At the beginning of the 2024 season, we decided to sell our Civic FN2. We priced it so competitively that we felt like we were practically giving it away. As we pondered what to do next, a light bulb went off: rallying.
The idea of exploring the rallying discipline was appealing for several reasons. Firstly, we weren’t currently involved in this market, making it a fresh and exciting challenge. Secondly, the Tegiwa team had always expressed a keen interest in rally cars.
The first change that we had to make was changing out some of the roll cage to comply with rally regulations. It’s a requirement that the roll cage must have a cross on both the rear and back session. This is because there’ll now be a co-driver in the car so the cage must be able to protect both the driver and the passenger.
Speaking of a passenger, we had to install a bucket seat for our co-driver. We now have two RRS Grip 2 wrap-around bucket seats which will not only keep occupants comfy, but it’ll also keep them safe too.
We upgraded to a more robust YSR suspension system with adjustable dampers and softer springs, designed to handle the rough terrain and absorb impacts of rallying. This meant swapping out the Premium Competition Inverted Coilovers for a set of Advanced Pro Plus Tarmac 3-way Adjustable coilovers.
We’ve also installed a YSR hydraulic handbrake that will enable us to lock the rear wheels to initiate entry into tight hairpins.
The YSR 6 piston big brake kit that we already had on the car on the front axle will stay, we have just switched over to Hawk Performance HP+ brake pads as they have an amazing initial response as they require little to zero warming up.
Rally tires are specifically designed for off-road conditions, providing excellent traction and durability. We fitted narrower but stronger wheels on this car. These are a 17×7.5J which will be mounted with a set of 210/625/17 Yokohama A051T rally tyres. This is an older size of tyre and harder to obtain with most 17″ tyres utilising a 190 width now.
We upgraded the helical LSD to a MFactory 2-way metal plate LSD that will aid in delivering traction on the loose terrain. Using a 2-way LSD means that it locks as much under braking as it does as accelerating. We also upgraded the gear set with a MFactory Close Ratios which will allow for faster acceleration.
Rallying can be a rough sport, so we protected the vital underneath areas of the car with skid plates. The main under tray for the engine was kindly supplied by sump-guard.co.uk with the rest being designed in-house at Tegiwa which will be available to purchase soon!
Rally cars must meet strict safety standards. We installed RRS harnesses, and another fire extinguisher system so that we can help out others in case of an emergency. We also made the choice to go for a heated windscreen, which was kindly supplied by Ricky Evans Motorsport. This is a game changer as the windscreen can de-mist from the click of a button and they are more reliable than heater units.
To get a bit more oomph out of the K20Z, a set of Skunk2 Ultra Camshafts were installed as well as a Tegiwa 4-2-1 exhaust manifold that will help to unlock a few more horsepower.
There’s been a tonne of parts added to the inside of the car that include an OMP spare wheel holder and a ZeroNoise amplifier to enable communication between the driver and co-driver and even a first aid kit!
Luke, our driver, who also has to make the switch from circuit to rally driving has had to ascertain his BARS rally license too which will enable him to compete. He did the BARS Plus course at the Phil Price Rally School which gave him a day of driving between a RWD and 4WD Impreza on different surfaces. Needless to say that the test was ever in doubt and Luke passed with flying colours!
We’ve already booked onto our first stage rally events. The first is the Adgespeed Stages at 3 Sisters Circuit in Wigan on Sunday 13th October. We have then booked onto the Cadwell Park Rally on Sunday 17th November.
We’ve then jumped on board the Donington Park Stage Rally and become the headline sponsor for this event which we are super excited for! Not only will we be competing, but we’ll also have our trade stand on display too. This will be the final event of the year for us and we hope to see as many of you there as possible.
Finally, if you’ve seen our socials, you’ll have seen our latest purchase which will no doubt be at a rally event very soon! If you haven’t seen it, then we’ll be bringing you a blog all about it in the next few weeks.
