It’s a pleasure to have another report on the HE-powered Moynes/Kerr E36 tarmac rally car for all to enjoy, this time written by our very own Ben Koflach, who was there in attendance with a few other members of the HE team.

Rally has always been one of my favourite motorsports, and having competed from the Navigator’s seat myself way back in 2009, it’s one that I’m lucky to have participated in also. So, when Dave (Moynes) and Jon (Kerr) invited the HE team down to our local track, Goodwood Motor Circuit, to spectate and lend a hand behind the scenes, we were all very keen!

The car in question is one that you may have seen on our social media pages. It started life as a 328i, but earlier this year we built an S50B30 for it, taking it to the maximum capacity allowed within its class for most events. That S50 received high compression JE Pistons, Arrow rods, Schrick cams, ARP hardware and a whole load of Hack Engineering touches, along with a Karbonius airbox and Edwards Motorsport exhaust system. The result is some 330bhp and 265lb ft, all governed by ECUMasters’ finest products. It’s also mated to a Gearmotive 5-speed dog engagement ‘box. As you can hear on the videos on this page, the car sounds absolutely fantastic.

The day started out with temperatures hovering around the -4°C mark, making for some very slippery and frosty sections of the track. For the morning, the stage was set out across the traditional motor circuit, but with several added bus-stops and chicanes, as well as a detour off track for a section of access road, essentially making up 3 laps of the track in various formats – and in reverse to the usual track direction, for stages 1-4. 5-8 later in the day are a re-run, but in the usual clockwise track direction.

As temperatures rose, so did grip levels, however transmission issues rearing their head on Stage 3 resulted in the decision to retire the car after Stage 4 – though likely to be a simple fix, the car is due out again before the year on some more favoured events, and so pushing their luck was deemed unnecessary by Dave and Jon. A sad end to the day for them, but a great event to attend and a joy to see the car in action. Until next time at The Rixy Stages on 30th December, in Thetford!

Images below by M and H Photography.