Great! I now once againg have a team to support in the WRC))Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
Printable View
Great! I now once againg have a team to support in the WRC))Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
Good for you. I personally have always been a big fan of everything that Prodrive has done. I think that this has been their most exciting project in many years, it is a very very good sign that Sordo got a podium and that Meeke could be competitive straight away (although I am gutted that he has had yet ANOTHER mechanical problem and made a silly tyre choice).Quote:
Originally Posted by White Sauron
Well, third place is a nice result, but they got it thanks to opponent´s problems & mistakes. But very smart drive by Sordo... :)
The mini wrc looks stable on tarmac. Big ups for the Prodrive team.
and Ogier got his win thanks to Loebs problems and mistakes, thats what makes rallying the sport it is.
winners do benefit from others mistakes
The prizes are given at end of the event.... hence you are 100% correct !!Quote:
Originally Posted by pete c
Of course, but it has to be considered. If a car debuts and is running 10th and the first 9 cars retire then you can't exactly call it a major success. That said, even being in the top 5 is a decent result for Prodrive at this stage :)Quote:
Originally Posted by pete c
How about Flodins´stage times the last day? I think he did a good job in Germany, not been able to drive a WRC car as much as his competitors before the rally.
Tarmac racing is one area where Prodrive/Mini benefits significantly from their partner Öhlins. As Öhlins basically rules the track racing series with production based cars. And is single supplier to for instance MotoGp.
This must have some if not a big influence in their speed in Germany, and I don`t mean anything bad with this it`s a good thing for Mini.
On the other hand Öhlins has been more or less out of the picture on Gravel for some 10 years and also that is notable. Anyhow they sure got the resources to improve alot also on gravel so I think the Mini project looks surprisingly positive at the moment although I was sceptical at first..
i disagree...why ??
Subaru WRC.
Why do you disagree, Subaru never ran on Öhlins as an official manufactorer??Quote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
First time they had them in a WRC event was in Rally Portugal on gravel with Marcus Grönholm...
Remember that Subaru has won several World titles, only the last models were crap due to various reasons.Quote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
N.O.T. Bottom again!Quote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
There’s also been some discussion earlier about the suspension travel of the Mini being shorter compared to Ford or Citroen. How do you evaluate this, has it something to do with the better performance of Mini on tarmac compared to gravel? Imo bigger suspension travel is more important on at least Finnish type gravel roads where the car is not necessary jumping but lifting off a bit.Quote:
Originally Posted by FVS
+1 @FVS
Subaru/Prodrive had BOS suspension at last seasons.
+1 @FVS Subaru had BOS suspension
Didn't they use also Sachs?
Don t think so Mirek,but i am not 100% sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
They used Sachs on the S11-S12C and EXE-TC on the cars from 98-2005 , the S14's started on BOS on gronholm's rally portugal car they had ohlins.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
Subaru WRT have commenced an agreement with Ohlins and are expected to use the new dampers from Rally Japan onwards | RallyBuzz
i remebered they had a deal for 2009 for their official cars... They quit in 2009... don't remember if they managed to use the ohlins suspension earlier.
But the gronholm car was prepared by prodrive...and was a 2008 works car.
So, please keep in your mind. I tend to keep my promises. You can remind it to me even if I am 90 years old by that time. I am never too old for this sh*t called rallying :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by bluuford
Greetings from Russia, St Petersburg;-)
You are clearly a man after my own heart! Now we just have to wait for WRC Rally Estonia, unfortunately I don't qualify for a beer as I have been sure the Mini was going to be good since the first announcement. What I saw in Sardinia confirmed my feeling. I think that Sordo will push harder in Catalunya and it is also a Meeke -type rally. Think that there will be an Estonian World Champion before WRC Rally Estonia, though ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by bluuford
I kept the faith. I knew this project would be amazing as soon as I heard it would have contributions from BMW and Dave Richards was on board. I cannot wait till rally NZ to see this car for real. I have to say I actually like the road going Countryman now it has a rally version.
By the way, does anyone have the brochure that potential customers of prodrive get to look at to choose whether they want an s2000 or wrc mini wrc car?
The discussion regarding the travel applies for gravel/snow rallies as you say yourself.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldF
I don`t think you`ve seen anyone with long travel on tarmac have you? In fact in circuit racing it`s customs to even limit the rebound travel in order to get the rear inner wheel to lift which normaly tends to give better turning!
just look at the wtcc cars in cornering for instance.
Didn't Ostberg used Ohlin on his Impreza and kicked a** out of the works cars in Sweden or Norway? I think that was when Prodrive started to look into Ohlin. I'm sure it wasn't on tarmac....
All of his cars have Reigers on themQuote:
Originally Posted by koko0703
As logic said it was Reiger, also at that time Prodrive tried to buy Reiger(the company itself) but due to several reasons they refused selling! One was their close ties to M-sport.Quote:
Originally Posted by koko0703
Also I doubt the dampers was the single reason for the Subarus bad performance at that time regardless of what they say.
I also think Prodrive would have been better of by choosing another damper supplier like Exe.Tc or even Bos instead of Öhlins for the Mini because their quit historic in my mind. But time will tell.
Does anyone have access to the Autosport Plus article "How Mini is tackling the WRC with style"? It looks a good read.
Also, I think regarless of the Shocks, the Mini is doing far better than the recent efforts by Prodrive with an Impreza. I'm sure it can only get better from here on out on all surfaces. Snow will be particularly interesting.
their gravel performance must be improved since they are too far from ford at the moment, on tarmac we need to see them in an event with both fords healthy, to have a complete picture of the performance.
It is a quite long article which I will not copy here, but a brief part is here below:Quote:
Originally Posted by Plan9
Watching the Mini in Finland and Germany, you saw a perfectly well settled and balanced chassis which is inspiring confidence in the drivers.
The team's technical director, Dave Wilcock, points to the early development work as the reason for the car's handling ability.
"That has a lot to do with the time we spent looking at what would make the perfect car under the new regulations," says Wilcock.
"We looked at every alternative and came up with a very good solution from the simulations in terms of things like the geometry.
"Because of this design work, we knew we would be strong on asphalt so I wouldn't say I'm totally surprised by the result in Germany."
Otherwise David Evans points to the drivers contribution and he thinks, that they both do a very good job. He also mentions that the team expects further upgrades to the engine but he is a bit worried that BMW's commitment to the DTM might affect the rally effort in a negative way.
Thanks. I hope the DTM programme does not suffocate Mini either. I susupect that will remain to be seen. The DTM car could be a dog in comparison to the Mini...
Let's hope not; consider what just looking into F1 did to Prodrive.
Yeah that was sad. Also remember that Prodrive did B.A.R. for awhile before Hondo took it over. They still do Le Mans & V8 Supercars so I am not sure. I was reading earlier that BMW was doing 50-50 engine development for DTM and WRC.
How would you guys rate the chances of BMW being mean and not funding WRC, which at this stage does look a promising project???
I hope not, they wouldn't be very popular if they did, as you say, its a very promising project!Quote:
Originally Posted by Plan9
We have to be honest and face facts. The DTM is their No1 Motorsport priority - were they are up against other 'Premium' brands. Any type of support for the MINI/Prodrive project is better than nothing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Plan9
I just hope it doesn't come down to BMW giving up on a title (if they are in a position to do so) in the WRC to make the DTM project better. Remember Rampf made a silly decision with the F1 team when he tried to boost Heidfeld at the expense of Kubica's title challenge in 2008. Although thankfully he is no longer part of the BMW operation I hope they are not tempted to emulated his (flawed) logic in the WRC.
I do expect Mini do be near to winning rallies from next year however.
WRC is peanuts compared to DTM
They would spend more on german beer and frankfurter sausages in DTM hospitally than on WRC
They can do both easily
But will they.....? lol