About Group B

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dkstz

dkstz

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arten_v
Hello,
I've downloaded The World's Greatest Rally Cars through DC++ (great program btw) and it's a very fun movie abou the (!) greatest rally cars ever. But then I heard something about Group B ending.
So, I wonder if anyone could explain why Group B ended, clarify what happened. Just to make sure, in shorts, what was the Group B division of the WRC?
Thanks to anyone who can tell me those things...
 
http://www.stormloader.com/groupb/index.html

Interesting recap under "Story of Group B"

The end of Group B

The pace of technology in Group B was astounding, but FISA was planning Group S. Group S was to be a class which would allow manufacturers to produce highly futuristic cars, and only ten copies would be required for homologation. However, the inevitable finally happened: during the 1986 Port Wine rally in Portugal, a Ford RS200 left the road on a spectator stage, killing three and injuring dozens; after the crash, all the works teams withdrew from the rally. But the final blow for Group B came on May 4, 1986.

Lancia's lead driver, Henri Toivonen, was dominating the 1986 championship and the Tour de Corse rally when his S4 left the road during a twisty tarmac stage. The car went off the edge of the road, hitting trees and rocks while sliding down a hillside. Toivonen and his navigator, Sergio Cresto, were killed. There were no witnesses to the crash, and the subsequent fire completely destroyed the car, leaving the remains unrecognizable as a vehicle. The heat from the fire was so intense that all that remained of the car was a blackened space frame. Group B and Group S were instantly cancelled for the 1987 season; Ford and Audi withdrew from Group B immediately. The other works teams decided to see the season out.
 
wow.. how tragic! Now i'm sure that running 350+hp cars on those wrc stages IS dangerous...Those days they're controlled in various aspects for safety.
Thank you Ikari 👍
 
Ikari
http://www.stormloader.com/groupb/index.html

Interesting recap under "Story of Group B"

The end of Group B

The pace of technology in Group B was astounding, but FISA was planning Group S. Group S was to be a class which would allow manufacturers to produce highly futuristic cars, and only ten copies would be required for homologation. However, the inevitable finally happened: during the 1986 Port Wine rally in Portugal, a Ford RS200 left the road on a spectator stage, killing three and injuring dozens; after the crash, all the works teams withdrew from the rally. But the final blow for Group B came on May 4, 1986.

Lancia's lead driver, Henri Toivonen, was dominating the 1986 championship and the Tour de Corse rally when his S4 left the road during a twisty tarmac stage. The car went off the edge of the road, hitting trees and rocks while sliding down a hillside. Toivonen and his navigator, Sergio Cresto, were killed. There were no witnesses to the crash, and the subsequent fire completely destroyed the car, leaving the remains unrecognizable as a vehicle. The heat from the fire was so intense that all that remained of the car was a blackened space frame. Group B and Group S were instantly cancelled for the 1987 season; Ford and Audi withdrew from Group B immediately. The other works teams decided to see the season out.
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Wow...I had written almost the same thing and it never posted, but yours is much better for the specific years.

Personally, I think Group B, while a little nutty, could've been a great series, IF they had taken the nessecary saftey measures.
 
1000hp engines, Ferrari entering a Group B car for the tarmac rallys...oh yeah Group B would have been awesome had it lasted.
 
nitro_2005
just coming off subject for a second, how do you bloody USE DC++? i tried it once, and it was just too confusing!!!!
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Well, the main thing abou DC++ is that you need to have your firewall disabled to a port, and configure that port in the program (UPnP). Also, you need to write your IP everytime it changes on the settings, that's the secret :)

And yeah, Group B would be insanely awesome if existed, but the old "safety first" doesn't apply here, so FIA and/or other guys could never let it happen...again...
That Lancia Delta car is very cool... small, agile and extremely powerful!
 
Does anyone know which cars were "evolution" models, like the quote from that article says:

It was, however, a Group B rally car (the Quattro was still built to the Group 4 specifications), and the new Group B class only required 200 copies of a car for homologation. The Group B rally teams could also produce "evolution" versions of their cars - and only twenty copies would be required!

I think the Quattro E2 was one, but were there others, and how were they different?
 
I believe that sport quattro and S1 are evolutions of the original quattro. Sport quattro had shorter wheelbase (cut out just behind the front doors), and the S1 had more aerodynamic shape and more spoilers for more downforce ...
 
So was the Peugeot T205 an evolution and needed just the 20 for homologation? I don't understand the homologation rules....
 
Well, I don't know exactly for Peugeot, but I guess the first 205 had to made in at least 200 cars, but all the versions were counted as an evolutions.
 
vipersan
I believe that sport quattro and S1 are evolutions of the original quattro. Sport quattro had shorter wheelbase (cut out just behind the front doors), and the S1 had more aerodynamic shape and more spoilers for more downforce ...
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Audi Quattro Sport IS NOT evolution of Audi Quattro A2, it's different car. In evos only wings and technics changed. S1 is evolution version.

EDIT: Some explations:
Peugeot made a debyt with 205 T16. They had to make 200 copies of it.
Peugeot 205 T16 Evo 2 made debyt later, turbo was changed, wings were added and so on, basic CAR were still same so they didn't have to make 200 copies, only 20.

When Lancia changed Rally 037 to Delta S4 they haf to make 200 (min) copies of S4 because the BASIC CAR changed from 037 to Delta S4...
 
There is group B action happening on a new stage built at Goodwood for the festival of speed. Should be good to see some of them in action and with legendary drivers behind the wheel.
 
Please cease discussing using applications to illegally download copyrighted material.
 
The Ford RS200 was also one of the later models to participate in the Group B and certainly the most beautiful of the supercars.
 
Milliethemutt
There is group B action happening on a new stage built at Goodwood for the festival of speed. Should be good to see some of them in action and with legendary drivers behind the wheel.
Click to expand...
I saw Juha Kankkunen driving an Audi Quattro S1 a few weeks back. It was great to see a such a powerful car in action driven by a driver who has actually driven those Group B cars when they were in WRC.

If it's possible for you guys to witness something like that, I highly recommend it!
 

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