Hyundai Forum: Hyundai Performance Forum banner

Hyundai Accent Race Car?

23K views 20 replies 15 participants last post by  SpiderRacingLLC 
#1 ·
Ok here's the story.

I have/had a 2003 hyundai accent 5 speed 1.5 l GS. last week it was wrote off (nothing major caused it to be wrote off. airbag/rad and rad support the car structure is otherwise good) I am going to buy the car off salvage and start using it as a platform to build a car to race in our annual tarmac rally, Targa Newfoundland. This is a 3000 km rally that has about 750 kms of competitive flat out closed road racing. (the roads are really rough here so keep that in mind)

so here is the question; If you were in my place what would you do to make a targa car? i am trying to keep the car cost under 15 000.

thanks
-Paul
 
#2 ·
you could very easily creat a race car out of it with 15 000 and a lot to spare. there are 3 key things! But it's a lot of customer work and you have to know what you're doing.

1) The key would be to strip everything out of the car, completely gut it! making it light and making room for a rollcage. since the body and frame is not rigid since it's not meant for a beating. You will have to reinforce it with a roll cage for sure.

2) with the car gutted and having a roll cage in it. It will be light and strong. You will need more power. another custom job i like the mitsubishi 4g36-t motors very powerful and very light or a honda k20 engine but thats a bit more pricey.

3) suspension and i have no idea where you would get off road suspension but you might be able to swap it from a truck and set the tension to low or something. someone else can help with this part.

I would do it for sure if you have 15 000$ to spend you can do a lot for that much. Lets welcom the NEWFIE. I love newfoundland!
 
#3 ·
The gut and cage is going to happen(it has to according to the rules) as for engines, i work at Hyundai dealership, selling cars, and my codriver is a mechanic here so we want to stick with Hyundai parts for the sake of ease and convenience. Plus then we can most likely get some factory sponsorship. We were thinking delta or beta swap.

The thing we don't like about the v-6 is the weight, but the reliability is good, the good thing about the beta is it's light and fits easily in the compartment. But to get the power we want we are looking forced induction. I'm not sure about reliability with that, neither of us are too familiar with it. (i mean we know how it all works and whats involved, but no experience)

The roads we will be on are all paved public roads its just they are a little rough so we just need some springs that can be stiff but have a little give, maybe 600 lb springs etc.

And that you for the warm welcome,

p.s. If you have never checked out info on targa newfoundland you should it's becoming a pretty big event attracting people from everywhere to race on public roads.
 
#4 ·
Well seing as the Accent has some decent suspension on it already, not sure if you have anywhere you could test te car out but after you gut it and install the roll cage test it out as is...if it feels sturdy then go for it...now if your going to be doing off road on a ton of rock or something then you might want to try the off road suspension out...Ive done a little bit, seen and heard of people off roading in gravel and the car feels nice a "at home" with the suspension a F/R strut brace maybe a swaybar and the roll cge might do you just fine, leaving you with more money to do an ALL WHEEL DRIVE custom setup (my ultimate dream).
 
#5 ·
ok. i found somthing out. there is some way to use a mitsu drive train for awd. i will see what more i can find out. there was a car on ebay with it. as far as an engine. the beta. its what they ran in the wrc accent. and u may want to cosider a heavy build on the trans. as well as a new shifting mechanism. i cant think of the name of it. but its basically a slap shifter.
 
#6 ·
The AWD drive line you want is the Evo 3 one...
Its what the Rigoli Accent from Australia used...


Tough gear box is known as a dog box...
No clutch if you have the gears ground a special way (altho not sure how it will go with race changes)...





Cheers
scythe
 
#7 ·
I know I’m going to get hung for this but here goes. To stiffen up my 98 Accent I coiled 2 springs inside each other and cut and bent them to the right ride height. Basically I have 4 coils in the back and rubber spacers you can get at crappy tire for the front. It works great. I can pull some fast lap times in Solo 1. The only problem is the dampening, so if the course is bouncy you'll have to do something better.

I gutted my interior, put in a cage, and a set of Momo race seats. It's impossible to hold yourself in your stock seat during cornering.

Most of this stuff shouldn’t cost you too much.

Why not just run the stock engine for the first year and just get a taste for racing, this is what I did.

I ran into a guy here that raced the Targa, he told me to find a cage builder with Targa experience. From what I’ve heard the safety checks there are very strict.


 
#8 ·
the first thing we want to decide is what powerplant. we think at least the beta engine, but we would like to be running around 170 hp because this is what is needed to stay competitive. so what am i looking at doing to the beta to get that power out. and what gearbox will hold it?

on suspension we need to go lower and much stiffer. the car was autocrossed stock and had WAY too much roll so we need to really stiffen it up. i was thinking a good set of coilovers. any suggestions would be awesome.

Although i would love to run a 2.0l turbo awd, i just don't see t he time being there to build it and really check it for reliability. also it would eat up a huge chunk of our budget. This car if we manage to do alright will be built on again for the following year.
 
#10 ·
They used a 6-speed Sequential Gearbox in the WRC Accent. No clutch needed.
 
#11 ·
sequential transmissions are still manual transmissons so they still use a conventional clutch

since targa newfoundland is a tarmac rally you going to need to set the car up for tarmac duty.

basically, find yourself a rally shop and have them strengthen parts of the chasis that are weaker than others like the strut towers. Then go through the suspension links and strengthen those. Then protect the motor with a reinforced skidplate so you can drop turn like no other and won't rip your oil pan off. Your going to need some rally strut inserts or have something custom fitted to withstand the abuse of rallying because nothing available for the accents will hold up to that kind of abuse. Your going to need seats, harnesses, a fire supression system, rally computer, intercom setup....) the list just keeps going on. For power you can try a turbo setup on the stock motor. 180 whp is not out of the question for stock internals but a clutch and a phantom grip diff conversion is going to be essential for putting power down. Or you can go the no replacement for displacement route and swap in the 2.0 beta motor(135 crank hp). Both are doable on the cheap which is good because your going to be spending money on other things.

That is the expensive route but the best way to build the car to last. Even then it is rally and in rally you always crash sometime. It is better to be safe than sorry. You can do this on the cheap but your going to be taking a chance of always breaking something. If you take this route, you better bring a lot of spare parts. Try to make things simple so when you do have to replace things it will be easy.

It seems like an overwhelming task to prepare a stage rally car but you just need the right people to help you out. Talk to people that have raced the targa before and get some advice from them on car prep.
 
#12 ·
Ksport makes some nice coilovers that are completely adjustable.

There IS a dog-box tranny available through... umm.. something in Austrailia.. PSC? I think.. But they went under, i believe. Cause i cant find their site.

Coilovers and good tires and you will go far. You must learn to drive the car first, cause i can garuntee you can dive that little thing farther into the corner than most people will dare..

BRAKES! You can make brakets for rear discs from the tiburons and make them work in the accent, as well as re-drilling front rotors from the XG to make them work. That gives you BIG 10.9 rotors in front, instead of the weeny ones from the factory. Plus if you buy some drilled and slotted thats even better. seoulfulracing out of Korea has LOTS of fun go-fast goodies

The 2.0beta can be a very reliable engine with boost. Stock internals at 10 psi can yeild upwards of 230 whp. yeah. Thats JUST 10 psi. Decompression plate it and you can push up to 14 and get well over 300 horsepower. You can swap in the 2.0 tranny as well, but different axles must be used as the diff sits slightly different.

Be careful on the rear supension, give it a little bit of toe in to help to stability, they have been known to snap oversteer when you push them to 9/10ths, some toe in will help with highspeed stablitly in cornering.

Thats all i can think of for now.. im sure ill think of more.
 
#13 ·
Thank you very much guys, this is the stuff i was looking for! The beta engine seems like its the way to go. but that will skyrocket our class up against cars like a wrc sti driven by the canadian rally champs. so how much boost can the 1.5 take? if we can get by one year with that it would be great then we can go a little crazier with the car the following year. i really need all the suspension advice i can get! as for the brakes, you mentioned the xg brakes do you take the calipers aswell ?
 
#14 · (Edited)
XG brakes are a good bet, they bolt in to a tiburon spindle assembly. I would do that anyways.

If you can get a 1.6L DOHC alpha from a 1997 GT, that would be a good swap too. It's clean, and it IS stock.

Go to the wreckers and get the full brake system from a tiburon (no need for front rotors or calipers), and get the rotors+calipers from an XG (you may need to get these new/rebuilt, ive NEVER seen an XG at a wreckers before) Alternatively, you can use a Kia's rotors, they are pretty cheap on eBay. I don't know
what one, but there's a thread on rdtiburon about it.

The beta engine: if you've paid more than $400 for a complete low mileage motor, you got taken. Now for the trans, it's bigger than the accent one. A bunch of guys here are toying with the idea of swapping in the gears to the accent casing, but I don't know if it's been done. You'll probably have to just get used to swapping the trans often.

If you do get a lightened flywheel, don't. Heavy duty use on an aluminum flywheel may cause separation. This has happened MANY times to a few local guys here (that's why we can pull the trans in 45 mins). Mill down the stock one, I did that to my Pony and it's been fine for years now.

And don't get a 4G swap, that's ridiculous. What's the point? Turbo the beta instead, cheaper and more reliable!
 
#15 ·
You can boost the 1.5, same as the beta, if not more. the 12v is a truely beefy engine. 10 psi stock internals. Just make sure you give it LOTS of fuel. Ford Mustang injectors will plug in, you just have to jimmy the wires a bit, omgbossi is the one you want to talk to on turbo stuff. I think he had his car at 14+ psi on stock internals. And had MASSIVE horsepower.


There are sway bars and full coilover kits, i think that and the XG brakes (16 wheels are a must then) and the car will handle fine. Just remember about the toe in (i believe.. someone confirm this) will help your rear end stability. Also, maybe just a front sway bar, as a stiff rear will cause a little more tailslide and you probally want predicablity.
 
#16 ·
wilburisthecoolest said:
i think that and the XG brakes (16 wheels are a must then)

I run XG brakes under 15" rims its close but they fit fine....
 
#20 ·
LC Accent Brake Upgrade

Just a note on possible front barke upgrade on Accents.

I just completed a front upgrade on my 2001 GSI. I used original Accent hubs (to keep 4x100 bolt pattern) pressed into 2000 Elantra/Tiburon knuckles. I used the calipers from Elantra/Tiburon, Hawk HP pads and rotors from 2001 Kia Sephia. The Kia rotors are almost dimensionally identical to Tibby rotors but have the 4x100 bolt pattern - the holes for the mounting screws even line up with the Accent hub. The only custom piece that I needed was to have a 1mm thick shim laser cut. This shim sits between the hub and the rotor as the Accent hub (at the mounting face) is not as thick as the Tibby or Kia and doesn't give enough clearance between the caliper and rotor. Also, added SS braided hoses front and rear.

Cheers
Bill
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top