Wednesday 25 February 2009

Hey all

My name is Mike Suter, I live in South Shropshire.

I want to get into trialling with my pal James, we both have a keen intrest in all things oily, James is a mechanic and I dont mind waving a spanner at stuff either, I am a bit of a Volvo nut, my current one being a 240 estate that I have fitted a 940 turbo engine into.

We have done a bit of offroading in the past, mainly in a sj410 which I enjoyed a lot.

We were looking for a Volvo 340 for classic trialling (but anything will do) I found one with 9 months MOT and 6 months tax, the bloke said we could have it for £70 to cover the tax he just put on it but I think he's had better offer, I was thinking the 340 would be ideal with RWD, rear mounted gearbox and leaf springs on the back (being easily jack uppable) Michael suggests I ask here if anyone has a car for sale, our initial budget being around the £100 mark.

I was also wondering if it is within the rules to share the driving on the stages during the events as I'm sure we would both like to have a bash at it. (excuse the pun)

10 comments:

  1. My comment would be pay your £70, check it over comprehensively, fit some guarding (sump, fuel tank etc) and enter in Class O then go from there. You will find that triallers in the main are very willing to talk so ASK. Unfortunately only one driver on an event but how about joing your local car club that organises PCT's (Production Car Trials) or now called simply Car Trials. You could double enter and it would give you some valuable experience on how to handle and understand the vehicle. Good luck.

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  2. Generally you aren't allowed to share driving. However some trials allow 'double drives' where you both get to drive each section. Obviously this can cause delays on some sections so not all trials allow it.

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  3. hi and welcome........

    ''''shared driving'''' is not permitted either on the 'sections'....['stages' are for the rally folk]......or on the interconnecting road portions...ie from 'signing on' to 'signing off'...

    Perhaps you and your pal might wish to alternate entries?

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  4. fair comment, we can alternate the driving on different events then.

    Just a matter of finding the right car then.

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  5. PCT's (single venue events that take place in a grassy field) are eminently suitable for a £100 car and you could do these without any preparation at all and share the driving with your buddy (double drive each section). There are normally a few cars taking part that fall into this category. Just pick a up the cheapest small (Polo sized) car you can find and have a go. One of our local guys uses a Kia Pride that he paid £Zero for and has a lot of fun with that (pictured below on an Autotest).

    I think Classics are a different issue. MCC Class 0 may be OK but for the main trial the car needs a lot of preparation.

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  6. The thing is although we don't have masses of cash, I have quite a bit of spare time and a little workshop, I can have lots of steel lying around and can fabricate and weld stuff, he can get parts at trade prices and has the use of a 4 post lift so preparation would be doable without a whole lot of trouble.

    I would attempt the section shown in the clip in my 240 but I wouldn't want my buddy to drive it on there just incase it got damaged and he would feel bad about that.

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  7. The section shown in the clip was only an autotest, so not even a trials section. take a look at www.youtube.com/grahamwh there are a selction of in car videos from Class 0 on there and have a search on youtube for Exeter Trial, Lands End Trial or Edinburgh Trial and you will find loads of stuff showing what it's like in the main trial. You can also find lots of links to other trials on youtube.

    I don't have the facilities and skills you do and have been thoroughly enjoying Class 0 in my £350 pound Skoda. I've also done a cople of ACTC events in Class 4 and found that to be competetive I will need to do more preparation and find more horsepower.

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  8. ok, cheers.

    EDIT,

    Looking at your vids I have been confused about the whole thing, I was under the impression that the PCT class was held on a grassy bank and no more and I was after something a little more hair raising.

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  9. The video is, indeed, a PCT but my comment was that they are an ideal way of learning to handle a vehicle without the cost of having to enter a classic trial. Typical costs for a PCT are £10. Also some ACTC trials do run Class O which is for those new to trialling or those with less well prepared or delicate vehicles so the sections used tend to be the easier ones on a trial with some others that the main trial does not do. I see no reason in going to a lot of expense initially when you do not know if you will like the competition, however you will know if you are hooked fairly quickly!!!

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  10. You are right that classics involve much mose "get up and go" that PCT's.
    Have you actually been to watch a classic? May be that should be your next move. See what's going on, and see what other people are driving. There are 2 events coming up in the next few weeks that are relatively local to your "South Shropshire" base. The first is the Mechanics on the 15th march starting just outside Stroud, and the second is the Kyrle on the 29th March in the beautiful Forest of Dean.
    If you are interesting in having a look at either of these events, contact me offline on simonwoodall{at}actc.org.uk You might also contact me to chat generally as I'm not that far from you, being based near Tenbury Wells

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