Jazz hits high notes

Professional rallying has always been about turning mild-mannered buzz-boxes into gravel-spitting stage winners. Think of the flying Minis of the '60s, the fire-breathing Group B Peugeot 205s of the '80s, and today’s blisteringly-quick, Ford Focus WRC machines.

Now Australian rally fans are being treated to another unlikely giant-killer in the making, with the debut of two, pumped-up Honda Jazz hatches in the two-wheel-drive category of this year’s Australian Rally Championship.

The purpose-built Jazz G2 rally cars are being campaigned by Evans Motorsport. It’s the third year Honda has thrown its support behind the team, after the previous front-drive Civic Type R won the two-wheel drive Championship in 2010.

So far, it’s been a dream start for the team, with four out of four wins for the Jazz of Eli Evans and co-driver Glen Weston.

Speaking to motoring.com.au at their Pakenham workshop, Evans admits he’s having a ball in what he describes as a “Honda Jazz on steroids”.

“[The Jazz G2] is a step up from the Civic Type R, being 100kg lighter, also wider in track and a bit shorter, so it’s quite twitchy to drive and a lot of fun,” he grins.

While Evans, 26, admits to a few big crashes during his rallying career, which began as a 14-year old competing in autocross in the family’s Datsun 1600, he’s so far managed to keep the Jazz dent-free and out of the trees.

That’s much to the relief of chief mechanic Jesse Robison, who was about to install a fresh engine in both Eli and team-mate Mark Pedder’s car in readiness for the second half of the season.

Built to new G2 2WD regulations by JAS Motorsport in Milan, Italy, the Jazz runs a high-revving 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine tuned by Japan's Mugen Motorsport.

It’s a tad wilder than the base 73kW, 1.3-litre engine in the road car, pumping out 183kW and 193Nm.
Featuring Honda’s trademark variable valve timing, the normally-aspirated

VTEC engine is restricted under G2 rules to an 8500rpm rev limit and a single throttle body. It’s fed by a quartet of fuel pumps drawing from a 60-litre fuel cell, and mated to a Hollinger six-speed sequential gearbox.

“We probably give away a little bit of top-end power but we gain in usable torque range and linear delivery. So you can feed in the power and it won’t just burst into wheelspin [but] will feed in nicely,” Evan explains.

Using specifications found in many 4WD World Rally Championship cars, the stripped-out Jazz features a wider stance as well as aggressive styling thanks to carbon-fibre front guards, bumpers, rear-door flares, and a new rear wing.

Retained from the donor car are the steel doors and electric glass windows, albeit with lighter, carbon fibre interior panels.

The beefed-up suspension includes fabricated suspension arms, cross members, and adjustable sway bars and shocks. Depending on conditions, the drivers can choose from ‘open’ or ‘closed’ block tread patterns for the 15-inch control tyres.

Stripped of most creature comforts including its nifty ‘magic’ folding rear seats, the bare-boned Jazz cabin features two racing bucket seats with six-point harnesses, an FIA-spec chrome-moly roll cage, two spare tyres, plus a rattle gun and hydraulic jack for quick mid-stage tyre changes. A battery isolator switch and plumbed-in fire extinguisher system round out the safety features.

Nestled in what he calls his 'weekend office' Evans can easily reach the stout gear lever positioned to the right of the steering wheel from his preferred left-hand drive position. A bank of centre-console mounted switches bear labels such as ‘ignition’, ‘engine fan’, and ‘hazard’.

When not busy calling directions, navigator Weston monitors a digital-display panel that logs vital data including engine and oil temperature, engine revs and brake pressures (front and rear brakes are adjustable in-cabin).

While this year’s two-wheel-drive Championship appears to be in the bag, Evans faces a tougher time in the remaining rounds, with four-times Australian Rally Champion and older brother Simon set to enter the fray with a brand-new G2-spec Mazda 2.

There’s also talk of other front-drive cars including a Ford Focus joining the new-look Australian Rally Championship in 2013, when the rules will change so that only 2WD G2 cars are eligible for outright Championship points.

Whatever happens, it shouldn’t be too long before the Evans name is once again etched on an ARC trophy.