They don't make them like they used to.

[jamesvw]

With modern safety technology, can we not see things like this again?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=quDX36WJM7k
These cars were just animals, pure and simple!

[Eric Mc]

Fantastic stuff

[rude-boy]

Proper cars driven by real men and woman [sic].

Their time has sadly past but my rose tinted specs are firmly on.

Edited by rude-boy on Tuesday 21st November 18:08

[Nick_F]

How on earth could anyone - proper man or woman or not - ever drive at full chat with spectators all over the course like that? Stuff of nightmares.

[F.M]

Group B is an era of motorsport we will never see again..supercars of the mud....I like to stick on the early 80`s rally videos in the winter......class...

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?d

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?d

[combemarshal]

Never mind those, Theres people all over the place in these!
And the drivers had huge balls too!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoMLrWuECng&mode=related&search=
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVq6X5w9kHM

[jacobyte]

combemarshal said:

Never mind those, Theres people all over the place in these!
And the drivers had huge balls too!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoMLrWuECng&mode=related&search=
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVq6X5w9kHM

Wow, even less overtaking than in modern F1

[combemarshal]

jacobyte said:

combemarshal said:

Never mind those, Theres people all over the place in these!
And the drivers had huge balls too!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoMLrWuECng&mode=related&search=
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVq6X5w9kHM

Wow, even less overtaking than in modern F1

Nah, The comentator said he passed coming out of the tunnel, that makes more passes than last year in F1!!

[GravelBen]

Nick_F said:

How on earth could anyone - proper man or woman or not - ever drive at full chat with spectators all over the course like that? Stuff of nightmares.

I remember reading a quote from one of the all-time greats (Vatanen or Rohrl I think but can't rememeber which) about that - they said you simply have to think of the people as different bushes and trees, because if you think of them as people you just can't drive like that. Scary stuff, I've heard stories about how the Portugese fans used to like touching the cars as they went by, and the mechanics would find fingers lodged in the grills etc when the cars came in for service.

It wasn't just the safety features of the cars that killed people and got them banned though, they were getting to the point where the cars were literally too fast for human reflexes, even the best drivers in the world couldn't keep up with the cars some of the time.

[F.M]

...on top of massive hard to control crowds....and a car approaching so fast that the spectators had little warning when it would roar into view as they were crossing the stage...

[gruffalo]

Aaaah, Dolby Forest with a 6R4 at full tilt, now that was heaven.

[F.M]

In order of desirability...Audi...6R4...Lancia S4....Peugeot...RS200...037...Renault 5 turbo...

Toivonen was of course the man..but Michelle Mouton gets a nod for being the only woman to ever win a round of the group B WRC rally.
Malcom Wilson was also the class of british rally drivers...I liked them all really...the european drivers were so cool..the 80`s is the decade for me....the machinary was faster than it is today and the killjoys hadn`t yet legislated fun off the face of the planet..

Tony Pond was my favorite though....loved him campaining the SD1 V8 and later the 6R4...

Edited by F.M on Thursday 23 November 10:28

[FourWheelDrift]

Have any of you ever seen the Lancia ECV the evolution of the Delta S4? It's the Group S car (Group S was going to replace Group B). Awesome piece of machinery. As well as this there were planned cars from Audi, Toyota and Ford.

www.riminituning.it/img/bott/rally/bolidi/ecv.htm

[eccles]

i know everyone thinks that the group 'B' rally cars were the fastest thing on the stages, but i've heard it said, several times, that modern cars are faster.
does anyone have any proof of this?

[thunderbelmont]

eccles said:

i know everyone thinks that the group 'B' rally cars were the fastest thing on the stages, but i've heard it said, several times, that modern cars are faster.
does anyone have any proof of this?

The Gp.B's were faster in a straight line, but their suspension was primitive by today's standards, and therefore, overall, the new cars are faster.

When you go to the arcades, and see Sega Rally, I bet you choose the Stratos too don't you!!
I know I do!!

[FourWheelDrift]

Tyres play a big part too, even chosing the wrong compound on a modern WRC car can lose you half a minute on a long stage, easily.

[mr_thyroid]

By the way, what is that horrible squeeky squeeky noise that modern rally cars make?

[FourWheelDrift]

Usually the co-driver.

[heebeegeetee]

This is a goodun...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gnyFJzQqko&mode=related&search=

[GravelBen]

group B cars much faster in a straight line, but the modern cars have much cleverer suspension, diffs, etc. They also make the stages tighter and twistier for modern cars in order to try and keep speeds down a bit, which suits modern WRC cars much better than group B. On a fast, open stage I imagine the group B car would still have it (based on comparison of group A/WRC cars vs open-class cars which are similiar to group B on hillclimbs, obviously hills favour the power though.

As for best driver, Toivonen was quick (probably the quickest at his peak) but my favourite is still Vatanen, followed by Rohrl and Blomqvist(who crashed out only twice in 25 years of national/international rallying according to some stats I read). I like Vatanen more for the way he drove the Escorts than the 205's though, I've never seen another driver make a car dance like that, right on/over the limit, while still seeming so completely in control.