Originally Posted by
Mirek
Dimviii may correct me but I don't buy this story for two points.
1) To have significantly better acceleration which is clearly visible You need really big difference in power or the shape of the power curve. Last week I was on a circuit stage where cars accelerated on a straight from 2nd gear chicane. Fabia WRC made cca 20-30 meters advantage on 200 meters long straight over gr.N Impreza. Don't forget that a lot of that difference is due to higher exit speed from the chicane and faster gear changes, not only due to more powerful engine.
2) You can not tune restricted engine with limited turbo boost to have for example 30 Hp more by sacrificing some reliability. That is possible with engine where reliability is the primary power limitation such as Moto GP or Fomula 1 engines but not with something which complies with WRC regulations. At least I don't believe it is possible. Same goes to a completely different sound.
Honestly I haven't followed the previous discussion and therefore I don't want to judge Rossi's car in any way. What I wanted to say is that the explanation above sounds very unlikely to me.