Group S Rally Cars

[Neal]

I wasn't even aware of Group S rally until I just stumbled upon an article with the below 2 cars in it. Shame they never got to race before they were banned...


The story of the Group S ‘secret’ Audi Quattro.

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Lancia Delta ECV

The Lancia ECV (stands for Experimental Composite Vehicle) was a prototype Group S rally car developed by the Italian manufacturer Lancia to replace the Lancia Delta S4 in World Rally Championship competition for the 1988 season. However, Group B as well as Group S cars were banned from competition by the FIA in late 1986 due to safety concerns and the ECV never raced. Lancia instead developed the Group A Lancia Delta…

Despite the cancellation of Group S, Lancia improved the ECV with the ECV II. The ECV II carbon-fibre chassis was that of the ECV I. The designer of the car is Carlo Gaino of Synthesis design. The ECV II concept car was more compact and featured improved aerodynamics. The ECV II had the same engine and chassis but a different paint scheme.

 

[Clark]

I've read about them for a few yeara ago now but to be honest they wouldn't have been as good to watch as Group B. They would've had more grip and in competition form be restricted to about 300bhp.

More Power+ Less Grip > Less Power + More Grip

 

[Neal]

Hmm, not quite as exciting as the 1000bhp quoted in the article

 

[Clark]

Well plenty of racecars can produce more power than they run in races, but the safety police intervene in most cases.

And the fact that teams want their engines to last more than 10mins so wouldn't run that much power in race-trim even if the rules allowed.

Oh well, Harumble(!) for that fact that 300bhp and 330lb-ft of torque is enough to make the new, short wheelbase WRC cars to be exciting.

 

[Muzaffar]

Yeah... I just read about the Group S cars on Speedhunters a few days ago and even posted the Lancia ECV in the "Import" thread. But yeah, the Group S was meant to be somewhat more restrictive than Group B and would be something along the lines of a current "World Rally Car" rules (restricted to 300hp, based on production car, etc.). But yeah, sadly it never even stood a chance of starting and all of the cars made for Group S were either one-offs or completely scrapped.

Also, there were more than the Audi and Lancia:

Toyota MR2 222D

Opel Kadett 4x4

Also there was supposed to be a Group S version of the Ford RS200 but I can't find any article mentioning that.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

Funny fact: Those MR2's were designed for Group B, and would had utilized the legendary 2l 503E-engine which is a distant relative of S3GTE family. Capable of producing ~600bhp for touring cars and 1000bhp for dragsters. Also, those MR2's were testbeds, one had longitudinal engine layout while other had transversely mounted.

 

[Blitz187]

Nice read Neal... Learned something new today 👍

 

[Proffa]

Opel was mentioned, but also Vauxhall version was in plans. There was at least 1 more ready car for S-group Lada Samara:
http://www.direita3.pt/dossiers/bizarros/lada-eva-s-proto/

 

[JMoney]

The racing world of today is focused on safety.
The racing world of yesterday was focused on awesome.
I miss yesterday.