GeneRally International Forum

One of the most famous specifications of rallysport, the beloved and hated Group B and cancelled Group S rallying.
Famous drivers like Toivinen, Salonen, Rohrl, Alen, Bettega, Blomquist or Mouton drove these beasts on narrow tarmac roads as well as on blinds crests of Finland. However this class is banned since 1987, but you have chance to try these cars too, in your GeneRally.


Group B
Audi Quattro S1
BMW M1
Ferrari 308 GTB
Ford RS200
Lancia 037
Lancia Delta S4
Mazda RX7
Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo
Mitsubishi Starion Turbo*
Nissan 240Rs
Opel Manta 400
Peugeot 205 T16
Toyota Celica TCT
planned for this pack
Citroën BX 4TC
Ford RS 1700T*
Lada Samara EVA*
MG Metro 6R4
Moskvich 2141-R*
Renault 5 Turbo
Talbot Horizon*
Talbot Sunbeam
ZAZ Tavria*
*Group B prototypes or never homologated machines

Group S protypes
Lancia ECV1
planned for this pack
Audi Mittelmotor Prototype and here and article about it (sadly only in czech, though maybe polish guys can understand a little bit too )
but basically, this is prototype that had engine in middle of the car and was tested in Desná, Czechoslovakia in 1985.
FSO Stratopolonez
Lancia ECV2
Opel Kadett 4S
Toyota MR2
(Group S never officially raced, all cars are extremely rare and there are few more which
are belived to exist but they were never really announced officially)



BMW M1

The BMW M1 first competed at world championship level on the 1983 Tour of Corsica, the same event as Lancia's 037. Driven by Bernard Béguin, it produced 430Bhp from it's 3.5l 6cyl engine, and weighed 1150kg. The car was run by the ORECA team and sponsored by BMW & Motul. The car retired from the event but went on to score two second places, one on the 1983 Lyon-Charbonnieres rally and another at the Antibes rally. Main problems with the car were reliability and size. It was a good twenty cm wider than anything else competing at the time. The car never competed on a gravel event.
Ferrari 308 GTB

Most were built up by Michelotto of Padova who not only received authorisation from the factory but also got a good deal of back door assistance. Three of the Group B 308's were fitted with QV four-valve engines that produced 310bhp at 8000rpm, the first car (chassis 18869) using a 288bhp two-valve motor. The mechanical Kugelfischer fuel injection of Group 4 cars was changed to electronic Bosch K-Jetronic while, overall, the Group B variants came out some 30kg heavier because of their stock GRP and steel body panels. Just four were constructed by Michelotto over the winter of 1982/’83 to participate in various European Group B rally championships. The four Michelotto cars were raced by the Italian Rally team Pro Motor Sport. Chassis 22409 (pictured) was very successful in multiple major rallies, winning the Marca Trevigiani and Cittŕ de Bassano, driven by Giulio and Pasutti respectively, coming in second in both the Targa Florio and Isola d'Elba driven by Battistolli; and second again in the Príncipe de Asturias driven by Tognana. Chassis 18869 and 18971 both won 1st place in the Sicillian Rally Championship in '83 and '84 respectively. Chassis 18847 had 2nd place finish at the '84 Della Lana.

Mazda RX7

Mazda wanted no part of the Group B class. Early efforts by Rod Millen and Timo Salonen seemed to be ignored. Achim Warmbold aimed to get their attention by creating Mazda Rally Team (MRT), but Mazda headquarters appeared to ignore it. Several drivers competed in group B RX7s. Ingvar Carlsson placed 3rd in the 1985 Rally Acropolis for MRT. Achim Warmbold managed to place 6th at that rally as well. Mazda did notice these results, but instead of backing the Group B RX7s, they decided to put their effort behind a group A 323.
Mitsubishi Starion Turbo

Based on the rear wheel drive Mitsubishi flagship, the Starion, the Starion 4WD set out with the goal of winning in group B. It was a 4WD, 350 horsepower version of the Mitsubishi Starion, being developed for group B international competition by Andrew Cowan's British-based Ralliart Team. The team included Alan Wilkinson — an engineer whose rallying credentials are second to none. He came to Team Ralliart via Ford's competition department, Toyota Team Europe and Audi Sport UK, where he was responsible for their very successful Quattro. The mechanical specification of the Starion 4WD Rally were very much a large part of Alan Wilkinson's job, to develop a competition configuration for the car that can then be used for the 20 evolutionary models the company needed to build to gain Group B homologation. With permanent four-wheel-drive and a 2-litre turbocharged engine, the Starion Rally is a very far cry from the old Lancers. Official Group B homologation of the Starion Rally would have come in time for the team to make its debut in world championship rallying with a two car entry on the 1986 Lombard RAC Rally in November. Homologation never occured after it was announced that the 1986 season would be the last for Group B.

Interesting and amazing!

They look amazing. But I do have one question: Are you going to make cars like the Ford Escort MK2 RS1800 or the FIAT 131 Abarth?

Thanks guys . These cars were rather rare than legends but now you'll see Audi, Lancia, Ford....

I might do these Group 4 cars too but first I want to focus on GrB and GrS cars .

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Ford RS200

The car had several features common among other Group B cars, such as four-wheel-drive, a space frame, mid-engine layout, and kevlar bodywork. However, the RS200 had some unique features, such as adjustable torque split, dual shocks on each corner, and an engine tuned by Bryan Hart, a well-known engine supplier of various F1 teams throughout the 1990s. The 4-cylinder, 16 valve engine was quoted as having over 500 hp, and crash test footage showed that the car was extremely strong. The RS200 wasn't entirely perfect; it did have one significant flaw: it was heavier than its rivals. The RS200 had a brief rally career. The factory team withdrew immediately following the death of Henri Toivonen, and the remaining rally cars were sold off to help recover Ford's investment. The car raced in european rallycross championship for several more years.
Lancia 037

The first official Group B rally car was the Lancia 037, introduced in 1983, to take advantage of the liberal rules permitted by the new Group B category. The 037 was designed as a rear-wheel-drive car, because of the uncertainty surrounding Audi's four-wheel-drive experiment. The 325-horsepower 037 was a superb tarmac car, and it was more reliable than the Quattro, so drivers Walter Röhrl and Markku Alen brought Lancia the constructor's crown in its debut season. However, advancing technology rapidly rendered the 037 obsolete; in 1984, it was already showing its age. In its final rallies, the 037 was running Formula 1 qualifying compound tires on tarmac stages. Most of the time that was made up was lost becuase the soft compound tires needing to be changed during "pit stops" mid stage!

Great car project. And big thumb up for the short summary or each piece.

aplogies

Next time bother to actually read what I write...I'm currently making Quattro and many more

@Thanks Ivo . But you should know that I borrowed these infos from one webpage.

i just like the killer b's......

also actually good suggestion, put them into a pack together

Can you bundle all cars into one pack after it's all done for the sake of convenience?

And I can read your mind that you'll make a Stratos...

Don't be worry I'll add them into one pack when the pack is finished. Stratos is indeed in my mind too

Don't forget the Manta most spectacular rally car of the 80s!

Alonsomania wrote:Don't forget the Manta most spectacular rally car of the 80s!

... italdesign?

They made some cool cars. I remember some from NFS 2.

What relevance do Italdesign have to rallying? -.-

The car alonsomania meant is Opel Manta 400 .

Oh, i thought the italdesign.

(i thought it was a italdesign, but im not sure)

Can we expect some more cars soon? It looks like a promising pack

Yes, for sure . I have opel manta, some quattros, delta s4 and few more. They need some marginal things however .

I hope you'll go through efforts to record sounds for these monstrous machines, Dan. I want them to blow my ears to hell, heaven, and back.

Finally I found some time to upload more cars, this time ultimate legends

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Audi Quattro S1

The Sport Quattro was Audi's first real Group B car. The chassis was much different as compared to the original. Note that 320mm has been chopped out of the car between the door and rear wheel. Audi also wanted to improve weight balance by moving the batteries, oil coolers and radiators into the rear of the car. The end result was a 52% front/48% rear weight balance, but still with a high polar moment (weight far from the center of gravity).

The 1984 season was Audi's most successful year in rallying. Stig Blomqvist's sideways driving style plus the introduction of the short-wheelbase, more powerful (450+ hp) and more advanced (six-speed transmission, kevlar bodywork) Sport Quattro combined to take both titles for the 1984 season. However, the 1984 season saw a new challenger to Audi's crown: Peugeot launched their brand new 205 T16 in Corsica for the 1984 Tour de Corse rally. The new 205 differed from the Quattro in several key respects: it was rear-engined, it had a space frame, and it was a generally smaller car with less weight. Peugeot driver Ari Vatanen nearly won the 205's first rally, except a crash prematurely ended his rally. The Peugeot caused enough concern that the Audi team managers sent messages back to the engineers in Ingolstadt, reminding the engineers to keep up development, and not to be complacent with the current success.

The radical Sport Quattro S1, introduced at the 1000 Lakes rally in 1985, proved to the rally community that Audi was very serious in its attempt to regain its previous form. The S1 had more power than any other rally car in history, reaching over 600 horsepower in 1986, and it had huge wings to aid with traction on faster stages. Faced with ever-increasing competition, the S1 only managed a single victory, on the San Remo rally in 1985. The Quattro in its various iterations competed for four and a half years, winning four championships, and changing the face of rallying forever.
Peugeot 205 T16

The 205 was Peugeot’s spectacular recovery following the difficult years after the takeover of Chrysler Europe. The 205 GTI, a real little flier, sets a new standard for sporty driving and roadholding for driving enthusiasts, raises the image of the 205 the following year and gives a turbo boost to the commercial success of the "sacré numéro" of the Peugeot range. The T16 competition models and its victories in the world championships gain an international image for Peugeot and establish its prestige and success definitively. The Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 shocked the rally world when it dominated the 1984 Tour de Corse rally for the first two days, before pilot Ari Vatanen lost control while driving through a puddle and crashed. What fascinated some rally observers was the completely different approach taken by Peugeot compared with Audi; the 205 T16 had four-wheel-drive and about between 350 and 450 hp, but it had a space frame, mid-engine layout, a design later adopted by many competitors. The 205 T16 was impressive to spectators, and frightening to competitors - it won on its third outing, the 1984 1000 Lakes rally.

I'd really like to read some comments . Anyway, here is few more cars .

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Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo

After a successful number of rallies including a Lancer GSR 1600 1-2-3-4 finish in the Safari Rally, Mitsubishi took three years away from the WRC to develop the Lancer 2000 Turbo. Mitsubishi and its Austria Distributor Denzel AG jointly developed the Lancer 2000 Rally Turbo as a Group 4 car. With the help of Andrew Cowan and Ralliart the Lancer 2000 Turbo was prepared to compete as a Group B car. The turbocharged Lancer fully utilized the light, highly rigid non-turbo Lancer body boasting its turbocharged power plant and heavy-duty suspension resulting in very high performance and stability.
Nissan 240RS

Nissan had had success in motorsports for many years. In 1982 it took a great leap from the 280ZX rally cars of the 1970s into the world of Group B rally. The Nissan 240RS (chassis code BS110) was developed for Group B. It was powered by a 2.4L DOHC engine also known as the FJ20. Power was transfered to the rear wheels using a Nismo competition trasnmission.
Merged double reply from 14 Jan 2012, 19:15:

Opel Manta 400

It was back in 1981 when the futuristic Manta 400 was first seen in the UK driven by Tony Fall. At this time he was watching Jimmy McRae in his Ascona 400 and Fall was confident he would have the Manta in competition in a few months. It took until May 1st, 1983 before FISA gave the official stamp, no. B237 and the new car made its world debut in Corsica in May 1983 driven by Guy Frequelin. It lasted only 100 miles before the head gasket failed. McRae finished 6th on the Welsh in the first UK outing. Unlike the Ascona 400, the Manta makes full use of Kevlar body panels: the front panel, front wings, hood, doors, rear arches, trunk lid, spoiler, and even headlight holders are all made from it. This saves over 80kg and makes the car more competitive than the Ascona. While it didn't achieve much international fame (apart from nearly winning the Safari), it did make headlines during the Mille Pistes International Rally in France; Henri Toivonen was leading the rally in his Manta when the organizers decided to ban prototypes while the event was underway! Toivonen was forced to settle for a consolation trophy. The Manta was successful on the national level, and it was a capable rallycross performer.
Toyota Celica Twincam Turbo TA64

The Celica twin-cam turbo was Toyota's choice to enter the World Rally Championship when they decided to take a run at the title. The Celica's major handicap was its lack of four-wheel-drive, however, the car was well-built and fairly straightforward to maintain. The engine produced about 290 horsepower (which later grew to 370 as the evolution versions were released), and it had a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout.
The Toyota's first rally in the Group B class was the 1983 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland, with the young but talented Juha Kankkunen behind the wheel. The Celica grabbed a fine sixth place in its first rally. Its second rally was even better. Toyota and desert rally expert Bjorn Waldegard teamed up to win the Ivory Coast rally in October, 1983, on the Celica's second outing. However, the 1983 RAC rally was an eye-opener for Toyota. The Celica simply didn't have the pace to keep up with the other teams on tight European stages.
The Celica was out of its depth on the twisty European roads, but it found its niche on the African continent. The Celica won no less than six rallies in Africa, including three consecutive Safari rallies in Kenya from 1984 to 1986. Toyota added three wins in Western Africa's Ivory Coast rally, making it the undisputed king of the desert during the Group B era. The Celica's ruggedness and simplicity (compared to other Group B cars) made it reliable and perfectly suited to the harsh desert conditions. The Celica changed drastically following Group B's cancellation for the 1987 season

I LOVE YOU HAQ I LOVE YOU! (proceeds with exploding brain procedure)

And today two Lancias . Hope you'll enjoy.

Lancia Delta S4

With the 037 quickly dropping down the leader board, the Lancia / Abarth team was pinning their hopes on the new Delta S4, which was set to make its introduction late in the 1985 season. The team was not to be disappointed. The S4, one of the most advanced cars yet seen. The twin-charged engine was one of the first turbo AND supercharged engines. The goal was to provide maximum boost at all RPM ranges with a resulting flat torque curve through out powerband. The complex system, developed in association with Abarth, used a supercharger to provide most of the boost at lower RPM (because a turbo suffers from lag at lower engine speeds), and a turbocharger pressurized the engine at higher RPMs (because a supercharger is less efficient at higher RPMs). The 500+ hp engine took time to perfect, but the results were worth waiting for. Lancia and Abarth managed to successfully synchronize the twincharging, so there was a smooth transition from one to the other.

Markku Alen and Henri Toivonen were bestowed with the honour of driving for the Lancia factory during the 1986 season. The first rally contested by the S4, the 1985 RAC rally, was a very convincing 1-2 finish for the team, with young Toivonen receiving the first place trophy. Lancia started the 1986 season in the same fashion as they concluded the 1985 season, but the death of Toivonen in Corsica was a devastation to the team, and to the entire rally community. Lancia lost the 1986 titles after a hard-fought battle with Peugeot, but the S4 did win the 1986 European championship in the hands of Fabrizio Tabaton. It was, however, a hollow victory following Toivonen's death.
Lancia ECV1

First displayed at the Bologna Motorshow in 1986, the ECV1 (Experimental Composite Vehicle) was a composite technology concept car testing the use of carbon, kevlar, thermosetting and thermoplastic resins, glassfibre and honeycomb in car production. It was also considered Lancia's prototype Group S car (a formula which never came to fruit). It was a further development of the S4, featuring the same basic design, with many of the components now made from composites, including the main, load bearing part of the body. Other composite parts included the wheels (8x16" wheels weighing only 6kg !) and the propshaft. It was powered by a 1759cc twin turbo (two KKK units) engine producing 600bhp @ 8,000rpm using a new design known as "triflux" where the two turbochargers were used sequentially depending on the engine speed. An overall weight of 930kg was achieved.

The 1800cc power unit of the ECV1 & 2 was known as the triflux. This was due to the design which had one exhaust and one inlet valve on each side of the cylinder head, with the resulting twin exhaust manifolds each feeding one turbocharger. At low engine speeds one turbocharger exhaust was shut-off, forcing all the exhaust gases through one unit and thus providing good low speed performance. As the engine speed rose, the second turbocharger was gradually introduced, until at high engine speeds both turbochargers ran in parallel.

It's a very nice thread.
I can't wait for completion of this series.

and don't forget my Chibi series, too..

i have another idea. what about a better lancia stratos?