Originally posted by MrCoffee
Well theres different forms of sanctioned rally racing. The most purest form going way back isnt very fast at all. The goal of rally racing is to follow a set of instructions (not a map) to arrive at various checkpoints. You could do it in a Volvo or a bus.
A buddy of mine and I used to do that in college, using either my Spitfire, his 240Z, or (after I gave the Spit to my brother) my Firebird. The smaller cars worked better for rallyeing, as it allowed more maneuverability to pull off the road and check the instructions. We were measured on 3 things:
(a) miles driven. Obviously if you miss a turn, you're going to log some extra miles.
(b) time taken. You can't dawdle at every sign you see.
(c) number of questions answered correctly. You might find your way back onto the course by spotting another racer, but you might very well have missed a checkpoint question on the instruction sheet. It was also a good way to find the teams that had cut a turn (accidentally) and gotten back some miles and time.
