VW News 2012 & WRC 2013

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Originally Posted by vkangas

Agree 100% Real life conditions are always the best way to test. Also in my job... :)

Sorry for OT, maybe the best job in the world (not mine unfortunately...)

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Old and cracked cooling pipes :confused:

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Originally Posted by vkangas

One old story.. Marcus has been telling several times that when he was at Peugeot he had a certain favourite jump in Finland that they used every year to test front struts before Finland and many times Marcus used the "opportunity" to find the limits and struts came trough the hood :) .

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As far as I remember that story, he tested there with Peugeot to see if the car holds together. Then, in 2006 for the first with Ford testing for NORF, he used the same road and same jump. Engineers were sure nothing would surface, but struts gave in. I think Marcus used a metaphor of saying "they were like chocolate" - which of course is not very encouraging. Soon satellite phones were installed on top of service truck and they opened a line to M-Sport HQ. In the rally, the car held together.

That said jump and piece of road is in Kaipolanvuori area in Jämsä, a renowned test stage. VW Motorsport used it in their second Finnish tests this Autumn.

In 1980' when Audi tested in secrecy in Czechoslovakia they also had a wicked jump in the test area near Zlín. Czech multi-champion Leo Pavlík who was driving many tests for them that time told a story when he was asked to be brutal to the car to see how it can resist harsh conditions. It was in 1985 and first time there with the S1. Leo said he usually jumped around 10 meters but this time he kept full... he flew 56 meters, top suspension mountings went through the bonnet, the engine mounts broke and that was the end of test day :D

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Originally Posted by Mirek

In 1980' when Audi tested in secrecy in Czechoslovakia they also had a wicked jump in the test area near Zlín. Czech multi-champion Leo Pavlík who was driving many tests for them that time told a story when he was asked to be brutal to the car to see how it can resist harsh conditions. It was in 1985 and first time there with the S1. Leo said he usually jumped around 10 meters but this time he kept full... he flew 56 meters, top suspension mountings went through the bonnet, the engine mounts broke and that was the end of test day :D

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Looks like the suspension strut mounts of S1 have been strong :D At least equal strong to engine mounts. Brave man.

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Originally Posted by Hartusvuori

As far as I remember that story, he tested there with Peugeot to see if the car holds together. Then, in 2006 for the first with Ford testing for NORF, he used the same road and same jump. Engineers were sure nothing would surface, but struts gave in. I think Marcus used a metaphor of saying "they were like chocolate" - which of course is not very encouraging. Soon satellite phones were installed on top of service truck and they opened a line to M-Sport HQ. In the rally, the car held together.

That said jump and piece of road is in Kaipolanvuori area in Jämsä, a renowned test stage. VW Motorsport used it in their second Finnish tests this Autumn.

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First attempt for 206wrc at Acropolis(white-blue livery) all had their struts through the bonnet.

Same problem was frequent cause of retirements of 207 S2000 during 2007 and 2008 seasons.

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Originally Posted by Mirek

In 1980' when Audi tested in secrecy in Czechoslovakia they also had a wicked jump in the test area near Zlín. Czech multi-champion Leo Pavlík who was driving many tests for them that time told a story when he was asked to be brutal to the car to see how it can resist harsh conditions. It was in 1985 and first time there with the S1. Leo said he usually jumped around 10 meters but this time he kept full... he flew 56 meters, top suspension mountings went through the bonnet, the engine mounts broke and that was the end of test day :D

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Even now, Audi do lots of pre season testing at Sebring - because of it's bumps and rough surface - it's the best testing and preparation for Le Mans.

From videos what I have seen so far Seb O seems to be much more comfortable and quicker than JML. Which is ofcourse natural as he has been playing with this car a lot.
But one thing is very noticeable that when there's no grip, Ogier backs off to get himself faster out from the corner while JML likes to push the car more through the corners which leaves him off from ideal line and is slow on the exit.

Dont give to much attention to last videos since they lately also testet diffs, springs and unusual tyre combinations.

Yes VW did some crash testing...

So testet VW ! - YouTube