MVAT Class 1 - Car modifications

Hi Folks
I’ve dabbled in motorsport over the years, karting, rallying then family and kids came along and a Sabbatical of 13 years was endured. I am now settling into a new “career “ in MVAT after my sabbatical although I nearly came out of hibernation in 2018 when I bought and ran the little EP91 starlet 1.3 in an endurance rally in Monaghan. I found technical regs were nicely detailed in MSI book for endurance rally and I set the car up with the most basic of safety mods only back in 2018. I put it back in the garage after that event and it hasn’t been out until this year where we did a double drive at mondello last month and shredded the uniroyal rainsport tyres (leftover from 2018 event) to bits. The car is still in stock performance, the only mods are safety related. I knew we wouldn’t be super competitive as we tried to remember how to drive etc, but I was very surprised at how off the pace we were.
I have tried to figure out the written technical regs associated with MVAT, I can’t say I am very clear on that. Folks seem to have very capable cars (and drivers), and it did seem that some cars had upgrades above stock.
I was hoping MVAT would offer a sensible budget motorsport, and maybe it does and I haven’t figured that bit out. It just seemed to me as if the options to mod above production were significant and additional classes might be a way to segregate the budgets.
I would appreciate some pointers to tech regs to include tyres, suspension, engine etc.
From that I can make some evaluation of cost associated with levelling the playing field for the horse…..as for the jockey, only time will tell on that I guess. E.g. Are coilovers needed to be competitive.?!.!!?
Note, I am specifically interested in class 1.
Separately, I notice that there is reference to having car road legal but this does not seem to be relevant for TDC as events do not require driving between tests on a public road. Is this still relevant for non TDC MVAT events?
Thanks, appreciate any input.
Eric

Hi Eric,
Generally speaking, anything goes in MVATs except forced induction. The most common mods to starlets are LSDs, final drives, 1500 (5E) engines and suspension upgrades. MVATs were originally multi venue as the name suggests but in recent years are single venue but keep the road legal rule (without tax and NCT) to keep the distinction from autotests which are tighter and allow more highly modified cars. As for tyres, its grey and expensive at the top! Hope thats helps.

Damien wrote:

Hi Eric,
Generally speaking, anything goes in MVATs except forced induction. The most common mods to starlets are LSDs, final drives, 1500 (5E) engines and suspension upgrades. MVATs were originally multi venue as the name suggests but in recent years are single venue but keep the road legal rule (without tax and NCT) to keep the distinction from autotests which are tighter and allow more highly modified cars. As for tyres, its grey and expensive at the top! Hope thats helps.

Thanks Damien
Class 1 is up to 1400cc as far as I understood, so 5e will be class 2?
Makes a lot of sense what you are saying above as seems to fit more with what I was eyeballing on other cars.

I wouldn't focus on classes too much in MVATs as they tend to differ from club to club, but your right, the 1400cc class is specifically used to split the 1330 and 1500 starlets. Mine and plenty others still have 1330s in them. Mondello is a bad example as it very different to other MVATs. Well driven 1330 starlets are still very competitive on most of the tighter MVATs.

	Damien wrote:
	I wouldn't focus on classes too much in MVATs as they tend to differ from club to club, but your right, the 1400cc class is specifically used to split the 1330 and 1500 starlets. Mine and plenty others still have 1330s in them. Mondello is a bad example as it very different to other MVATs. Well driven 1330 starlets are still very competitive on most of the tighter MVATs.

Appreciate your help here Damien.
What’s a clever upgrade to suspension here? Options seem to be limited in the aftermarket scene with Koni, blistein and others no longer supplying for ep91. Is it a waste of money going with upgraded H&R springs and KYB Excel G for example and therefore a coilover setup being a necessary mod. Or is there some sensible chop and grind options there.
Seems to me, sensible tyres and suspension upgrades are a must initially, whilst brushing up on driving skills!
The car is well serviced otherwise with brakes, bearings etc all up to scratch so it is ready for a few sensible initial tweaks.

First upgrade I would recommend for you would be an LSD, that would make a big difference on any of the tighter MVATs. Next would probably be some Powerflex bushes on engine/gearbox and the bottom arm, they do a "anti lift kit" for the bottom arm which helps with caster angle.
Next would be some form of suspension, as you said the Konis were the go to back in the day but they have been discontinued for some time now. We supply a full GAZ coilover kit that a lot of lads have now. Its around €1240 + vat for the full kit including springs and is fully height/damping adjustable all round. Otherwise you may find some cheaper second hand coilovers online.

At this spec you would be similar to Richard Meekes car who regularly wins events and finished 8th OA in Mondello, and I believe most of the other Class 1 Starlets from that event.

The next steps after that would be 1.5 engine and an ECU, then you would be the same spec as our car but the 1.5 engines are extremely hard to come by now. At Mondello a lower powered car would really struggle to win it at this level as its a bit more high speed/power tests compared to the smaller tighter events.

Tyres are a controversal point lately for some reason, but they really dont need to be! A lot of guys use the Yokohama A021R in 185/70R13, these are very cheap at €63 + vat and will most likely last you 2/3 days single driving. Some of the front running guys lately have been using the grippier A050, in R14 these are €99 + vat and depending on conditions/tests 2 of these will last 2 events if taken through heat cycle first (going flat out from brand new spinning wheels etc just burns them off!). There are plenty of cheap options out there that are very good tyres, Nankang AR-1, Uniroyals, Toyo R888, Tri-Ace, Westlake etc, tyres are important but you definitely dont need to spend hundreds per event to get a good result.

n-murray wrote:

First upgrade I would recommend for you would be an LSD, that would make a big difference on any of the tighter MVATs. Next would probably be some Powerflex bushes on engine/gearbox and the bottom arm, they do a "anti lift kit" for the bottom arm which helps with caster angle.
Next would be some form of suspension, as you said the Konis were the go to back in the day but they have been discontinued for some time now. We supply a full GAZ coilover kit that a lot of lads have now. Its around €1240 + vat for the full kit including springs and is fully height/damping adjustable all round. Otherwise you may find some cheaper second hand coilovers online.

At this spec you would be similar to Richard Meekes car who regularly wins events and finished 8th OA in Mondello, and I believe most of the other Class 1 Starlets from that event.

The next steps after that would be 1.5 engine and an ECU, then you would be the same spec as our car but the 1.5 engines are extremely hard to come by now. At Mondello a lower powered car would really struggle to win it at this level as its a bit more high speed/power tests compared to the smaller tighter events.

Tyres are a controversal point lately for some reason, but they really dont need to be! A lot of guys use the Yokohama A021R in 185/70R13, these are very cheap at €63 + vat and will most likely last you 2/3 days single driving. Some of the front running guys lately have been using the grippier A050, in R14 these are €99 + vat and depending on conditions/tests 2 of these will last 2 events if taken through heat cycle first (going flat out from brand new spinning wheels etc just burns them off!). There are plenty of cheap options out there that are very good tyres, Nankang AR-1, Uniroyals, Toyo R888, Tri-Ace, Westlake etc, tyres are important but you definitely dont need to spend hundreds per event to get a good result.

Thanks Niall
Some well structured advice here. I appreciate you taking the time to give feedback.