How important is motorsport heritage?
Discussion
I'm guessing a lot of PHers are motorsport fans, we often hear about racing heritage or pedigree, so how important is motorsport success when considering a car?
Is F1 relevant? Touring cars? WRC/BRC? GT/sportscars? Basically, does the billions that manufacturers spend on racing affect what you buy or your perception of a brand?
Is F1 relevant? Touring cars? WRC/BRC? GT/sportscars? Basically, does the billions that manufacturers spend on racing affect what you buy or your perception of a brand?
Halo cars / motorsport cars are massively important
Ford couldn't give away there "too radical" sierra for a long time, most people used to comment on how the body buckled on moderate impacts, enter the big winged cossie and a the touring car versions and it was suddenly a hyper cool car.
I suspect Audi would be a fraction of the size its is if it hadn't been for the quattro and the lunatic group B variants that followed. They plaster quattro badges on just about everything they can lol.
Ford couldn't give away there "too radical" sierra for a long time, most people used to comment on how the body buckled on moderate impacts, enter the big winged cossie and a the touring car versions and it was suddenly a hyper cool car.
I suspect Audi would be a fraction of the size its is if it hadn't been for the quattro and the lunatic group B variants that followed. They plaster quattro badges on just about everything they can lol.
xRIEx said:
Basically, does the billions that manufacturers spend on racing affect what you buy or your perception of a brand?
Very much so and for good reason. Take a manufacturer like Hyundai who have no major history in motorsport and compare their coupe to similar offerings like the MX5 or Celica, there's just no contest in terms of drivability.The best engineers in any industry are the ones who have a passion for what they do, as such any manufacturer is going to get the best out of its engineers by indulging their passion for motorsport. For an example look at Toyota's involvement in the East Africa Rally.
Through the 70's and 80's Toyota threw huge sums of money at rallying and was looking at Africa as a key market, hence they needed rugged, reliable cars. I am pretty sure that rallying expertise is a major reason why Africa is full of corollas, hi-lux's and land cruisers, not because people were buying in to a racing image (they weren't) but because the engineers had been pushed to design cars that worked well in that environment. Cars that work well sell.
( East Africa Rally. I miss you.
)
Tartan Pixie said:
Very much so and for good reason. Take a manufacturer like Hyundai who have no major history in motorsport and compare their coupe to similar offerings like the MX5 or Celica, there's just no contest in terms of drivability.
The best engineers in any industry are the ones who have a passion for what they do, as such any manufacturer is going to get the best out of its engineers by indulging their passion for motorsport. For an example look at Toyota's involvement in the East Africa Rally.
Through the 70's and 80's Toyota threw huge sums of money at rallying and was looking at Africa as a key market, hence they needed rugged, reliable cars. I am pretty sure that rallying expertise is a major reason why Africa is full of corollas, hi-lux's and land cruisers, not because people were buying in to a racing image (they weren't) but because the engineers had been pushed to design cars that worked well in that environment. Cars that work well sell.
( East Africa Rally. I miss you.)
Hmm, I dunno. Fiat have had a lot of involvement in motorsport one way and another, but you wouldn't want to rely on a Fiat in Shepard's Bush never mind the African bush. The best engineers in any industry are the ones who have a passion for what they do, as such any manufacturer is going to get the best out of its engineers by indulging their passion for motorsport. For an example look at Toyota's involvement in the East Africa Rally.
Through the 70's and 80's Toyota threw huge sums of money at rallying and was looking at Africa as a key market, hence they needed rugged, reliable cars. I am pretty sure that rallying expertise is a major reason why Africa is full of corollas, hi-lux's and land cruisers, not because people were buying in to a racing image (they weren't) but because the engineers had been pushed to design cars that worked well in that environment. Cars that work well sell.
( East Africa Rally. I miss you.
)
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