The Legendary Rally Machine: Nissan 240RS

I'm always fascinated by rally machines. To me, they are one of the toughest road going machines in the world.. Just look at how the cars withstand the constant huge jump of Rally Finland, and how they constantly protect the drivers from massive crashes.. it gives me the feeling that rally cars are invincible.. It'll be my preferred means of transport, in the event of zombie outbreak..lol..

Being a huge rally fan, i am hoping that one day i'll be able to see classic rally cars like Lancia Delta Integrale, or Lancia Stratoses on the road, or better still, in a rally.. It never cross my mind that one day, i'll be able to see a legendary rally car, which is even rarer than the 2 cars that i mentioned earlier.. To put it into perspective, there are about 492 units of Stratos produced by Lancia; the car that i saw has only 200 units produced and it's said that there are less than 20 units known left in the world. The car in question is non other than Nissan 240RS


Steve Irwin: "What a beau-ty!"

I stumbled upon this beauty at MRU motorsports about 2 months ago. It belongs to veteran Malaysian Rally driver, Mr Chew Tee Wong. Mr Chew had sent this beautiful piece of machinery to MRU motorsports workshop for maintenance checks and fixes. He was preparing this car for the Berjaya Hill climb, which was held on 30th October 2010. Mr Chew isn't the first owner of the car, no. He bought the car from another veteran rally driver who got this car from Tan Chong (Malaysia's official Nissan car distributor) as a token of appreciation for his achievement rallying for Nissan. Nope, this car is not a replica converted from S110, it is actually a Group B works car from Nissan. There are only 2-3 units brought in to Malaysia, and i would believe that this is the only one left here.


Look at 'em mean arches, i reckon it can store KGs of gravel in SS

The Nissan 240RS was initially created by Nissan in 1982 to compete in Group B of the World Rally Championship. 200 units were produced by Nissan for the FIA Group B homologation. The 240RS is based on the Silvia body, equipped with an FJ24-type 2.4L DOHC straight-4 sporting a custom cylinder block and crankshaft. Various body parts were reinforced: the bonet, boot lid, over-arches and more were all made with fibreglass-reinforced plastic and all windows except the front were exchanged with polycarbonate, lowering the weight to 100kg under that of the stock Silvia RS. Output was nearly doubled to 237 bhp. (Facts are borrowed from Gran Turismo GT)


Boxy looking ass.. spank it and u'll suffer the consequences

However, Nissan's bid for the 240RS to be competitive in Group B WRC is not a story of success. In the 1983 Safari Rally, Nissan's work team entered the 240RS Group B, aiming to win four championships, only to find that it was dampen by engine troubles. Moreover rival machines were all evolution models. Nissan eventually managed to create an evolution model for 240RS, but it was too late. Group B has moved on to 4wd turbo monsters.

Despite all that, the 240RS has its taste of victory as well. It finished 2nd in the 1983 New Zealand Rally.


The 240RS in its WRC glory

I'll let the pictures do the talking now. Enjoy the shots taken using our camera phone.. If time allows it, we'll post videos of us cranking the engine as well.. ;) Until then, please enjoy the pictures..


..Look at all the old skool meters..

..Simple, nice, and purposeful..

..the fuel cell is located inside the boot compartment rather than undercarriage..
..the fuel system uses anti-slosh foam instead of a surge tank..

..check out the reinforced rear axle..designed to take on the harsh rally environment..

..the powerplant is running on dry sump system..

MRC 2010 Round 3 Terengganu - Tasik Kenyir Super Special Stage

Here's our onboard video for the tarmac super special stage @ MRC Round 3, Tasik Kenyir.
Sit back and enjoy the video!

DIY: SOL visor installation

So recently, team D24 upgraded themselves from rental kart to another type of rental kart, I mean from 80cc to 100cc karts. It's not really a big leap considering ONLY 20cc difference but that's actually 25% increment of engine displacement on basically a same chassis & same weight. That is something I tell you.

That's not my point really. My point is that I've been using either helmet from the kart operator and other times I would bring my own Spongebob which is an open face.... as if you can't tell from the picture.

There's nothing wrong when you look at it. The problem comes when you floor the throttle while going down the main straight of City Kart Shah Alam going at approx 70-80kph. At this speed, there's like a small turbulence going on behind the helmet visor. At long duration, the wind effect really dries up my eye & later it makes me cry ....literally. I would find myself wiping tear drops like I've just pulled out a perfect drift.

So I told myself, I need to buy a full face for future session. And later I asked myself, why buy when I've already got my rally helmet?! And this is where this blog entry would start LOL

Materials that you need:

1) SOL off road helmet

2) Visor of choice; mine is HYBRID-37X FACE SHIELD CLEAR IRIDIUM RECOMMENDED PRICE RM60 ....direct copy from packaging, pretty long name

3) 40 cents ... LOL

Step 1: Screw them screw

Ok, now you should use 20 cents to unscrew that screw. What about the balance of 20 cents you asked? Use it on the other side :P

Step 2; Lift 'em up

Simply lift up the dirt shade like so

Step 3: Release the release

You'll need to push the release downward & lift up the dirt shade at the same time.

Step 4: Be gentle

Once both sides are off the latch, just pull out the dirt shade from the pivot gently

Step 5: Do it backward

Repeat the steps above in reverse & opposite ....ok, I know you're lazy to read them backward ....but so am I LOL

Once both sides are on the latch, just push in the visor into the pivot gently

You don't need to push the release downward & lift up the dirt shade at the same time.

Simply push down the visor like so

Keep your 40 cents

Camwhore

I'll give feedback to you guys later on how this visor should help me concentrate on attacking the course again. Nah, I'm just kidding, with this cool look, I'm not bothered about that anymore. BTW, on the left is OBK's helmet with Paddle Pop finish.

Thanks SOL for the awesome looking visors (and helmets)!

DIY: Pacenotes

"Pacenotes.. ahh.. what a boring subject..i mean, who cares bout pacenotes right? It's just some random bits of scribble which the co-driver used to nag the driver while the driver's doing the hard work of driving.."

WRONG!!

The fact is, pacenotes is one of the most important part in rallying. Look at 6 times WRC world champion Sebastien Loeb for example, his notes is so detail, he can practically drive with his eyes closed! Having good pacenotes enables the driver to push more confidently in the Special Stages (SS)..

For today's post, i'm not going to talk about pacenotes, but rather, how to DIY your own pacenote book.. While it might not directly affect the driver's performance in the rally, having a proper pacenote book will help in making your rally experience easier..

Step 1: Gather the materials

- A4 size paper (100gsm at least.. makes flipping easier..)
- 2 thick A4 size card board (makes a good base for your pacenotes.. else the notes will seem flimsy..)
- Garden wire
- Wire cutter
- Broom stick
- Spray paint

Step 2: Prepare the notes and cover

- Since i'm a junior in pacenote writing, i've devised a template for each sheet.. it makes my life easier coz it help me organize the space on each page better.. it makes my notes neater too.. Besides that, at the top of each page, there are columns for Stage information such as Special Stage (SS) name, SS length, as well as page number/total of pages. It is important to note the page count so that you won't mixed the pages by accident.
- To get the template on the paper, i used a photocopier.. coz it's much cheaper and much faster.. (plus there's a copier in my company.. hehe.. i hope no one from my company reads this..)
- After preparing the templates, it's time to send the notes and the hard cover for binding.. if you have access to round shaped binding machine, then it'll be great.. else like me, you can bind it using the normal square binding.. (also available in my company.. kekekeke.. )

Step 3: Making spring

- The technique that we'll using for the binding is coil binding. The reason why this type of binding is chosen is because it has the ability to open flat on a desk and offer 360 degree rotation for easy note taking and flipping.
- The spring/coil making part is the toughest part of all.. the reason is simple: first you need to get wire with proper thickness for this; 2ndly, you need to estimate the length of the wire to use.. it depends on the size of the ring and the number of binding holes you have; 3rdly, it's very hard to judge the distance between 2 holes.. in my case, what i did was to roughly estimate the length, and the distance between the holes.. then after it's done, i'll adjust it according during the test fitting session.. :D..
- To summarize the whole process in 4 steps, you need to:
#1, Cut the wire accordingly.
#2, Roll it on a broom stick with a rough estimate on the gap.
#3, Test fit the spring with the prepared notes, and adjust accordingly
#4, Cut off excessive wire..
- Size of wire? Hot co-driver Christy Goh recommended bigger rings to make flipping easier, and thicker wire so that it won't go out of shape during SS.. i find her advise very useful.. :D

Step 4: Test fitting

- Test fitting is simple.. All you need to do is the spin the spring through the binding holes on your notes.. The spinning direction is either clockwise or counter clockwise depending on the direction of your spring.. But one advice though, please make sure to align your notes properly before binding to make it easier..

Step 5: Spray the momma

- But before you spray the momma, you need to sand-paper the sharp edge.. this is to prevent the razor sharp edge from cutting and hurting you..
- After the sharp edge is smoothed, you can start spraying the spring with your favorite color.. This is to keep the spring from getting rusty after being exposed to the harsh rally condition..

Step 6: Assemble the parts

- Putting everything together: the hard cover, the notes, the spring, to make sure that it fits and flips properly..

Step 7: Zhng your pacenotes with stickers

- Just for the extra ego boost..

The benefits of this pacenotes DIY:
- Being able to arrange the notes after recce.. By doing so you can group notes for consecutive SS together in one book..
- Note: Remember to wrap the edge of the wire with tapes.. This is important to keep the sharp edge from hurting you during the stages..

Well, that's all folks.. enjoy your DIY and Zhng-ed pacenotes..

Rally of Bahau, Round 2 of MRC2010

Bandar Seri Jempol - Karamjit Singh wrapped up the Malaysian Rally Round 2 title at Bandar Seri Jempol in convincing style today ...........Scratch that, that sounds way too formal to be coming out from me. It's almost like reading that straight out of the paper (it is LOL)

So how was our rally you asked? It was awesome! The sport just keeps on getting better & better.

As usual, we tried to start the preparation way ahead of the competition and AS USUAL, we didn't try hard enough LOL. Anyhow, it seemed like there's always not enough time, we did however managed to get the rear pair of absorbers as well as a pair of brake calipers serviced. And on top of that, the 'drifter' in of me requested for the car to be setup to have a mild understeer & a neutral tail for a change.

FF drift yo!

And there we were at Bahau a day earlier for the recce (to make pace note). We did alright I guess but this is our first recce without a water 'boey' (Andy Boey) LOL. The joke didn't end there. We actually got pulled over by cops when we stopped for lunch break just outside a warong (food stall by the road)! The cops weren't aware that the rally was in town & thought we looked suspicious coz we drove ultra dirty & muddy car. We had to explain for ourself that we just came out of the estate mah, of course it'll be 'muddy'. They bought our story but only after they did a search off our trunk!

How the cops caught us

"Francis, we have a problem". This is something that I have to get used to. Balan (hamsapian) came to me & said that one of the brakes is leaking at the seal. We had to make a trip back to the workshop in KL to get the service kit. It was ultra exhausting driving with poor visibility coz it rained cat shit & dog shit, & most of the journey was on trunk road :(

We survived that. And then, it's the first day of rally. Safety & remember to have fun, this has always been D24's strategy, not so much of a strategy huh and away we go. The car felt really good, so we went flat out (FYI our flatout is others 1/2 throttle) straight away. Unintentionally, we even flew at a crest which was marked as 'flat crest' (it means go flat out over crest), only to find ourself gasping for air & searching for balls somewhere behind the lower abs later. Yet again, we learned something here, that recce speed is NOT the same as rally speed! We changed that to 'do not flat crest' afterward.

Flat over crest

Do you know that Bahau rally has tonnes of ruts?! So much that I had to grab hold of the steering very tightly or we would veered off course. So much groping or grabbing that my fingers get cramped at every last SS before every service. Damn, I didn't take Eido-san's lesson too well about my steering technique. I'll explain more on this next time.

Fluffy steering

Both OBK & I are slowly getting up to speed. I'm trying to understand more of the gravel tire by trying sorts of technique to find the traction. I'm getting more sense of grip at low speed but still hesitate at the faster stuff. We tried to stay more in the power band this time, somewhere between 3-5k rpm, though we still lack of power when some others are hitting well over 7k rpm.

Borrowed from Yoong :P

At the navigation department meanwhile, OBK had to call much faster this time around when things happen a lot quicker. We covered 30 (metres) faster than OBK can say it. This meant that OBK had to call things much earlier & I had to stack more notes in my head too.

We came back for a final service on Day 1 with a broken rear camber arm. The bolt broke right off the chassis for doing too much sideways. And we thought that the car dialed in too much angle due to lighter fuel load at the end of the day. The crew worked effortlessly to weld the bugger back into place but they couldn't finish the job as we only had a 40 mins window. They had to spot weld to keep it in place before finishing the job on the 1st service in the next day.

Broken camber arm :(

We would then start Day 2 at an awesome 5th overall, 1st 2wd & 1st 1600cc. Its our first time starting at such position & its really really awkward I must say to start just behind the 4WDs. We were leading with the next car for about 55s but were later cut short by 10s coz we left the service late to get the rear arm done.

Little that we know, we lost another precious minute when the car failed to rev smoothly at the first SS of Day 2. We couldn't get the rev past 4k rpm & had to shift up early so as not to waste more time limping at 4k rpm. I had to constantly kick the clutch (refer to image on how to do that) as the rev took ages to climb. We didn't have the faintest idea that it's the plug fault until Karam told us so at the start of the third SS where we had a slightly longer interval time. I managed to minimize the damage by accelerating smoothly & cutting more corners to avoid dropping more speed. Sounds like technique taken off Initial D geh

This is how you should kick the clutch

We went back for midday service with the front lower arms bent & I guess we can blame it on the ruts. We got them replaced but came out with steering pull hard right. No time for alignment. We rejoined the rally under a gloomy sky and heavy rain. We almost went into a ditch before a bridge at SS11, but thanks to quick reaction with the ebrek & then power out to pull us out of harms way.

We brought the car back safely and finished at 5th overall, 2nd 2wd & 1st 1600cc class! Its almost the same result as APRC Johor but this time, we worked really hard for this, and boy did that feel great!

We would like to use this opportunity to thank our sponsors, MRU Motorsports, Asahi Chassis & Suspension, Universal Nutribeverage, SOL Helmet, Q8 Oils. And of course everyone else who had supported us along the way, you know who you are!

And hey, here is a compilation of video taken from our onboard camera, do watch till the end for a super finish www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_T4n0RYWcg

In this month issue of Pro-Tuners ...

Lets see if I can remember how it happened. Okay, so there is this one day when I got a private message from Soon, he's the editor of pro-tuners magazine. Soon asked if we're interested to be featured in their magazine, well, we could need a help to gain some fame here, so yeah, why not right? So a few more private messages, couple hundreds of pictures taken by Eddie & weeks of waiting, finally it's out! Expect to see two articles about us, one being pro-tuners' very first article of a rally car and a get-to-know-more-about-D24. Just in case you couldn't find the latter, it's after the page containing lotsa skimpy shoots of Cheryl Lee :). Special thanks to Soon & Eddy again for featuring us! And guys, go get yourself a copy!

DIY: Rally Helmet with Intercom

As we progressed further in the program, the competition became more fierce and the road condition were getting .... more interesting. The roads were now longer and with just 2 allowed passes (recce), it's not easy to memorize the entire road. We knew communication will be crucial to keep us ahead of others and more importantly, to keep the car on the road. We had to do something.

As we blogged before, pacenotes is an important tool to notify the driver what is coming ahead. All this while, I (Keng) found no issue hearing notes delivered by OBK. Of course he can, the exhaust doesn't make apparent noise, the road is smooth & the suspension is comfortable, basically, we weren't rallying. When we moved to gravel surface, all we could hear was gravels hitting the undercarriage of the car, I would go like, "notes? what notes?". We were desperate for intercom!

Later, some team invested on pricey rally intercom set (point finger at team Sparken hehe), some got themselves motorbike intercom set and some even went as far as communicating via cellphone with hands free kit. As for us, we opt for the motorbike intercom set too but they didn't perform that well as there was just 1 earphone for each of us and the microphone picked up noises other than OBK's too! We were very much dying for a better intercom but we needed to keep the budget at minimal, so I put my DIY skills to work and came up with this ...read on

Materials that you need:

1) Helmet (Old AGV, cost Rm70 if I remember correctly)

2) Headphone with 3.5" male jack (Rm19 from LowYat)

3) Heatshrink (Less than Rm2/ft from Jln Pasar)

4) Cable ties (Dunno how much they cost as I got them from my toolbox)

5) Wires for extension (Leftover from my car project)

6) Bike intercom with 3.5" female jack (got this from ebay for less than rm70 plus shipping)

Tools that you need:

1) Hot glue gun + hot glue

2) Wire cutter

3) Pen knife

4) Scissors

5) Solder gun + flux

6) Philip screwdriver for dismantling the headphone

7) Power drill for drilling hole for the mic boom wire or

8) Small flathead screwdriver if you don't have a power drill

Step 1: Where should the headphone go?

Most crash helmet comes with a detachable ear padding for easy cleaning. If yours doesn't, skip this part & go to step #2 yo. Now remove the ear padding. Mine had a velcro to keep it in place.

Step 2: Make that hole bigger

This is an underskirt shot of where the (ear) padding used to sit. All you have to do next is to make the hole larger so that there is enough room for the earphone. You don't want it to be 'ketat', or do you? Rule of thumb I got from my wiring experience, measure twice, cut once!

Step 3: Strip 'em

You'll need a "circumaural" type of headphone as this completely surrounds the ear & seal them from external noise, perfect for rally! The model that I bought was actually 3 bucks more expensive than a model which had no striking red color cover behind the earphone. Soon I realized it's not needed, crap.

Remove the ear muff (hehe) and loosen the screws to detach the headphone from the main assembly.

Step 4: Connectoooo...

At the back, you'll find 2 wires connected to the speaker. You need to unsolder them as the wire connecting the left and right speaker goes through the main loop, or you can choose to cut them but you'll need to connect them back later. DON'T cut it, solder is cleaner!

Now measure if the wires (left to right speaker) are long enough, you'll need to tuck these wires underneath the padding of the helmet later. Remember to use heatshrink if you need to increase the wires length, they look nicer & they provide extra grip so that the solder doesn't come apart. Don't solder the MICROPHONE just yet!

Step 5: The ear muff

Secure the speaker phone to the ear padding that we took out in step #1. Hot glue will come in handy here. And you can even use the screws that were originally used to hold the speaker to the main assembly.

Step 6: Mic check....1..2 ...1..2

Drill a hole right behind the ear padding for the microphone wire to go through. You can use the same hole to mount the mic boom onto the helmet.

Step 7: Final assembly

Secure all the connections properly. I didn't prepare a wiring diagram beforehand, all you gotta do is just put them back together like how they were before you took them apart.

Step 8: Taa-daa

There you go, rally intercom helmet!

Now from here, you've several option on how to zhng your rally helmet. And this is what I did LOL. I'll show you how to do them in the future!