What Citroen & Ford have that Subaru don't

[harvick#1]

You think the Citroen is a better car than the Ford? Please elaborate..

the cars are close to equal Citroen just has the best driver in the world

and Sordo is coming to his own and could win in Spain or France

[Donney]

I couldn't be all due the engine. Remember the "snake incident" ?? What was the reason for that? For a long period of time with the 2006 --> model, the handling was worse than bad.

I don't, what was that thing?

I am not very strong on engineering and those matters, but I remember pentti saying the main problem is the boxer engine and how far front it is placed creating a huge amount of inertia, if we add to that equation the fact that it is too heavy, we have a possible source for their lack of results. It looks like the whole car is built around a puzzle which can't be solved nowadays.

[A.F.F.]

I don't, what was that thing?

Petter and Chris, but mostly Petter suffered from weird handling problem which the team called "snake". The car would meander even on straight and Petter had to steer it all the time. That's why he could drive nowhere near the limit. First my honest opinion was that the snake was in Petter's head but then Chirs also complained about it. Finally I watched an excellent document series from Discovery channel where they followed Subaru Rally Team and in that series they tried to locate the reason why the car acted snakish. It was couple years ago or so... you really don't rememberi t ?

[Donney]

No, I don't, I remember the constant complaining about the poor handling but the "snake" does not ring any bell, thanks!!!

[Tomi]

They have WRC cars that drivers with common sence uses.

[Karukera]

That's a puzzling case.

Ford and Citroën certainly don't have that Subaru's inconsistency performance curve.
Atkinson and Solberg are able to perform very well in a rally, although rarely if never with both cars, then being completely lost in the next event regardless to the surface and with no apparent or obvious reason.

Despite Sordo's retirement in MC 08 Chris drove superbly in the last 2 editions, he acheived podiums earlier this year with the old car on gravel while Solberg had massive problems with people logically tempted to say Solberg was the problem, until Atkinson had unsolvable problems himself.

Although the latest Sub evolution didn't show any significant pace in Greece 08, it still took a brilliant podium with Solberg thanks to the usual attrition toll there. Later on, Atkinson took for the same reason a remarkable 3rd in Finland !

So there's reliability and decent performances but it can also suddenly vanish and the car become a nightmare to drive.

So why is it so erratic with the blues ?

Sounds more like set up issues probably mixed up with many other little details than the car itself.

Shouldn't the Japanese get rid of Poordrive and hire a company seriously involved in rallying.

[DonJippo]

Petter and Chris, but mostly Petter suffered from weird handling problem which the team called "snake". The car would meander even on straight and Petter had to steer it all the time. That's why he could drive nowhere near the limit. First my honest opinion was that the snake was in Petter's head but then Chirs also complained about it. Finally I watched an excellent document series from Discovery channel where they followed Subaru Rally Team and in that series they tried to locate the reason why the car acted snakish. It was couple years ago or so... you really don't rememberi t ?

When have we heard a non works Subaru driver complaining this same issue?

[Halvis]

When have we heard a non works Subaru driver complaining this same issue?

I remember it clearly aswell, it was very easy to spot, the car wobbled from side to side on straights, and on inboard camera you could see Petter struggling to keep the car in the line, steering all the time.

Has any non works Subaru driven that model of Impreza WRC car? Not as I remember, all the privateers use older Imprezas, doesn't they? Or use other dampers, as Østberg? Not sure of this, but that would be a logical reason why no others have complained about it.

[A.F.F.]

When have we heard a non works Subaru driver complaining this same issue?

Never. But how many non works Subaru drivers there have been ?

Plus, you watched the same document series, right? Didn't they find some improvement to that strange behaviour? I just don't remember did they ever find the reason for it?

[Tomi]

I remember it clearly aswell, it was very easy to spot, the car wobbled from side to side on straights, and on inboard camera you could see Petter struggling to keep the car in the line, steering all the time.

Maybe it would help if they would take off every gimmick what a driver can use on the stage to change drivability, then he maybe would consentrate on driving instead of screwing up the car.