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What is the best route to go down when building a competition vehicle


RienSharp

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What is the best route to go down when building a competition vehicle for safari comps and trailling events?

I would like to enter the Welsh Xtreme and Ultra4 further down the lines but am interested in what would be the best way to go?

So far I am thinking of starting with a V8 discovery or range rover then taking it down to the chassis and rebuilding a roll cage and frame. I am looking at moving the engine back and swapping the drive shafts from front to back so it sits more mid engine and adding dome big 35 to 37 inch tires hoping not to strip the half shafts.

I am also looking at eventually upgrading the axles to Spidertrax once I have got more into it and getting a Chevy engine block.

Any help with the design and any lessons that you have learnt along the way would be appreciated.

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One lesson : standard halfshafts will not survive 35" tyres and competition.

Your ideas seem reasonably sound, though to save money I wouldn't bother even trying to run the rover axles, they cost too much to get in reliable spec for competition these days.

You can build a cage, or Whitbread (I am sure other company s do similar!) Can supply a cage made to fit the disco chassis.... Could save a load of headaches.

Good luck with the build :)

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I'm not sure if you really want to do what you think you want to do !

Comp Safari , trials, challenge and ultra 4 are all very different styles of competitions requiring a different vehicle setup and, in the case of Ultra 4, following different technical regs. It's pretty much impossible to build a vehicle that's good at all 4 of those so if you really want to do then then you need to figure out where your compromises and priorities will need to be.

You ask:

What is the best route to go down when building a competition vehicle for safari comps and trailling events?

But you then list modifications that aren't really suited to either (apart from moving the engine back). maybe it's a terminology thing but if you go into trials and comps thinking you need (or even want) 35 inch plus tyres you're pretty much going to build something completely unsuitable. You'd be far better off competing, marshalling or spectating at some events first so you've got a better idea of what you want to do with the end product.

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Quite a mixed mission statement / wish-list there - for a competition which has a rule book it's best to at least start by reading that. Also, of course, look at what others have built for that comp that's worked well. It's easy to convince yourself you want a big V8 and big tyres but unless you have very deep pockets you're better off building something less spectacular but that you can afford to build properly & maintain - finishing events is a pre-requisite of scoring any points ;)

Starting off with a basic / low-end vehicle can also be a good way to learn without going broke - you may find you don't need massive tyres but that money would be better spent on quality suspension, for example. Also you'll learn a lot if you've got to think twice and pick your lines rather than bulldozing your way round the course.

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