Well, I thought I’d start a project thread of my own since, I am going stir-crazy waiting for spring and all the concomitant blessings the changing of the season brings. That being said, I thought I’d overview the development, build, and continuous process of our Rally Car, the 2003 Hyundai Tiburon GT.
We have a fairly modest rally program as it’s just a few of us right now and it’s much more of a hobbyist approach rather than a hardcore lifestyle imbalance.
We’re not out to set the rally world on fire but rather just to have good dirty fun, learn a lot, and meet some interesting people along the way!
Sorry if I write a novel, it’s just how my brain works.
Please feel free to skip my textural wanderings and look at the pictures that follow 
The number one question I get asked in regards to this project is, “why a Tiburon.” This is a fair question, and the answer is multi-part; some of which I’ll address:
Reason 1. In order to start stage rally you either have to have applicable racing experience (for turbo awd), or start in a 2WD, naturally aspirated car. Since neither me, nor the driver have "documentable" racing experience, this seemed like the way to go, plus in central there are quite a few more cars to compete with in this class.
Our first thought was to build an EG hatch with a k24 swap, and have an absurd power to weight ratio within the rules of the G2 class (2WD, N/A, under 3050cc). However the more we thought about it, it really seemed like more of a cop-out, non-creative thing to do, especially when you consider how developed that platform is. That brings me to point #2.
Reason 2. Discovery: the major reason I enjoy modifying cars is the fact that you get to create what you want – you shape a car’s performance profile to your own personality. I’ll come out of the closet at this point and say, I personally prefer naturally aspirated engines to turbo. Odd I know, being my fun car for the last 8 years has been what it is… I could write a whitepaper on why, but most of you understand the pros and cons so I’ll condense the idea to this: the challenge.
The level of knowledge, effort, and testing to extract decent levels of power without the aid of massive displacement (dynamic or static) frankly shifts my gears. Not sure how else to state it, really.
Reason 3. It’s a Tiburon... Let’s face it, this is a bitch car designed and marketed towards late 30-something year old single women, who are suddenly realizing they missed out on their optimal procreation window. It’s heavy, the engine stupidly under-cammed, and it completely lacks any modern-day technologies we now take for granted. Now, that being said, there are some advantages to this platform:
I. It’s rally proven: The Tiburon platform utterly dominated the North American rally circuit. From 1995 to 2000 it won 5 consecutive manufacturer championships racking up 34 outright wins. In 2002 it cleaned up Open class again with the Libra race team under the skilled driving of Mark Higgins (who is back in the States driving for Subaru Rally Team USA in 2011).
Subawho?
II. The engine aftermarket is virtually non-existent. I know this is usually considered a drawback, but in this case the platform serves as a blank slate to put into live tangible action the engine theories and simulations some of us geek types jerk off to in the dim glow of our computers into the wee hours of the morning. If this platform was developed, and had easy 3 -step recipes to making N-power with Y-parts, I don’t think I would really be as motivated (I enjoy engines more than driving)
So all that being said, on to the build:
This specific Tiburon was purchased new in winter of 2002 by the individual who drives for our team. It has since then accrued 70k and some odd miles of complete hell, being whipped like the surrogate offspring of a rented mule. There have been zero issues.
dodging cones...
Over the years, there have been a series of upgrades to various engine components. These had chiefly been what limited bolt-on’s that were available to the diminutive V6: intake, headers, exhaust, clutch, flywheel, etc... While these mods did increase the output of the engine by nearly 25% (but still less than noteworthy) the difference in throttle response was positively shocking.
Ok, enough brain dump. Off to the build!
Bloody Seal Bounce Champion!
Pinball Smash Up Champion!
Linear Mode
