The URABUS project
 

Well it all started about 12 months ago. Dad and I had been arguing over a track car for a long time but due to a weird set of circumstances we decided to get serious. Dad wanted to go down the Caterham / Westfield road but I was more interested in the EVO / STI road.

We also looked at bringing in a Radical (think modern day caterham, rear engine on steriods) but my long term goal is to do a targa tasmania and at present you can not road register it.

Anyways, we sat down and nutted out what we wanted and settled on either a evo 5 / 6 lancer or a v5 / v6 sti.

For the life of me I could not find a lancer anywhere but I found a V5 STI type RA limited up at JWS. It had been in a bingle and had gone in reasonably hard in the front RHS. Because it was a limited it had air bags. Then the inevitable happened. A week after I got mine I found the perfect one over east that would have saved me a lot of head aches but anyway.

Why a V5 / V6? The cost of the shell is pretty irellevant when you look at the cost of everything else that you have to put in but we decided that the 150kg odd weight advantage could not be ignored. Also the GC's perceived lack of rigidity would be solved by the addition of a full weld in roll cage. NVH levels were obviously of no concern seeing as the car was never going to have carpets / underbody insulation anyways.

The engine was already out of the car and I had to strip everything out before the panel beater woud start.

Below are some photos of the car before and after I stripped it.

[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o55/urabusra/BrendonsPictures051.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o55/urabusra/BrendonsPictures019.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o55/urabusra/BrendonsPictures020.jpg[/IMG]

Once the panel work was done it was up to Race Torque to get a cage put in.

Below are some photos of the cage in various stages of completion

[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o55/urabusra/BrendonsPictures044.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o55/urabusra/BrendonsPictures042.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o55/urabusra/BrendonsPictures045.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o55/urabusra/BrendonsPictures081.jpg[/IMG]

Once the cage was complete it had to go and get the interior painted. Once this was done the refit could begin to take shape.

Below are some photos of the interior as it was taking shape.

[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o55/urabusra/P1010247.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o55/urabusra/P1010236.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o55/urabusra/P1010248.jpg[/IMG]

The car has been sign written and is now up at race torque getting autronics, a tune and a few other things.

Everything being equal I should get it back in the next day or so.

I have tried to keep the car as standard as possible with the ultimate veiw of going to Targa Tasmania where you are allowed to change very little.

In terms of mods the car is standard fare:

I.e.

EJ207
DCCD
R180 Rear Diff
No ABS
No Air Con
No Sound Deadening
Thinner Glass
Quick Steering Rack
LSD's Front and Rear

In terms of the mods I have done they have been limited to the following:

Autronics Plug and Play
Group 4 Coilovers
Front and Rear Sway Bar
Anti Lift Kit
Camber bolts
Silicone air intake
BPM exhaust / up pipe
2l Catch Can
DBA 5000 Rotors
Ferodo FS3000 Pads

The car could very easily be changed to run in Improved Production up at Wanneroo.

The immediate goal is to run at MC / Max action etc. I will be doing the Dutton and Taga West.

As soon as race torque get their ass into gear and tune the car I can get it back and get it licensed. It will be B reg only though.

The car has taken far longer and cost far more than I thought it was going to but we are nearly there. If everything goes right I am hoping to run at the drags on Wednesday 31st Jan. This might be a bit ambitious but we are getting very close.

Brendon

pics or ban. sounds good.

Good decision not to go with the Westfield for a targa car. There is little to no chance that you would survive a high speed crash with the low side walls.
Also the visability is quite poor when your low down, approaching a bend it can be difficult to see over and around it.

you chose the safer option. :)

MC days, hillclimbs and sprints are perfect for the Westfield. but a full roll cage is best for Targa.

All the best.

Well Brendon, now you have no excuse not to whip everone's arse in that lightweight weapon...just let me know which events you're doing and I won't bother to enter myself :D

Good Decision Brendon, :) I grew up in Tassie and have been itching ever since Targa Tas started to enter the event. Sadly I will have to work O/Seas for a while I think before funds allow.

Lightweight Turbo, AWD with DCCD is perfect for Targa Tas and far far safer than a powerfull RWD car especially in the wet. Targa Tas is especially hard on tyres when you really get up it and the conditions are always unpredictable. Dry, Wet, Super Wet, Ice, Snow all in the one day. that what makes it one of the Worlds premier tarmac events.

I would not mind having a yak over costs sometime when you get a chance ? PMail ?

J

[QUOTE=nauli]Well Brendon, now you have no excuse not to whip everone's arse in that lightweight weapon...just let me know which events you're doing and I won't bother to enter myself :D[/QUOTE]

I think there will be quite a few teething problems and it will take a while to get the set up right.

Also it is not going to have that much power. Best guess somehwere around 170kw atw?

Also I have not done anything competitively in a car since I sold my old rex very nearly 3 years ago. The ute was / is just terrible and nothing from that could be construed as beneficial seat time.

With all the sign writing etc it is not as though I can slide under the radar either. I think I need to investigate the possibility of doing some very quiet testing out at AHG.

Brendon

[QUOTE=WRXTASY]Good Decision Brendon, :) I grew up in Tassie and have been itching ever since Targa Tas started to enter the event. Sadly I will have to work O/Seas for a while I think before funds allow.

Lightweight Turbo, AWD with DCCD is perfect for Targa Tas and far far safer than a powerfull RWD car especially in the wet. Targa Tas is especially hard on tyres when you really get up it and the conditions are always unpredictable. Dry, Wet, Super Wet, Ice, Snow all in the one day. that what makes it one of the Worlds premier tarmac events.

I would not mind having a yak over costs sometime when you get a chance ? PMail ?

J[/QUOTE]

The other advantage that the rex / evo has over a lot of cars in relation to targa is that the tyres are the same front and rear i.e. you can rotate them where as the RWD cars tend to have bigger tyres on the back.

As for costs just filck me an email - [email]brendon@wintgc.com[/email] and I can fill you in.

Thanks

Brendon

One question.

URABUS? where did you pull that from? :)

Look in the mirror would be a hint....Don't tell....

Well done - is it still going to run a VF28? Did you manage to squeeze a hydraulic handbrake into it?