VW News 2012 & WRC 2013

I really hope with VW motorsport things will be more competitive and more exciting, I hope more FIA regulations that cut down the costs to attract more teams, and I really really hope more attention and publicity will come with Red Bull Media as promoter.

It is tough year for me, I always never had a favourite team or driver, I always support the WRC motorsport in general! But in general I am more compassionate with Finnish drivers, and I think I'll support VW and Mini (in hoping good results will lead them back as a manufacturer team)

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Originally Posted by spiderem

Lol. Being French, you would expect him to be arrogant isn't it?

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I don't know. I try not to generalise people based on national stereotypes.

It's better for Ogier to be realistic now, than to talk with big words and disappoint those who believed it after a few events... ;)

Jost Capito reckons the Polo R can compete for podiums during its maiden season. I think that's a fairly reasonable assessment, and may even be feasible in Monte Carlo, depending on who M-Sport take as their third driver. Barring any teething problems, I expect that Latvala and Ogier will be able to keep Hirvonen honest, since they're all fairly comparable in terms of raw talent.

I wonder if Volkswagen have any plans to make the Polo R available to customers. I can't imagine they would do it this year, but if the car is a hit, it could be a popular choice for privateers.

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Originally Posted by tommeke_B

RSSP Rallysport Stockphoto - Bathmen, Netherlands - Service rédactionnel, Conception web - Photos | Facebook

Some more pics and detail pics (especially the suspension ones are interesting). Also 2 fuel tanks... :)

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What could be advantages of this construction of rear suspension :confused: . Interesting indeed, at least Fiesta don't have this kind, dunno for DS3.

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Originally Posted by Prisoner Monkeys

I wonder if Volkswagen have any plans to make the Polo R available to customers. I can't imagine they would do it this year, but if the car is a hit, it could be a popular choice for privateers.

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According to regulations they must make it available.

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Originally Posted by stefanvv

What could be advantages of this construction of rear suspension :confused: . Interesting indeed, at least Fiesta don't have this kind, dunno for DS3.

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What do You mean? The angle of rear strut? The layout of Polo is same with Fabia S2000, just the angles in my opinion slightly differ but generally it is same with Fabia. Frankly I don't know what is exact impact of forward or backward inclination of rear strut but both have same main goal to prolong the damper travel. What comes to my mind is that with Polo/Fabia the damper and its mounting point mass is closer to the center of gravity. Maybe someone can tell us what is the impact on handling.

Quite nice pages. And some specs about Polo R WRC.

When was the last time, when there was some info about WRC car acceleration from manufacturer?

http://volkswagen-motorsport.com/index.php?id=339&L=1

Usually engine output data officially claimed are far from reality but this time it looks realistic in regard to what Ogier says.

The acceleration is same with Octavia WRC Evo II which was slightly heavier and had 320 Hp and 600 Nm so it also looks realistic.

What is interesting is that they show the suspension travel.

Thanks Mirek, it's interesting how much there is power in WRC cars. Does anyone know real output data from others WRC cars?

Fabia WRC at its best (CRT Kopecký 07) had 340 Hp @ 4500 rpm and 640 Nm @ 2700 rpm. Especially the torque was bad for 2007 when Ford was around 750 Nm if I have good information. I believe the latest 2 liter cars were close to 400 Hp and well over 800 Nm but except some talks with people I have no evidence for that.

For 1.6T cars I can only guess. If we take for real that Fiesta RRC has cca 275 Hp, than the WRC shall have 330 Hp based on restrictor area.