Has anyone done car trials ?

[twosmoke300]

Been looking at car trials and long distance trials videos and I think the fate of one of my tiny fiats is sealed !

Has anyone here done this before ?

Ive done quite a few motorcycle ldts and always enjoy the riding and social side .

Was mainly asking about car prep and classes etc really .

[loserone]

Nope, but it's interested me, share some links to any decent videos please!

[twosmoke300]

Blue hills is about 5 miles from me 

 

[Jenson Velcro]

The Motorcycling Club owns the section of Blue Hills that is used in competition.

The club has been going since the 1900s and organises the big 3 classic long distance trials, including the Lands End that uses Blue Hills. Their website has a section on getting started and a lot of other useful information.

The ACTC is the Association of Classic Trials Clubs and has more information.

the South West is a bit of a hot bed for trialling and several of the local motor clubs hold their own events as part of a championship.
 

 

 

[Saabnut]

I used to do them regularly and have also organised many. Cars used: 1979 Fiat 126 (brilliant), 1972 Beetle (Excellent), 1935 Austin 7 special (meh) and 1930 Morris Cowley Special (rubbish!). Good fun and social side is good, just a lack of venues/events by me hence my organising some but lack of support stopped that.

[groovylee]

yep, as regularly as i can   just signed up for the MCC John Aley Trial in June    

Current steed is my Rickman Ranger.

 

Lee

[groovylee]

ACTC class structure here - https://www.actc.org.uk/info/eligible-cars/

MCC link here - https://www.themotorcyclingclub.org.uk/

the MCC do the 'big three' (there are more, but the three main trials - exeter in jan, lands end at easter and the edinburgh (in the peak district) in october)

you can either enter the main trial, or they offer a class'O' which is less damaging, and a great starting point.  it's still no walk in the park, and i only came away with medals for a few events in class O.

not sure where you are in cornwall?  my best mate is a member of the Launceston and North Cornwall Motor Club - https://www.lncmc.co.uk/ - and they seems to put on some good events. cheap membership and entry fees too.

either way, things you'll want as a minimum would be a sump guard,  lifting the suspension, and a good, patient sense of humour!

 

[twosmoke300]

Cheers ! I’m about 50 miles west of Launceston but my seicento fits in the back of my van so distance isn’t too much of a hassle 😂

[twosmoke300]

Given the game away about my chosen weapon now 🤪

[groovylee]

if you're on facebook, there is a group called classic trials - lots of helpful people there

 

[Matty]

1 hour ago, twosmoke300 said:

Given the game away about my chosen weapon now 🤪

Do you reckon it'll be any crack in trials what with it being front wheel drive? I'm saying this from the position of knowing sweet fa just curious 😁

[twosmoke300]

There is a fwd class so I reckon it should be as good if not better than any other . Very little overhang , light , narrow tyres and good clearance 

[anonymous user]

I used to do production car trials years ago, mainly the ones run by the MG Car Club or Morgan Sports Sports Car Club. I wasn't that serious about it, just using the Morgan that I drove every day with no modifications. Never did much damage, lost the exhaust once or twice. I had a Motor Sports Association RS Clubman Licence to do this, not sure what applies these days.

One of my favourite memories of them is watching a couple of guys in a (then) new Metro in a front wheel drive class really going for it, even though there weren't many in the class. They had the front carpet covered with a sheet to protect it from mud. Chatting with them I discovered they had hired it for the event (from Hertz). The intended car had packed up and this was the cheapest thing they could hire. They were going to jet wash it before giving it back

[dollywobbler]

I've always wanted to do trials, but usually have the wrong sort of cars. 2CVs aren't that good because front wheel drive, but the only rear engined rear wheel drive car I own only has three wheels...

[twosmoke300]

I’ve seen vids of Robins doing ok 

[dollywobbler]

Fair point. In that case, I wish Invacars had more ground clearance!

[Jenson Velcro]

An interesting choice of car, but if you already have it, then that makes sense.

Front wheel drive can be done successfully, with both a mk1 Golf Gti and Peugeot 205 doing well in recent years.

They both have powerful engines, though, and whilst having greatly raised suspension they run a lot of rake. As I understand it, this , together with a lot of ballast at the front and lightening at he rear helps to keep the weight balance forward and give traction to the front wheels when driving up the hills.

[Matty]

1 hour ago, twosmoke300 said:

There is a fwd class so I reckon it should be as good if not better than any other . Very little overhang , light , narrow tyres and good clearance 

Worst comes to worst do the course backward. Then it's rear engined and rear drive

[barefoot]

2 hours ago, Jenson Velcro said:

mk1 Golf Gti and Peugeot 205 -  having greatly raised suspension they run a lot of rake. 

Rake?

[twosmoke300]

 

[Jenson Velcro]

29 minutes ago, barefoot said:

Rake?

Arse end a lot higher than the front. 

[mat_the_cat]

A workmate of mine around 15 years ago was into trials, and I was the passenger/bouncer in his Marlin on a number of occasions. I remember a 24 hour event all over the West Country in the depths of winter, where I wore just about all the clothing I possessed, topped with an XXL motorcycle oversuit. Just about warm enough! Here's a photo from my phone at the time, when the number of camera pixels was on a par with the number of phone book entries.

It was enough to get us interested in production car trials, so we bought a 205 Gti for £100 (those were the days!), fitted it with a set of bigger wheels and away we went. A very cheap way to have fun!

[Jenson Velcro]

8 hours ago, mat_the_cat said:

. I remember a 24 hour event all over the West Country in the depths of winter

Sounds like the MCC’s Exeter Trial. First weekend in January. 
Yes it can be bloody cold. Sheet ice on all the back roads, snow cold winds......

I’ve also done it in an open car and we’ve had ice form on the inside and outside of the windscreen as we were driving along.

[twosmoke300]

An open top looks cool as fuck but I think I’ll leave the roof on the fiat to start with . 
Cheers for the advise / links guys . Will get looking into it and put some pics up when I get started . Might be a while yet as I’m having a fleet purge first . Landy , cinq and ke are for the chop 😟)