new rallynotes.com twitter account @rallynotes. You can watch here, or follow us directly! We’ll use this predominately on race weekends, but I’m sure the occasional rally build triumph will be tweeted. Make sure to follow us!
A new rally car! Just like I did with the 1st Gen (Ze’Neon), I designed a graphic for the new car before we start the build. The colors are similar to our first car, but with a new unique style that will soon come to be recognized as the rallynotes.com SRT-4 Neon. The 2GN is a 2003 Second Generation Dodge Neon SXT. The current plan is to cage and test the car with the stock 2.0L and then upgrade it to a 2.4L Turbo SRT-4. This car will be campaigning in the group 5 class in 2011 (open 2WD class). We are really excited to get this project underway, and we hope you are too!
New rally car! New website! New rallynotes graphic!
You know you want to hit up the new comments! 🙂
New site looks good. Can’t wait for the G5 project !!!
<— Look not dead
Site does look great, but who would expect any less from the master tweaker "Kris" (har har) Like Kaiser mentioned, excited to see the new car, in person someday….
thinking about buying a 1998 neon sport, will get some pics, wondering if you could give me your opinion. It has a SCCA approved 6 point roll cage in it, seat w/five point safety belts and many other street mods. was originally cone raced, now it is built for speed. Thought it would be a good starting point with some work might be able to get it out in 2011. thank and good luck with your new neon project. Chris
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the feedback – glad you like the site.
Before you buy, Let me give you some straight talk about what you’ve got.
The SCCA hasn’t run rally in a while, so an SCCA car can’t be current. You mentioned a roll cage, but you need to find out how thick the tubes are and the material thickness. I don’t know the current spec offhand – but it’s getting close to 2″ and a lot of guys I know are just going to the larger size to cover future rules. With only a 6 point you will no doubt need to add some steel anyway. Why spend $1500 redoing something when for $2000 you can do it the way you want from scratch?
You’ll want to download, print, eat, and sleep – the RA and NASA rulebooks:
http://rally-america.com/rules.php
http://www.nasarallysport.com/main/rules (for cars)
The belts – unless they are less then 5 year old FIA – would be no longer useful. The fact that it’s set up for the street right now makes little difference as all rally cars need to be setup for rally. I would look into HotBits for your car – they now make a kit for the 1stGen.
The skidplates will need to be custom fabricated. We have a list of companies we recommend on the right hand side links.
I know this might have been a little harsh, but I would rather you know what you’re going up against, then to get frustrated and not rally.
Suggested reading:
https://rallynotes.com/2008/04/rally-tech-buy-it-or-build-it/
http://www.specialstage.com/classifieds/showcat.php/cat/13
I wish you the best of luck, and I look forward to seeing you out on the stages!
– Kris