LordZed wrote:

Drive the dune buggy! 

No heat, no helmet room, no off road tires.

Next year maybe.

wouldn't do it w/a bad ball joint.  Besides, wouldn't pass Pre-race inspection.  Get the ball joint done, run, THEN do the lowering. You're not paying a lot to just get a ball joint done, it can be DIY.

This event had been a snow event for the last 2 years, but with the 40s and 50s we had locally there was no snow to be found. It ended up a water, mud and dirt event. I finished 11th out of 16 in my class with snow tires. I had a good time but I did not like the beating I put on the Saab so that will probably be the last RallyX i do with my car as long as it is my daily. I talked to one of the organizers about bringing the buggy there next year. I was informed that they are not allowed by SCCA rules, it has to be a production based full bodied car. There is another place locally that does rallyx that is not affiliated with SCCA so I may see if I can drive the buggy there this year.

My buddy took his Datsun 280Z down and broke the half shaft on before the last run. He borrowed another guy's pick up that was in his class for his last run. He beat the guys best time in his and truck, and took first place in his class. The truck was an old Toyota pickup with UTV tires on the rear, the craziest looking thing, but it was fast through the mud.

Did you catch my boy Josh hooning about in an big ole 1960's Mercedes?

It also sports an [expired] VT inspection sticker.

Yeah, it's pretty easy to do, relatively inexpensive as well...

Chad W wrote:

This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while, yet slightly horrifying, too.  I would love to see more pics of this car.

I love Benzes of this vintage. It takes a lot of balls to drive one in any sort of motorsports event as I've heard repairs are exceptionally expensive. I can't imagine mechanically complex vintage luxury cars we're built to sustain the sort of forces on delicate bits like suspension parts and steering parts that racing on a choppy, viscous surface would put on a car. I'm also guessing it's difficult to find parts even if he can afford the costs involved.

Does this guy keep cars like this for a while, or does he buy old beaters for racing and dispose of them whenever something expensive comes up? I'm curious what his relationship with cars like this is.

Last edited by Bunnspeed (2013-01-26 12:03:40)

NVS parts?

Google only returns damn workstation GPU results.

iamchris wrote:

NVS parts?

Google only returns damn workstation GPU results.

New Vintage Stock        





Seriously, M-B and BeeEmmmVay are actually willing to search NOS, restart mfg of popular vintage parts, or make one offs, if necessary i order to keep M-Bs viable. This dates all the way back to 1899 for M-B.  M-B calls this their Heritage program. Bear in mind, if it is not NOS, things can be really, really expensive.   VAG, OTOH appears to be taking NOS parts OUT of circulation. I guess it's to encourage you to buy a NEW VW or Audi    This even applies to cars deserved of what M-B calls "Heritage" status, such as the UrQ (ur or original Turbo Quattro Coupe), the 100LS Coupe, Ur//S cars and even the B4 RS2. There are now parts that are NLA from Audi GmB or even Quattro GmB when there were some known to be on the shelves.  Even USDM Ford and GM (don't know about Mopar) at least keep NOS around and willingly support the aftermarket suppliers. Also I don't know about Japanese mfgs.

  I've had the opposite experience with VAG products, admittedly most of it being with pre-2000 models.  I had over 110K reliable (well, except for the TSB final drive issue) miles, including nearly a decade of heavy Auto-Xing in SCCA Stock classes on my  (admittedly electronically simple) A2 8V GTi.  I had over 190K miles on my (again electronically simple) Audi 4000S quattro, again reliable, only stranding me once at 170K miles with a failed Fuel Pump Relay. Car soldiered on when sold to a friend for another 40k miles, when the infamous '80s VAG door handle issues finally made him put it to pasture while still running well. My 200 quattro ran exceptionally reliably until it suffered a minor (about 1 ft) flood, I had to replace a number of sensors and rubber intake bits, then it suffered some electrical gremlins regarding door and trunk hinge wiring (this was an electrically complex vehicle, lots of signals and power running through those hinged wiring looms) by the time I sold it at 220K, and the main reason I sold it was because I had already acquired my UrS car.  The UrS has 112K miles, and has been running strong with appropriate maintenance.   Even my friend's 2004 Passat 1.8T 5MT 4motion Wagon (a rare beast actually) has been pretty solid over 130k miles. A couple of dropped pixels in the stereo and a failed sensor or two. Biggest issue for him is brakes and rotors, but then again the car spends lots of time on dirt roads and parked over dirt (it hasn't had a bath in years, it's a why bother situation).  Even my Mom's terribly low mileage ~ 40K mile 2001.5 Passat GLX 4-motion wagon (GLXs were fully loaded, lots of electronics, only thing missing on that car was the Monsoon sound system and CD changer) was quite reliable, it's only failings were pixels in the stereo and it occasionally cutting out, although that may have been a post accident (#1) result. It's too bad that it recently met its untimely, fortunately injury free, death.  Even sadder. It was replaced with...a Versa.

As for an '08 A6, I think you can rest easy. At least by USDM law, you have at least until 2015, and the purging of NOS stuff (although it does appear real) has seemed sporadic and it appears to have just started for the 92 RS2, which is four B-class generations ago.

Edit: info for parts longevity for Bunn's GTi

Last edited by Scargo (2013-01-26 18:47:21)