1. Brief Rally background history
There has always been a passionate affair between me and cars that were bred for rallying, cars that had their roots deeply seated in competition and were not always practical daily commuters. As far back as I can remember I loved these beasts. I was collecting Lancia Stratos pictures when I was only 10 years old. Rally cars and their drivers are constantly defying the laws of physics. These cars' handling abilities are truly amazing. There's no other type of car providing the feeling of invulnerability the four wheel drive turbo charged cars involved in modern rallying provide.
Now, being a bit older, I'm able to get my hands on some of them. I would surely like to own a Lancia Delta S4 or maybe even a Ford RS200 but that's way out of line for the moment due to garage space and obvious financial reasons.
Still I am the happy owner a 1993 Lancia Delta Integrale Evolution II Kat (pictures here), a heavily modified 1994 Ford Escort RS Cosworth (pictures here) and a 1975 Lancia Stratos (pictures here) and they manage to keep me happy all the same. I have previously owned two Mazda 323 4WD turbo16V and two Alfa Romeo GTV6 as well as a heavily modified Lancia Delta Integrale 8V Kat (pictures here), that to say I really have a passionate relation to cars in general with a special preference for Italian bred ones.
This site includes detailed technical descriptions and historic background on cars such as the Subaru Impreza, the Toyota Celica GT4 and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V and VI since these are same types of vehicle (4WD turbo) and, on top, the Impreza has won 3 WRC Championships.
I will try to present, in these pages, as many facts as I can gather on the cars and their history, the reasons behind some of the technical choices applied to them, while attempting to provide you with clues on their capabilities and the joys they offer.
I also present the Mitsubishi Lancer RS evolution IV but have no credit for that since the pages relating it come from Mitsubishi's Web server in Japan. It's still interesting to compare the older Lancia and Ford to this group A rally car. Also available are details on very recent official entries in the FIA World Rally Championship such as the Ford Focus WRC and Peugeot 206 WRC and Seat Cordoba WRC.
So what is a rally?
Very briefly, rallying is a motor sport in which cars have to get from one place to another in the shortest possible time. Rallies are organized in stages, each stage being made up of several special stages, which are run on everyday roads closed to other traffic during the event. The time it takes a driver to run through each special stage is cumulated to get the total stage time. Between each special stage there are liaison stages which are not included in the overall time. Special stages are run in closed roads. The latest FIA regulations force each WRC event to be run on a single kind of surface (tarmac, gravel, etc.). This eases the choice of tires, gear/differential ratios, etc. and helps keep costs for the contenders within affordable limits.
Of course there are several rules and details which I won't mention here but keep in mind the following:
Each team is made up of at least a driver and a co-driver
Each driver has a limited choice of tires for one rally
Reconnaissance of the selected rally stages and note taking is permitted a week before each rally (currently FIA regulations allow three passes for each special stage)
No assistance is allowed between two special stages (if anything goes wrong the driver and co-driver have to fix it). Assistance is allowed before starting an odd-numbered stage (i.e. 3, 5, 7, etc.)
Cars are categorized depending on their performance and special features in, mainly, 3 classes: WRC class, group A and group N. Within each category cars are sorted in subcategories depending on engine displacement
Limitations to each category (such as turbo restrictors, tire/wheel sizes and others) are dictated by the FIA, mainly to limit the speed and horsepower of the cars and thus meet safety regulations.
The fact that rally events take place in normal, everyday roads and that the cars involved in rallying resemble closely, from the outside, to their street counterparts greatly contributes to the sport's popularity. Rally races are extremely popular in Europe, South America and Asia, less so in the US (where people seem to like watching cars go round oval tracks) but efforts do take place in that country to render the sport more popular.
I hope the short list above allows you to get an overall view of what a rally is. If you ever get a chance to seen one, on television or, even better, in situ, don't hesitate. The drivers reach incredible speeds and the excitement, they provide spectators with, is difficult to describe. Especially impressive are the videos shot from inside the cars. When you see one of these you realize why drivers such as Carlos Sainz, Didier Auriol, Juha Kankkunen, Colin McRae, and Tommi Mäkinen, to name but a few, are gifted with abilities that are somehow more than human.
One last world on rallying. The sport is a victim of its own success. Major events, especially in Europe, can gather hundreds of thousands of spectators and fans that populate the borders of the twisty mountain roads to watch their favorite drivers. Under these circumstances security is very difficult to plan and ensure. The officials at FIA are seriously considering deleting some events from the WRC calendar. The next major accident involving spectators will most certainly constitute sufficient excuse for the FIA to go ahead with restricting measures. Please be careful when selecting a place to stand for watching the cars and on top of all drive safely.
2. Some historical background
GroupA cars have existed for a long time (at least 20 years although the term GroupA is more recent) but were eclipsed by the monstrous group B cars until 1986 (previously known as Group 4) when the latter were banned mainly due to Henri Toivonen's premature death in Corsica driving a Lancia S4 , Attilio Bettega's accident in a Lancia 037 (1985) and a dramatic incident involving a Ford RS200 driven by Joaquim Santos and spectators in the 1986 Portuguese rally. GroupB cars at the time had to be produced to only 200 samples in 12 consecutive months to get the FIA homologation and be able to race. The limited production numbers allowed manufacturers to produce cars whose overall cost would be prohibitive if they were to be produced massively. These cars' only purpose in life was rallying.
Group B cars had in common:
tubular frame chassis (i.e. space frame based, very expensive. The Audi Quattro used a monocoque chassis)
mid-mounted engines (supercharged or not. The Audi Quattro had a front mounted engine)
free suspension design (usually upper and lower wishbones far better and more adjustable than current McPherson designs)
free brake layout
For more information please refer to the FIA complete guide to the allowed GroupB modifications here (Adobe Acrobat file).
The most renowned Group B representatives were (a full list can be found here):
The Lancia 037, test drive here (a.k.a. rally, centrally mounted engine, rear wheel drive), pictures here
The Lancia S4 (4x4, centrally mounted engine), pictures here
The Peugeot 205 T16 (4x4, centrally mounted engine), picture here
The Audi Quattro (the father of them all 4x4, front mounted engine), picture here
The MG Metro 6R4 (4x4, centrally mounted engine), picture here
The Porsche 959 (4x4, rear mounted engine), picture here
The Renault 5 Turbo (centrally mounted engine, rear wheel drive), picture here
The Ford RS200 (4x4, centrally mounted engine), picture here
The Ferrari 288 GTO (rear wheel drive, centrally mounted engine, never raced) picture here
The cars sometimes had 600+ Bhp engines and a weight below the ton mark. One can easily comprehend the danger the drivers and the spectators were facing. The FIA decided to ban GroupB cars in rallying starting in 1986. Some evolutions of old Group B cars are still being used in rallycross events and others in the European Mountain Championship. If you're a fan and lucky enough you might still see one in action. In 1996, for instance, I saw a Lancia Delta S4 racing in Switzerland for the European Hill Climbing Championship, what a thrill!
To give you an idea of the kind of performance GroupB cars were capable of I'll mention that in the 1986 season Henri Toivonen made two laps around the Estoril circuit, during a stage of the Portuguese rally, the fastest of which, in 1 minute and 18,1 seconds, would have qualified him in the sixth position of the F1 Grand Prix that same season. Ayrton Senna had the Pole Position in the 1986 Portuguese Grand Prix in 1 minute and 16,7 seconds...Toivonen was using the Lancia Delta S4 and was accompanied by his usual co-driver Sergio Cresto. Keep in mind however that current GroupA and WRC cars are even faster, overall, than GroupB cars used to be. This is mainly due to technology advances in tire formulations and suspension technology leading to GroupA cars being faster around corners but losing on straights as compared to GroupB cars.
Note also that the engine used in the Metro 6R4, a 3.5 lt. V6, was used to power the famous Jaguar XJ220 of the early 90s (it was fitted with twin turbos in the XJ220).
3. Group A cars
In order to compete in the FIA GroupA a vehicle has to be produced to numbers above 2500 units to get the FIA homologation. No manufacturer can afford to produce the like of the monstrous, but exciting, Group B cars in this class (it would be financially impossible given the relatively important production numbers required). Nowadays rally cars resemble (at a distance) everyday cars much more than group B cars ever did, hence a more direct marketing impact and, thus, a more effective promotion of a car range for the manufacturers.
Note however that technology improvements (mainly in tires, brakes, transmission and engine management) make today's group A and WRC cars faster than the group B monsters were!
Most of today's top Group A (A8) cars have in common:
4 wheel drive transmissions
2 liter turbo charged engines (there's an FIA 1.7 engine displacement multiplication factor for turbo charged cars) using a 34mm turbo restrictor
Front mounted engines (longitudinal or transversal)
Minimum weight of 1230 Kg
Active differentials
Modifications allowed according to FIA GroupA regulations:
Full suspension geometry and layout. The original mounting points must be preserved within a 20mm radius
Engine internals including camshafts, crankshaft, valves. Other engine components can be machined. The engine bloc must be preserved
Engine peripherals (Radiators, intercoolers, ...)
Engine management
Braking system
Gearbox, gear ratios, number of gears and gear selection type
Differentials
Final drive ratio
Electric equipment
Note that these rules are subject to revision and changes relatively frequently. For more information please refer to the FIA complete guide to the allowed GroupA modifications here (Adobe Acrobat file).
Some of the most successful incarnations of current GroupA cars are:
The Ford Escort and Sierra RS Cosworth
The Lancia Integrale
The Subaru Impreza
The Mitsubishi Lancer and Carisma Evolution IV
The Mitsubishi Lancer and Carisma Evolution V
The Mitsubishi Lancer and Carisma Evolution VI
The Toyota Celica GT4
Today's GroupA cars are real racing cars with no suspension, engine or drivetrain bushing, fully adjustable suspension, straight cut non-synchronized gears, sequential shifting and the like.
OK, you'll ask. If these 4WD turbocharged cars are so great how come they were matched, or even beaten in some cases, by Group F2 (2 liter non turbo, 2 wheel drive cars also known as kit cars belonging to the FIA A7 class). The answer to that question is weight. Group F2 cars weighted 300Kg less than their 4 wheel drive turbo charged counterparts and as you might already know, weight is the worst enemy of any race car. Additionally F2 cars could only match the 4WD cars on dry tarmac surfaces.
Group F2 cars were created to reduce the cost of building a rally car. Some of them such as the Peugeot 306 Maxi (picture here), Renault Maxi Megane (picture here), Renault Clio Maxi, the Citroën Xsara and others cost approximately the same or even more than the turbo charged 4x4 cars. The price argument was not valid. This category of rally car was created only because some manufacturers preferred to promote, through rallying, cars that were more appealing to the general public without spending on the development of four wheel drive transmissions.
The existence of F2 cars threatened the turbo charged 4 wheel drive cars. These cars were far less spectacular than the 4 wheel drive cars are. F2 cars were driven to extinction past 2001 due to FIA's decision to add 80Kg to their minimum weight and apply an intake restrictor to their normally aspirated engines. They were replaced by the far lesser Super 1600 class, cars that also comply with GroupA regulations but use 1600cm3 engines with approximately 200bhp and a weight lower than 1000kg. These cars do not constitute a menace to WRC class cars on any surface.
The dominance of the GroupA cars brought, eventually, Japanese manufacturers in the race. While this is was excellent challenge to European manufacturers it had a downside: very big amounts of money and huge budgets were now part of the game. Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan and lately Mitsubishi have joined the World Rally Championship with cars that the Europeans had initially a lot of trouble matching. While Japanese cars were excellent (and most probably better than European ones) they were so only because the manufacturers behind them spend enormous budgets on their development. Additionally all Japanese WRC contenders were backed by European race teams (such as RalliArt and Prodrive). Apparently European manufacturers did not realize, at the time, the impact of a model being World Rally Champion on their sales numbers and spent quite some time trying to match the performance of the Japanese models with much lower budgets. The situation changed dramatically with the return of Peugeot to the WRC and their three consecutive wins of the manufacturers championship in 2000, 2001 and 2002. This fact comes to prove that adequate budgets are the major winning factor in today's Word Rally Championship.
On the positive side, all Japanese racing cars are built in Europe by companies such as Prodrive (for Subaru), Ralliart (for Mitsubishi) and Toyota Team Europe. The know-how on building a pure breed is still in Europe.
On the negative side, the fact that today the amounts of money involved in rally racing are so important has changed the once "gentlemen" rallying world to an efficient and heartless machine reminding a lot the F1 championship. Rallying is, by nature, a sport very close to its public and therefore quite different to Formula 1. The FIA authorities must, at some point, realize that the attempt to transform rallying to something reminding the F1 Championship may eventually lead to the extinction of the sport as it opposes the very nature of rallying.
4. WRC class cars
WRC class cars where introduced in 1997 following a FIA decision. Experience has proven that to win the WRC title a car has to be full time 4WD and, to a lesser extend, use a 2lt turbocharged engine. Not all manufacturers have (or are willing to have) such models in their line up. Additionally mass producing such cars, as "homologation specials", is a risky financial adventure. This class of cars was thus introduced to allow any manufacturer to take part in the WRC with equal chances to success. The WRC class cars have to be produced to very limited numbers in order to get the required FIA homologation. Production numbers can be kept below 50 units (better still than back in the old Group B days where 200 units had to be produced). The typical WRC class car is based upon a large volume production model to which a manufacturer can modify or add the following:
Modified front and rear suspension layout and attachment points
Add-on turbocharger even if the production car does not have one
Modified transmission and additional transmission tunnels in order to fit a 4x4 transmission even if the production car is 2 wheel drive. Consequently differentials and gear box are free.
Modified engine intake and exhaust systems
Modified engine position (the engine can be relocated by a maximum of 20mm as compared to its original position and can be tilted by 20° around the crankshaft axis)
Modified wheelbase (±20mm) and track widths (1550mm max)
The maximum car width allowed is 1770 mm
Minimum length of 4000mm
Apart from the rules above the WRC class cars have to comply to the same rules as Group A class cars and are effectively their successors only modified to a greater extent. The WRC Class regulations allowed Subaru to produce the WRC version of the Impreza, Ford to produce the WRC Escort and Focus WRC, Peugeot the 206 WRC and Toyota the Corolla WRC. Subaru was at the origin of the new FIA regulations. David Richards (in charge of Prodrive the company that produces the rally versions of the Subaru Impreza) pressured to get the new car class homologated arguing that these cars would attract more people (spectators, TVs, etc.) to the World Rally Championship since the new cars were much more impressive. This argument proved arguable later as WRC class cars are essentially the same to older Group A cars with minor additional features. However one has to note that Subaru had already developed the WRC Impreza and this situation took the other teams by surprise. A better argument in favor of WRC cars is the fact that manufacturers have to produce only 50 units to get the FIA homologation hence less financial involvement is required. This fact has led numerous new manufacturers to produce WRC cars. Among them Seat with the Cordoba WRC, Peugeot with the 206 WRC, Ford with the Focus WRC and lately Hyundai and Skoda.
In 1997, while Mitsubishi and Ralliart, wisely, preferred not to produce a WRC version of the Lancer and stick with the Group A car, Ford Motorsport saw the new regulations, as soon as they where introduced, as a launching pad. The Ford Escort RS Cosworth suffered from a "weak" engine in its Group A version. Ford decided to junk the Garrett turbo charger and replace it with a lighter hybrid IHI model (like the one used in the Impreza). This choice later proved catastrophic. The company also heavily modified the suspension layouts, engine intake, exhaust and management in order to produce the WRC version of the Escort. Note that very few parts made their way from the Escort WRC car to the Focus WRC. Toyota introduced the Corolla WRC in the 1000 Lakes rally 1997. The company was absent, officially, from the WRC since their exclusion for cheating in 1995 when they raced the Celica GT4 in the Group A class.
The limited production numbers of WRC class cars reserves them solely to competition. No street legal, "homologation specials" are needed which means, of course, that you cannot buy one. Additionally works teams will not sell the latest evolution of their WRC class contender to a private rally team in the first year of the car's existence for obvious reasons. Starting from the second year of WRC class car's life, private teams can order WRC class models which are not as competitive or evolved as their works counterparts.
The cost of running with such a car is truly prohibitive to all but the top racing teams. A privately owned WRC car will be charged more than 350000 US$ to the buyer, the running costs for one season are twice that amount...engines are replaced after 1000Km of special stages, gearboxes and differentials are dismounted and verified after every race and most parts are replaced regularly but at least once every season.
WRC cars have to progress, technically, at an extremely rapid pace. A few weeks delay in developing the car can cost precious seconds/km and consequently the race. The technical presentations you'll find in the car-specs sections and descriptions cannot keep up with their rapid evolution but they do provide you with an idea of what's in the cars.
It becomes more and more clear that the WRC class cars have finally dominated all other classifications, including the kit car F2 one. Most European rally championships are now dominated by these cars which, in a way, have replaced the Group A cars of old.
5. GroupN cars
These cars have to be based on production models that have been built in numbers greater than 5000 units in order to get homologated. The GroupN cars are sometimes called production cars because they're supposed to be as close as possible to everyday, street cars. In fact the regulations are a bit vague and top GroupN cars have little in common with their street going counterparts. FIA regulations allow the following modifications to a GroupN car:
Modified front and rear suspension elements (dampers, springs) but geometry has to be maintained
Modified exhaust system, the catalytic converter has to be maintained
Modified engine management
More interestingly here's what you are not allowed to modify in a GroupN car:
Braking system the brake pads and hoses are free
Engine internals
Suspension layout and geometry (parts such as shocks and springs can be replaced as well as ride height)
Gearbox and gear ratios, the gears themselves can be replaced
Differentials
Final drive ratio
Note that these rules are subject to revision and changes relatively frequently. For more information please refer to the FIA complete guide to the allowed GroupN modifications here (Adobe Acrobat file).
Unfortunately the FIA GroupN is almost abandoned by the ruling authority. The above restrictions to the applicable modifications allowed in a GroupN car are subject to interpretation. The quality of a GroupN car can vary according to the owner's budget. For instance most winning GroupN cars are built from scratch using re-soldered seam-welded, works bodies (very expensive) whereas more affordable ones use normal everyday bodyshells. It is not rare to see GroupN cars equipped with turbo anti-lag systems even if the homologation cars are not equipped with one. Some GroupN cars are reputed more powerful than their GroupA counterparts...Worst even, it's not unusual to see GroupN car retiring from rallies with broken transmissions. I think that says it all. Overall the FIA GroupN is a hybrid between what GroupN was meant to be and the FIA GroupA.
To clarify the situation the FIA decided to modify the rules applicable to GroupN cars as of 2001. The major changes include:
Gearbox and gear ratios can be changed for stronger, possibly dog-style engagement ones (i.e. not using synchromeshes)
The dimensions of the brakes can be increased and calipers can be changed for multi pot ones
The transmission final drive ratios can be altered
Suspension geometry can vary and attachment point on the chassis can be relocated within 20mm
The rear sits can, finally, be removed
With the above changes the FIA is trying to close the gap between GroupA and GroupN cars. Unfortunately this move also skyrockets the price of a GroupN car and very few competitors will now be able to afford competitive cars in this class. I personally think it would have been wiser to impose stricter controls on current GroupN and make sure they are as close to what is available in dealer showrooms rather than making the rules more liberal. A huge performance limiting factor would be to impose the use of OEM tire choices, this would bring costs down to reasonable levels and would be a de facto limit on power.
FIA's choice, on the other hand, clearly shows that its intention is to lead rallying into an elite sport, a bit like Formula1. This is, of course, conflicting with the sport's very nature and might well end up in a situation similar to what prevails in endurance racing where alternative organizations manage the races. Time will tell.
GroupN cars are used, mostly, by drivers who either have no extensive rallying experience and wish to learn or drivers who cannot afford the budget related to building a full GroupA car (which can cost up to 4 times the price of a GroupN car) not to speak of WRC class cars.
You will find in the following pages a brief history of some the cars involved in the WRC, their characteristics and peculiarities. Rallycars.com also includes up-to-date WRC statistics, current WRC standings as well as WRC driver profiles. I hope you'll enjoy the ride. If you have any comments or questions please use our feedback page.