Originally Posted by
Lundefaret
Very good explanation, but I disagree with you on one thing, and thats regarding the number of ratios.
Theoretically - yes, the "wide" power band of the 2.0 WRC cars would allow for fewer ratios.
The thinking behind this was that they would change gear more seldom (gaining time), and that a lower number of ratios would decrease number of parts, and therefore number of parts that brake.
When Porsche went serious about using turbochargers in racing the 930 turbo was one of the first cars. On this car (even on the road model) they used only four ratios so they could make each gear strong enough to handle the torque and power.
But we know how the story went. The Peugeot-drivers struggled to find the right ratio, and was caught in either a gear to low, or a gear to high. This resulted in them not having a decrese in number of gear changes on a stage/on a rally, but a big increase.
I think it was as bad a 25% increase, or something in that region.
I was lucky enough to test a Citroën Xsara WRC (something I will bring into each discussion when I have the opertunity, hehe) and found the power band to be very much like a turbo diesel. Actually a lot like a VW pumpe duse Yes it had a lot of torque, but it definetly had a peak, which in reality was quite a narrow power band (as all highly tuned engines tend to have in some form or another.)
So your theory in regards to smaller shocks pr shifting isnt totally alligned with turbo/gearbox-history.
This is because a gear box has a certain physical size, and if you cram a lot of gears in there, the gears them selves will be smaller, thus more fragile.
With Porsche at Le Mans it was not that big a deal to have only four gears, because even tough the engine had a very strong ketchup effect/turbo lag, and that you went in and out of boost, the power advantage was so huge that you made up for it anyway. In rallying it was a different story.
But regarding the torque, the teams with a good torque curve (in combination with good top end power) will off cource have an advantage. And sensitive drivers - like Ogier - will know how to take advantage of that.