Group B: When Rallying Got TOO FAST

The Audi Quattro Lancia 037 and the Peugeot 205 T16, some of the most iconic names in rally cars that pushed the limits of what was possible in a way we haven't seen since it was called Group B and is still considered the golden era. rally

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b was a class where manufacturers were allowed to go all out with almost unlimited power, crazy aerodynamics and exotic new materials, it brought with it new technologies such as four-wheel drive semi-automatic gearboxes and systems intelligent turbocharging, however, was only for the The bravest of drivers said that the enormously powerful cars needed a lot of handling to get through the tight, twisty specials, away from big drops and dodging a sea of ​​spectators, but how did it come about?

This and what can we learn from the crazy cars that weren't? In the

group

b era,

rallying

went crazy in the 80s, the fia wanted to attract more manufacturers and therefore created a class that would give the designers quite a bit of freedom, no power limits, no regulations on boost and any exotic rally car materials you may have liked over the years. have been largely based on road cars with increasingly stricter and more flexible rules on how close the relationship must be between the production cars and those actually competing in the stage, for example in the group A class, manufacturers have to produce 5000 road versions. the car before it was allowed to compete in group b to reduce the cost and interest from manufacturers, they ruled that only 200 cars needed to be produced, group b also allowed almost infinite modifications to be made, meaning that the Rally cars were nothing like road cars.

Overall, this approach really worked, attracting many manufacturers to group B, names like Lancia, Porsche, Peugeot, Audi, Toyota, Ford and many more, Lancia took the drivers' championship in the first year of group B with the 0 -37, it was the last one with a rear wheel. He drove the car to win in the WRC. It was incredibly lightweight, used fiberglass and Kevlar for the body, and was powered by a 250-horsepower mid-mounted engine. It has much larger wings than many cars of the era with a huge rear wing to stabilize the car. At high speeds it was supercharged to avoid turbo lag and was incredibly quick on the asphalt stages, however it was not as quick on loose surfaces, so in the quattro-staggered Audi, one of the most innovative rally cars of all time, a true game changer.

It had an inline 5 engine with a very clever turbo charging system that produced over 450 brake horsepower. It had a small valve that kept the turbo going even

when

not accelerating, which meant there was very little turbo lag, making the car come out of tight corners quickly. Audi also had a very aggressive aerodynamic kit with a huge spoiler at the front of the car and an even larger wing at the rear. This was one of the first sophisticated uses of aerodynamics in

rallying

. Drivers said it made the car extremely stable at high speed. Incredible power was transmitted through a clever semi-automatic gearbox and drove all four wheels.

It was the first car to use a four-wheel drive system effectively before this, many manufacturers stuck to rear-wheel drive because they thought the extra weight would offset any time gains. for the extra traction and yes the Audi was very heavy and the four wheel drive system meant the weight was more than you would normally like in a rally car, but despite the compromised dynamics it worked, the Audi had more power than the rest of the field. but you could also use it more effectively, deploying more power even on surfaces like gravel, dirt, and ice. Audi won its first race with the car and didn't really stop after that, shaving seconds, if not minutes, off the stage times of Audi's all-wheel drive system.

It really changed the game in rallying, but Audi's dominance didn't last long. Peugeot launched a car that would expose the quattro's weaknesses. They used a similar four-wheel drive system but packaged it very differently. Their secret was that they really hit the nail on the head. Car Dynamics They built the car to look like the Highway 205, a small hatchback, it had a very short wheelbase, which generally makes cars more agile at low speeds with the disadvantage of less stability at high speeds. speeds, however, rally stages are usually very narrow. And interestingly, this strategy paid off for Persia.

They also did their best to maintain core weight. They placed a 1.8-liter engine in the middle of the car, although it didn't have the clever anti-lag system that the Audi had. Drivers used an old trick to keep the turbo going, they left their foot braked in the corners while holding the accelerator, this kept the turbo going and gave them immediate power on exit, but what was really unusual about the 205 was the orientation in the one they rode. The engine in racing cars normally has engines mounted longitudinally with the crank parallel to the direction of the car, however, Peugeot installed it in a transverse orientation and instead of mounting the gearbox below the engine as in the Audi Peugeot, It was mounted to the side, this meant that most of the car's weight was between the two axles and it could be mounted lower, making the car much more agile and responsive in corners.

A low center of gravity means the car doesn't roll too much and if it is in the center of the chassis the car is easier to turn in corners. The 205's weight distribution was not 50 50, although it placed about 60 of the weight on the rear wheels. In simple terms, rearward weight distribution promotes oversteer and forward weight distribution creates more understeer. This rearward bias means the car was easier to turn and control in corners, you can really see this if you watch the Audi in the corners, the Audi was very front heavy and produced a lot of understeer, drivers are trying to neutralize this with the accelerator, but they have done it. to correct the car several times in the corner the quattro understeers then oversteers and understeers again in a corner the drivers really have to fight to get through the bend the quattro was by no means an easy car to drive now look at the peugeot, there is one smooth input into the steering and the car looks much more balanced and easy to drive, no wonder it was

fast

er, it's amazing to see how these drivers control the car at crazy speeds on tight and twisty rally stages, not forgetting They are turning the car. through a sea of ​​spectators on stage, but why are fans allowed to be so close to the cars?

The sections are public roads, meaning anyone can go and watch. However, that meant that many got very close to the cars back then, people were hit, but it was considered part of the challenge for the drivers, they were often kept pinned down and had to wait for the fans to get out of the way in time. This guy even had to jump over a passing car. Many manufacturers understood that Peugeot's approach was the way. To continue producing smaller cars with short wheelbases and all the weight in the middle, mg created the Metro with a distinctive square shape and a huge front wing and the Renault 5 also adopted a similar approach, however it was Lancia that he better did it and finally they threw it away. real world driving after not being competitive all year, so they created the lancia delta s4, a short wheelbase four wheel drive monster.

First, they developed an engine with a cool dual-charging system. They installed a supercharger to avoid turbo lag, a bit like the Lancia. o37 however this created less power at high revs as a supercharger is driven directly by the engine, it can provide boost at low revs but consumes more and more power as the revs rise so what Lancia did was install a additional turbocharger that would provide boost at high revs. revs so the supercharger provided a boost at low revs before disengaging and letting the turbo take over at higher revs, meaning the Delta S4 was incredibly powerful and had the grip to put it on stage.

It took many victories before finally taking the group. b era to an end this era of rallying it was incredible to see incredibly

fast

cars and incredible drivers all pushing to the limits of what was possible, there were different winners each year and cars that looked noticeably different with incredible engineering, however they were not you can ignore the fact. which was extremely dangerous the cars were too powerful difficult to drive and not enough emphasis was placed on the safety of the drivers and spectators the biggest problem was the minimum weight rule the cars could weigh as little as 890 kilograms so to be competitive the Manufacturers would do anything they could to reduce this limit, this created a breed of cars that were very fragile and were not up to the task of protecting drivers in an accident.

Many of the drivers explained that if this weight limit were higher, more reinforcements could have been added to better protect. the drivers in an accident several serious accidents occurred in portugal santos climbed to the top of his ford rs-200 lost control and went off the track horribly injuring 31 spectators and killing three all teams immediately withdrew from the rally and abandoned group b hanging by a thread a few months later came the final blow henry toivonen of lancia was the championship favorite

when

he lost control at the end of a fast corner he was winning by a wide margin when he and his co-driver sergio cresto flew off The road going down a steep hill the impact ruptured the fuel tank spilling fuel over the red hot turbocharger causing the car to catch fire after the incident it was barely recognizable as a car and both Henry and Sergio died in the accident, leading many manufacturers to withdraw. out and the fia finished the group b class the following year you should watch this video where I explain what it takes to modify a rally car to set the outright record at pike's peak or this other video which I think you will love thank you very much for watching and see you next time