Recommended tire pressure for rally?

[brink]

I'm running in a rally cross this weekend. Basically it's an autox on a dirt track something like this:


and this


My question is should I run at street pressures or should I slightly deflate the tires, even? I'm leery of overinflating like a normal autocross... I don't want to blow a tire on some kind of rock or hole. The reason I mention deflation is I've seen some of the 4x4 truck offroading events and they lower their tire pressure for better traction. Of course, they've got big, knobby, monster tires so it may be a whole different story for them. Also, any other tips/suggestions are welcome.

This looks like it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun! Hope I don't break my Camry

[Nick]

i'd lower it a bit, like 25psi, more contact patch, it'll grab the dirt better and the tire won't be as stiff

that's what i think,

what kind of tires are you running for this anyways?

[brink]

I'm going to be running on all-seasons. They're relatively cheap tires, actually. Barrum OR58. 195/70R14 FWIW

Stock steelies, baby.

[Nick]

ewww 14 inch rims on camrys

yeah, with 195/70 i'd drop the pressure lots

[Flashmn]

Actually I'd keep standard pressure on them.. maybe 2.5bars (depending on your tires). This isnt sand let me remind you plus you got turns. Tires that are too deflated can cause you to skid off in turns, because the tire will flex, thus you wont have as much contact patch hitting the ground.
I'd recommend 35-40psi. (2.3-2.5bars)

[wedge]

Lots of different opinions floating around here. You want to be careful. Too much pressure and you could blow a tire. Too little pressure and you could blow a tire. I'd suggest 28-30psi. But it depends on what the recommended pressure is for those tires. If I were you, I'd go out and find a set of cheap used POS snow tires. Those are great for rallycross (trust me) almost as good as actually rally tires, but at a SIGNIFICANTLY lower cost. Plus you won't really care if they get damaged or not.

[wedge]

Here check out this pic I took at a Rally-X last year:
http://members.rogers.com/wedge1/rallysprint/111-2.jpg
I had my camera set on continous shot and I caught the exact moment that this guy's tire blew. It's on the other side of the car, but you can see the sand travelling vertical.

[EKam]

Brink!

You crazy mofo!

Rallycross is fun but I don't think I'll ever do that. You seriously have to not give a fuck about your paint. :p

[brink]

Yeah, my car likes it rough. Besides, I can always repaint or something.

Good advice on the pos snows, wedge. I may just pursue that.

As it is, the event may or may not happen right now, depending on the weather. Apparently they cancel it for safety reasons if it rains, and we've had a slew of t-storms passing through these last couple weeks. We shall see. Thanks for all the input, guys!

[Nick]

if its muddy there's no point in you going out with your camry, you'll have no control and you'll get stuck the minute you slow down a bit

and yes, big oldschool nubby snowtires would be the best idea

[Flashmn]

if its muddy there's no point in you going out with your camry, you'll have no control and you'll get stuck the minute you slow down a bit

Now you wont. You'll be fine, its a FWD all the weight is on the pulling wheels. if it was RWD then it would get stuck easily.

[EKam]

Originally posted by Flashmn

Now you wont. You'll be fine, its a FWD all the weight is on the pulling wheels. if it was RWD then it would get stuck easily.

No.

Cuz what happens if you break in a FWD car in mud?

Plow.

At least with RWD you can power slide thru corner which you can't do with a super front heavy Camry.

[Xevuhtess7]

wow that looks like its gonna be a hell of a time! if you can, get a friend to videotape some of it, i wanna see! good luck on your race

[Flashmn]

No.

Cuz what happens if you break in a FWD car in mud?

Plow.

Umm thats what'll happen with RWD if you brake in mud. What you need to learn if LEFT FOOT BRAKING Gets you powersliding with a FWD.