Whether you are a Targa veteran or new to the rally, the key to having a successful event lies in the preparation before you turn a wheel. Who better to give advice on that than automotive journalist, Targa co-founder and multiple winner Jim Kenzie. The original version of his article appeared in the Wheels section of the Toronto Star.
What kind of car can compete in the Targa Newfoundland rally?
Chances are if it has four wheels, we’ve seen its like in the 23 years of this unique-to-the-northern-and-western-hemispheres event.
There’s been everything from a 1938 Alfa Romeo Mille Miglia Spyder to a Citroen Traction Avant (the French gangster car), to a Mercedes-Benz S-Class Sedan, to the other end of the Mercedes-Benz model spectrum, a tiny little Smart car, to the more usual suspects like Porsche 911, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Mini, Subaru WRX, Mitsubishi EVO. Even a 1971 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck entered one year.
How do you prepare a car for this gruelling six-day, 2000-plus km event?
If you are running in the Targa Tour division, you pretty much just have to pump up the tires and do the requisite calculations for average speed, etc. on your phone. In contrast, Grand Touring means installation of a rally trip computer which keeps track of your distances, times and speeds to a fraction of a click/second. (You also need a roll bar for safety in Grand Tour and Targa 1.)
Now, if you plan to run in the Targa 2 division, the high-speed category, it is a somewhat larger kettle of fish…
How much should you budget?
It’s sort of like the income tax form:
1. How much money do you have? $_____.__
2. Spend it.
Minimally, you have three sets of criteria to satisfy.
The first two — (a) Make it legal, and (b) Make it safe — are mandatory.
The third — (c) Make it competitive — well, that’s where it gets interesting.
I have known people who spent less than $20,000 to prepare a safe and legal Targa car. Competitive? Hardly. And that low cost level can be achieved only by doing a huge amount of the work yourself (assuming you know how) and enlisting friends and family as crew.
I have also known people who have put six figures into a Targa run, with none of those figures to the right of the decimal point.
In all cases, it was well worth it.
I wouldn’t tell you what the budget was for the 2014 Nissan Juke NISMO RS Turbo that Nissan Canada entered for me, even if I knew.
But through the words of Frank and Dan Sprongl of Four Star Motorsports in Georgetown, Ont., who have built and/or prepared all but one of my 14 Targa rides, I can at least outline what went on.
Said Frank, “We take all the stuff out, and put all the stuff back in.”
Okay, he didn’t exactly say “stuff,” but you catch my drift. And that jocular little summary greatly simplifies the detail that is involved.
By far the biggest component, both in cost and in time, is the roll cage. And this is not an area where you want to scrimp.
When I first met my co-driver, Brian Bourbonniere — my original co-driver in Year Three had fallen ill and four-time Nova Scotia champion navigator Bourbonniere jumped in to help — he looked at the car and said, “Oh, it’s a Sprongl cage. At least I’m unlikely to die!”
Frank and Dan were long-time and very successful competitors on the Canadian national rally scene and have built a lot of strong and successful cars. That gave Brian the confidence to climb in.
The first step in building the cage is “taking all the stuff out.” The doors, tailgate and windshield are removed, and the interior stripped.
Says Frank, “Every modern car has pretty similar crash structure. Through years of experience building these things — and seeing how they perform when something goes wrong on a rally — we have a pretty good idea of where to put the reinforcements.
“We use 4130 chrome-moly steel and have our own tube bender. We measure every piece and cut and weld them into place. It’s all about triangulation, putting the strength where it’s needed.”
Dan sourced some Sparco racing seats that were narrower than usual; neither Brian nor I am particularly broad of beam, so we fit nicely in them. These seats have big side panels on the upper back rests to protect the head against side impacts and roll-overs — been there, done that. Five-point harnesses complete the major safety pieces.
The TerraTrip rally computer was installed, then most of the interior was replaced — although the rear seat was removed and some trim bits sacrificed to fit the cage.
The finished car looked remarkably stock, apart from the cage and seats. We even kept the air conditioning, satellite radio and backup camera. Sure, several hundred kilograms of weight could have come out of the car, but some of those transit stages are long and hot.
But you can never be too thin, too rich, have too much horsepower or too good a suspension. So, for 2015, Dan built some adjustable suspension units, beefed up the brakes and re-jigged the intake and exhaust systems to give a few more ponies. Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires were our rubber of choice.
A test day at Toronto Motorsports Park showed that the car was indeed quicker, the brakes were epic, and it was much easier to drive hard. Compared to a Targa-bound Mitsubishi EVO IX which was also testing that day, we were giving away about 100 horsepower and two driven wheels — the Juke is front drive; it’s four-wheel drive — yet our lap times were only 2.5 seconds slower than the EVO.
Even with better go, better stop and better cornering, we weren’t able to add to the three Open Division championships we’ve racked up over the years.
But we think we gave a decent account of ourselves.
Check the Rules and Regs page for more details on what is required for each division. If you have more questions, visit our FAQ and Event Info pages or contact us at [email protected].
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