Waste Management Winter Rally 2017 Preparation

by Sergei Grishin

I signed up for Waste Management Winter Rally (WMWR) this year. Last year, I was a co-driver for Derek James for this event, I even made a video! I am very excited to run this event since I have two co-driving experiences with the Waste Management stages. The car and I are ready to give it our all for this event. Until then, I have a few things to do.

To Do List:

  • Finish vinyl wrap
  • Paint interior
  • Install 1.5:1 steering quickener
  • Install battery/ignition/starter switch panel
  • Align steering wheel

The car is mostly ready for the event. Mechanically, everything is excellent. Aesthetically, it's not even close. I am in the middle of doing a vinyl wrap for the exterior, so that will be done soon. I am really excited for that to wrap up (pun intented) so it doesn't look like a beater car anymore. The interior of the car is an eye sore. The cage is unpainted, there are random parts of the floor that are painted black, while the rest is gray from the factory. Since this is a winter event, I am worried about water and salt getting in and making it look even worse, so I would like to paint it and get it out of the way before this event.

After the BMR Rallycross event and a test day at the end of 2016, I learned that there are some instances on slick surfaces (understeer) that require quick steering compensation after grip is attained again. On dirt and gravel surfaces, my car tends to oversteer and correcting it is not very difficult, but the understeer situations are a bit chaotic. I know how I want the car to correct itself, but I physically cannot turn the steering wheel fast enough. A steering quickener seems to be the answer. Many teams use them, and they are a good first step before getting a full on quick steering rack that professionals use. The problem with using a steering quickener would be the increased stress on the power steering pump and increased steering effort. The two most common steering quickener ratios are 2:1 and 1.5:1. I chose the 1.5:1 ratio to lighten the load on power steering pump and my arms. I also installed a power steering cooler not too long ago and filled the power steering system with synthetic fluid, so I believe the pump will be fine.

I have a switch panel in the car right now that is not even hooked up. I finally have serious motivation to hook it up now that the steering column will be pulled out and the ignition switch can be removed.

Another minor one, my steering wheel is about 15 degrees out of alignment. Normally, that would not be a big deal, but my steering wheel has a yellow dead center stripe on it and when the steering quickener gets installed, that 15 degrees is going to feel like 23 degrees. Little things like that bother me.

I will be making posts about my vinyl wrap and steering quicker soon, so don't forget to subscribe. I also have an Instagram that I update very frequently, @theracingrebel.