The American Rally Association, the premiere stage rally series in the United
States, is set to make significant changes to its highest level of performance cars, starting with
the 2023 National Championship season.
The ARA has set a long-term goal to bridge the gap between the current Open 4WD
performance to the series RC2 class. It is the series' focus is to simplify the class in order to
expand competition and have more teams fighting for overall wins and championships.
Those changes will apply to several areas, including but not limited to overall bodywork,
aerodynamics, engine and driveline, and chassis. The modifications are part of the series'
commitment to reduce overall development and build costs while allowing for a larger variety
of vehicles to compete at the top level, including the series expansion of the RC2 class.
“Many of the changes you will see center around bodywork design and bringing them closer to
production-based bodies and more in line to that of the Rally2 cars that compete on a global
stage,” said ARA competition director, Preston Osborn.
“Additionally, we are lowering the restrictor size of the O4WD class to 33mm to normalize the power to weight ratio when compared to the R5 and Rally2 cars.”
The series has released a set of guidelines to assist competitors in modifications to new and
existing cars in the O4WD class for the 2023 season. Series officials will continue to work closely
with teams, manufacturers, and industry experts to finalize the class rules for distribution this
summer.
The guidelines can be found on the ARA website, at the following location.
If there are specific questions, competitors are asked to reach out to ARA Technical Director Doug Nagy (Doug@ARA-Rally.com).