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Well folks, it's all done and dusted.
The Peugeot 405 SRDT was a rally weapon and we raised $7,361 for the Cancer Council.
I used about 300 litres of bio to cover just under 4,600 km from Sydney - Melbourne - Wentworth (NSW) - White Cliffs - Noccundra - Birdsville - Jundah - Hughenden - Townsville.
It was still running the original fuel filter that was in it when I picked it up from my grandparents in Brisbane. Total mileage on B100 was 6,000 km, so the tank must have been quite clean.
The only thing holding the car back was its low ground clearance, otherwise it was comparatively indestructible. We hit 130 km/h on a regular basis if there weren’t too many big dips.
I dropped tyre pressure to about 28 PSI and all we had was a very slow leak in one rear tyre by the end. We did put a small ding in one front rim, but the tyre held. There were hundreds of shredded tyres across the 250 entrants though.
The bash plate saved us many times, particularly on the road out of Birdsville where they lost 5 cars in a day due to rocks through the sump.
The Peugeot only suffered a blown cigarette lighter fuse and one tail light globe. We did shred all the mud flaps and lost 3 of them completely though. Otherwise not a mark on it.
In our buddy group we had:
So against everyone’s expectations, the Peugeots dominated.
In total, about 10 out of the 250 total cars did not finish, mostly due to overheating or holed sumps. One car shredded its timing belt also. There may have been a couple of Euros where parts failed and there was no way to repair them. The older petrol Merc K-jet injection was a big problem for them. One W124 destroyed both front strut towers and put massive holes though the bonnet. They were able to weld them up and make it the rest of the way though. I estimate that at least 50% of cars completely lost their exhaust by the end. Another Merc took a grid a bit too hard and nose-dived, destroying the radiator. They removed the grille and strapped a spare out of a Commodore to the front and used parts from a Honda Accord exhaust to adapt the hoses.
There are some great photos up on Instagram and you don't need an account to view them. Check my link in my signature below and also search the hashtag #shitboxrally
The Peugeot 405 SRDT was a rally weapon and we raised $7,361 for the Cancer Council.
I used about 300 litres of bio to cover just under 4,600 km from Sydney - Melbourne - Wentworth (NSW) - White Cliffs - Noccundra - Birdsville - Jundah - Hughenden - Townsville.
It was still running the original fuel filter that was in it when I picked it up from my grandparents in Brisbane. Total mileage on B100 was 6,000 km, so the tank must have been quite clean.
The only thing holding the car back was its low ground clearance, otherwise it was comparatively indestructible. We hit 130 km/h on a regular basis if there weren’t too many big dips.
I dropped tyre pressure to about 28 PSI and all we had was a very slow leak in one rear tyre by the end. We did put a small ding in one front rim, but the tyre held. There were hundreds of shredded tyres across the 250 entrants though.
The bash plate saved us many times, particularly on the road out of Birdsville where they lost 5 cars in a day due to rocks through the sump.
The Peugeot only suffered a blown cigarette lighter fuse and one tail light globe. We did shred all the mud flaps and lost 3 of them completely though. Otherwise not a mark on it.
In our buddy group we had:
- 1 x AU Falcon - starter motor failed and EFI a few issues, but made it. Was only running on about 4 cylinders by the end. We put a call out on the radio for a spare starter motor and another AU dropped one off within 10 minutes! We rolled it across a table drain and replaced it in about 20 minutes. That is the beauty of having a Falcon or Commodore on the rally -heaps of spares.
- 1 x VR Commodore - MAF sensor caused lots of dramas. One front strut also came loose and put a big ding in the bonnet. Made it all the way though.
- 1 x Toyota Starlet - zero dramas other than a few tyres blown
- 2 x Peugeot 505 2.4L petrol (circa 1986) - zero dramas. One tyre maybe from hitting a grid too hard. These things had heaps of clearance and they slowed down for nothing. I understand why they are so popular in North Africa now.
So against everyone’s expectations, the Peugeots dominated.
In total, about 10 out of the 250 total cars did not finish, mostly due to overheating or holed sumps. One car shredded its timing belt also. There may have been a couple of Euros where parts failed and there was no way to repair them. The older petrol Merc K-jet injection was a big problem for them. One W124 destroyed both front strut towers and put massive holes though the bonnet. They were able to weld them up and make it the rest of the way though. I estimate that at least 50% of cars completely lost their exhaust by the end. Another Merc took a grid a bit too hard and nose-dived, destroying the radiator. They removed the grille and strapped a spare out of a Commodore to the front and used parts from a Honda Accord exhaust to adapt the hoses.
There are some great photos up on Instagram and you don't need an account to view them. Check my link in my signature below and also search the hashtag #shitboxrally
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