Cross Car: Go kart for the dirt

Grassroots motorsport is very different from any other form of basic sport. While equipment used in sports like tennis, cricket or football remains pretty much the same as you progress up the ranks, the karts, buggies and cars used as you climb the ladder in motorsport are upgraded at almost every step. Take single-seat open-top racing, for example. The path to Formula 1 starts out in go-karts, evolves to basic single-seat open-wheel cars, and then moves onto progressively faster and faster formula cars with wings.

There, however, has never been a dirt road or rally feeder series in India … until now. Enter the Cross Car, nothing less than the ideal platform for young and enthusiastic drivers looking to get into rallying and various forms of motorsport on dirt. And with the first set of Cross Cars slated to reach the Madras Motor Sport Club in the next couple of months and a proposed inaugural series slated to kick off later this year, India is all set to get a proposed first step into the world of rallying and competition on dirt. Built to a FIA design by JA Motorsport, the XCL2 is a key initiative of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Building the Cross Car

Now, building a Cross Car like the XCL2 isn’t easy, and that’s even if you have all the engineering drawings. Producing and even part engineering a competition car with a high degree of consistency needs special skills. This is especially true when it comes to the production of the chassis, with the use of jigs and bending and welding the chrome moly tubes. And then there’s selecting an engine and seamlessly integrating it into the chassis. This is where the skills and years of experience at JA Motorsport are essential. The company has designed, engineered and produced all manner of racing and competition cars over the years.

The tubular chassis weighs around 90 kilograms. Look closely, and you can see interesting features like adjustable steering wheel height, an adjustable pedal box, a racing rally car-like handbrake and a gear selector that can be located on either the left or the right, and mounting points for the engine and gearbox. Also visible are braces on each side, installed to help prevent rollovers. Up front, the suspension is by A-arms and coil springs, and as you walk around the rear, you see really tall struts mounted high up on the chassis.

Behind and above the driver sits a perforated cover on which sits a fair-sized spoiler. Power comes from a Royal Enfield Sherpa 450 single-cylinder engine, which makes 40hp and 40Nm in the Himalayan and Guerilla 450.

The engine makes its max torque at a high 5,000rpm, and power is then sent through the six-speed gearbox. Drive is sent to the rear wheels via a large sprocket and a chain drive. Putting the power to the ground are off-road tyres from MRF. 

On the inside, the driver is protected by a Perspex windscreen. On either side inside the cabin, there is a large pull type handbrake lever and the gear lever. Straight ahead sits a high-quality three-spoke steering wheel, and you get a proper FIA-approved racing seat, a six-point harness and something all race cars get – an engine kill switch. Drivers can also adjust the brake bias via a dial, something that is extremely important in the dirt.

Go-kart good

Clambering into the driver’s seat can be difficult, but once seated and strapped in, the driving position feels natural and comfortable. The view out is good, despite the mesh on the ‘quarter glasses’ that flank the windshield. Starting up the single-cylinder engine and ‘put-putting’ out onto the circuit at CoASTT in Coimbatore feels a bit unnatural. And the car feels slow on the tarmac, the experience quite underwhelming.

The Cross Car’s natural environment, however, is the dirt, and here, with the limited traction and the rear-wheel drive, the driving experience flips from being dull to positively entertaining. Skating around the periphery of the track, foot down and rear sliding, brings out the smile. The suspension is beautifully set up for the grass and dirt and can take even deep ruts and dips in its stride. Also perfect for the job, the motorsport spec brakes. They are strong but don’t grab, allowing you to easily back the Cross Car into corners, before you can power out the other side.

And driving it on a purpose-built dirt track will be even better… the balance of the car is so easy and forgiving, it’s the perfect tool to get young and enthusiastic drivers into competitive driving on dirt. Yeah, the sequential straight-up and straight-down gearbox takes a bit of getting used to, and getting the brake balance just right for all types of corners needs effort and experimentation, but to be able to have a tool like this when you are getting into competition on dirt trails; that’s just priceless. And loads, and loads of fun. Make sure you drive one; it’s so much more entertaining than karting.

How to get behind the wheel of a Cross Car in India

The first set of a dozen or so Cross Cars made is headed to the Madras Motor Sport Club dirt track outside Chennai. And that’s where those of you who would like to experience driving on dirt should head first. Slated to run on a purpose-built dirt track inside the circuit premises, these Cross Cars will initially be rented out… much like go-karts are today.

“The objective,” says Vicky Chandhok, chairman FMSCI for International affairs, “is to create a platform for the general public to get into motorsport in a fun and entertaining way.” What will follow is a race series that can be held at different venues that have the same-spec Cross Cars. And then, as is done in Europe, we can see more powerful and faster versions of the Cross Cars, with two-seat versions also on the cards at a later stage.

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