Sno*Drift Rally Recap

Posted on Feb 03, 2016

Last week we talked about prepping the car for Sno*Drift rally, even though it wasn't competing. Well now we feel obliged to let you know how it all went.

Of course it wouldn't be rally unless you were burning the midnight oil just before you left and that's exactly what we did though, of course, it wasn't planned that way. When we moved the trailer into position to load the car the next morning we found the lights only worked if we jiggled the trailer plug back and forth. Uh oh! We carefully removed the plugs cover and promptly three loose wires came out of their terminals with no clue as to which terminals they were.

We have no documentation of what terminal does what and the interweb wasn't forthcoming so we dashed out to Autozone before they closed to purchase another plug so we'd at least have a diagram and, if needed, a spare plug. The issue soon became that there were three loose wires and only two loose terminal screws. This was compounded by a wiring diagram that had the plug notch 180 degrees out of position which suggested our plug was always wired wrrong. But it wasn't as it always worked before. Oh, and the wire colors were all different too! It took a few hours to realize all these but when accounted for we got it back together. The extra wire? That turned out to be the trailer brake ground so we twinned it up with the trailer ground. PHEW! still Wednesday; just.

Loading up the car and trailer next afternoon was unefentful, thankfully, and the weather wasn't too bad with just some light snow forecast for later. Piece of cake.

So it was an easy drive to Lewiston and some logistical jiggery pokery soon saw the 911 parked at the rental house and the RALIVAN and trailer locked up in the local hardware store's yard (same owner). Then a quick jaunt over to race HQ in Atlanta via the snow covered "scenic route" had us registered, acredited and smiling. The Nokian tires proving more than adequate for the snow covered ice encrusted back roads. Back to the rental. Drinks, dinner and rally banter ensued.

The next two days were a blur of spectating and hob nobbing with participants and rally enthusiasts at our vendor booth and both parc exposes. The car really is a massive hit, even getting more attention on local TV than the rally cars. (see below) The car ran flawlessly all weekend and proved more than adequate for the conditions. There's just so much grip! After sitting in Atlanta service for two cold days the RALIVAN sputtuered into life Sunday morning to drag us all back down state without a hiccup. All said a thouroughly enjoyable but exausting weekend.