RE: Pic Of The Week: Ogier cleared for takeoff

[dc2rr07]

soad said:

RX7 said:

Fantastic photo, it truly is, but i feel saddened to say i cant get excited over a Polo. Yes it is a WRC car in full flight and that should be all that is required, but i cant get excited about it and i want to, very frustrating!

I know how you feel. Does nothing for me either.

After watching a bit of the coverage on ITV4 have to agree they just do not look right for WRC, it's like watching the junior classes of a few years ago.

Still a good photo tho'

[PascalBuyens]

Itsallicanafford said:

...is this the 1.6 polo or the 1.4

The 1.2 diesel

[anonymous-user]

soad said:

RX7 said:

Fantastic photo, it truly is, but i feel saddened to say i cant get excited over a Polo. Yes it is a WRC car in full flight and that should be all that is required, but i cant get excited about it and i want to, very frustrating!

I know how you feel. Does nothing for me either.

But have you heard it? Turbo chatter sounds beautiful.

[Baryonyx]

Twincam16 said:

IMO they should have based it on the Audi A1. Not only do you have the cache of all those Quattro associations, but the A1 Quattro is closer in spirit to a WRC car than the Polo R. And at the end of the day, all the money goes to the VW Group regardless so what difference does it make?[/pic]

Brand positioning, for one thing. Now that Audi are supposed to be a premium brand, WRC doesn't really fit in with that image. Similarly, VW get an opportunity to boost the credibility of their hot hatches, which have undoubtedly taken some flak over the years for being boring.

The point about the A1 Quattro being closer to the spirit of a WRC car is moot, saying as the WRC cars are silhouettes that really have nothing to do with the road cars. Though if Ford promised a Fiesta WRC road car with a good engine and a light permanent AWD system I would be all over it.

[RX7]

GravelMachineGun said:

But have you heard it? Turbo chatter sounds beautiful.

Nope And i agree, but turbo chatter is not a sound individual to specific cars, like the flat four tone of an Impreza. Could be any car making that noise

[Twincam16]

Baryonyx said:

Twincam16 said:

IMO they should have based it on the Audi A1. Not only do you have the cache of all those Quattro associations, but the A1 Quattro is closer in spirit to a WRC car than the Polo R. And at the end of the day, all the money goes to the VW Group regardless so what difference does it make?[/pic]

Brand positioning, for one thing. Now that Audi are supposed to be a premium brand, WRC doesn't really fit in with that image. Similarly, VW get an opportunity to boost the credibility of their hot hatches, which have undoubtedly taken some flak over the years for being boring.

The point about the A1 Quattro being closer to the spirit of a WRC car is moot, saying as the WRC cars are silhouettes that really have nothing to do with the road cars. Though if Ford promised a Fiesta WRC road car with a good engine and a light permanent AWD system I would be all over it.

Brand this, image that.

And I remember when car firms were all about engineering. There's a reason why the best Audis are 4WD.

[roshambow]

i agree that the cars are one of the reasonbs that wrc isnt that popular but lets not forget why group b was banned in the first place,i personally think its because we dont have people like colin mcrae to watch any more,no one has his flat out for the win or broke approach that is why ken block was in the wrc as it was hoped it would up the sports popularity but no one predicted how useless he would be

[chrisgtx]

The people who complain the cars look crap or are too slow have probably never seen them in the flesh.
They look good, sound good (loud) and they are as fast as a scalded cat,really.
The ITV 4 coverage was OK and they did manage to capture the speed on certain parts of the stage.

[anonymous-user]

chrisgtx said:

The people who complain the cars look crap or are too slow have probably never seen them in the flesh.
They look good, sound good (loud) and they are as fast as a scalded cat,really.

This. Even though WRC 'is in danger' when you watch it for yourself and Loeb comes past you peppering you in gravel at 70mph it really is something else. WRC is a magical sport and it just needs a bit of help with promotion.

[USA64]

GravelMachineGun said:

chrisgtx said:

The people who complain the cars look crap or are too slow have probably never seen them in the flesh.
They look good, sound good (loud) and they are as fast as a scalded cat,really.

This. Even though WRC 'is in danger' when you watch it for yourself and Loeb comes past you peppering you in gravel at 70mph it really is something else. WRC is a magical sport and it just needs a bit of help with promotion.

A problem with many motorsports I think. I don't know the rules, don't know anyone who does, and the magazines assume you do.