How legendary car builders, Vermont Sports Car, protect their rally machines from the rigors of the off-road.
Legendary rally car builders, Vermont Sports Car, and Motegi have a long-standing alliance of performance perfection. The internationally acclaimed builders and fierce motorsports competitors have built cars for the likes of Travis Pastrana, David Higgins, and Oliver Solberg, and are internationally renowned for their precision and attention-to-detail. When VSC sets out to R&D their new performance-adders on their STI test mule, they choose Motegi wheels for their lightweight construction and strength against the fierce testing trials.
We got a chance to sit down with the engineering team at VSC to breakdown some of the most vital and transformative mods you can install on your Rally car. Let’s take a look at the terrain defying must-haves the VSC team won’t leave the shop without.
- Hora Flaps – These large semi-rigid flaps mount to the rear skid plate and are the first line of defense against gravel damage for the rear suspension components. Designed to bolt flat against the bottom of the car at the front and flow with the suspension in the rear, their job is to deflect gravel and debris away from the rear control arms, axles, and dampers.
- Skid plate – The most important piece of underbody protection. Most commonly made of aluminum or composite, skid plates are used in every form of offroad racing. These thick, durable shields are used to protect vital components in the engine bay, and drivetrain of the vehicle.
- Mudflaps – Mudflaps are the most common form of protection. Most factory vehicles either come standard or offered with some sort of mudflap as an option. On your road car, they help prevent rock chips and road grime from spraying the sides of your vehicle. On competition vehicles, mudflaps prevent massive amounts of damage to you, your competitors, and even spectators by reducing projectile debris during high-speed passages in rigorous terrain.
- Wheel Scraper – Wheel scrapers mount inside the rear wheels of our competition cars. The scrapers are designed to divert caked up mud and rogue stones away from the rear brake calipers. Throughout a typical rally course, the grit and gravel is abrasive enough to wear right through the brake calipers, so wheel scrapers are an imperative addition to ensure our vehicles remain inhibited by the terrain.
- Hub Protector – These carbon fiber center caps are snap-on additions put in place after the lug nuts are installed and torqued. They prevent grit from infiltrating wheel stud threads, reducing binding and excess wear between the wheel stud and lug nut.
- Rear Quarter Protection – During rally racing, the rear doors receive the most gravel spray and impact. This piece of carbon Kevlar mimics the shape of the rear doors and is deployed during testing and pre-event driving to protect the paint and livery – keeping the cars looking fresh prior to the start of the rally.
