The new FIA WRC-car concept 2017

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Originally Posted by AL14

Thanks extremrallye. I would translate it again in this: "spectacular? You kidding me? This is one of the most boring rally car ever. You know I can't say it because they're paying me but this car will go more linear than a f1 car. Sideways will disappear from vocabularies in 2018. Thanks god I've been a driver when there were proper rally cars and not this race shit."

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I really hope this is not the case. More power than grip is what is needed. More race car handling will not improve the spectacle.

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Originally Posted by AndyRAC

I really hope this is not the case. More power than grip is what is needed. More race car handling will not improve the spectacle.

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I hope that too. We must wait as someone else said, but Gronholm's words do not help to be positive.

I think actually nowadays cars are quite spectacular, not at Group B level of course, but it's very nice to watch them both live and in videos. I also think they don't need to be faster. I know this is like a blasphemy for most of you but really, are they that slow now?...

What they need, in my opinion is more variety, both aesthetically and mechanically (but not too much in order to keep the competition alive). Thank god someone invented the livery otherwise it would be impossible to recognize them.
And also some changements in fuel and energy to move them. Petroleum will finish and I would not like that rally will end with him.

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Originally Posted by AndyRAC

I really hope this is not the case. More power than grip is what is needed. More race car handling will not improve the spectacle.

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But that's exactly what new rules bring - active diffs and more aero downforce. Forget about more sideways driving.

For me current cars are near perfect for spectacle. Maybe they could have more power, why not.

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Originally Posted by AL14

I also think they don't need to be faster. I know this is like a blasphemy for most of you but really, are they that slow now?...

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I could argue whether they could be faster or not but, put simply, I've never watched the WRC since the 2011 era rules came in and thought they were too slow. There's nothing wrong with the speed. It's just another case of rulemakers arbitrarily 'improving' by way of a blanket increase in speed. In this instance that includes corner speed by the looks of things.

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Originally Posted by AL14

Petroleum will finish and I would not like that rally will end with him.

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The pressure to ban petrol engines will probably came from environmental reasons rather than oil reserves issues. Still a long way for alternative power sources became predominant in motorsport, but we'll have to get used to them (hope nobody will call us hybridheads...sounds terrible!).

Btw, last wekend Masuoka managed to get MMC Hybrid Outlander to the end of Portalegre 500 Baja. The car pace was modest (mid field times), but a burn fuse throw the crew to last places.

http://autosport.pt/iv/1/365/538/1-c...224-2-3195.jpg

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Originally Posted by traxx

Original interview in english is coming ;)

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Here it is :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzy4dXGCobk

I really hate the wide fenders. I wish they would go more towards Grp a rules in the 90s. I can appreciate the technology aspect but this nascar-esk aero packages is too stoopid. How about a slightly larger spoiler and some rolled fenders?

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Originally Posted by sollitt

I sincerely hope not. Sports cars ... yes, but once rally cars lose their connection to everyday transport the sport will lose all relevance and the majority of it's following.

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It already lost most of its following.

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Originally Posted by OldF

The car concept for 2017 is ok for me except the increase in aero downforce. More power and aggressiveness is what I welcome. The sound is quite OK but what I like to see is the aggressiveness of cars out of a corner like in the days of group B cars.

How about some global regulations with drawings, material definitions and measurements of parts that can be fabricated locally with any need of any homologation, only a passport from the local ASN.

The engine could be an engine big enough without any need of any high tuning. What I’ve read for example the BMW M3 used in Finnish F-Cup aren’t much tuned because about 300 hp is enough in the cup. My personal favourite would be a 2,5 – 3,0 litre V6 engine.

The transmission could be same or similar to what is used with the Maxi Rally cars. Well, the only options probably are Subaru or Mitsubishi or is there any other options?

This kind of formula would of course never get an approval from the manufacturers and never have a global championship but same kind of cars with their drivers could compete with each other and the performance of drivers could be evaluated in different parts of the world compared to the WRC or WRC2 drivers to find some new talents.

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Are you kidding? The sound is the worst part of the whole thing. They are quiet, high pitched, buzzy, farty sounding, with absolutely no depth or volume to the exhaust. The anti lag is virtually non audible. Anyone who remembers the Celica ST185 and ST205 will know what i mean. You could hear the anti lag exploding like high powered fireworks. The whole show is just a complete joke.

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Originally Posted by Jack4688`

They all look about 5% different from this year, so nothing to get excited about. I read in this week's Motorsports News that Markku Alen said:



There has been a lot of reference to Group B for some reason from various people and then this statement from Alen. I'm sorry but they will look different when you compare the 2016 cars to the 2017 cars but this isn't major changes we're talking about. All the 2017 cars will look just as similar to each other as the current ones do and sound broadly similar.

I'm sure someone like Jarmo Mahonen (correct me if I'm wrong) said that these regulations will provide much more variation but, again, I don't see it. Unless the FIA haven't told us some pertinent detail in order to shock the fans come 2017 Rallye Monte Carlo they will still be B-Segment cars featuring some bodywork appendages and large diameter wheels.

Don't get me wrong they may be great to watch and the best compromise between keeping costs down, keeping the manufacturers interested and giving something extra to keep the fans interested but I wish they'd stop trying to make out that this is something that it's not.

THIS IS NOT A NEW GROUP B. IT IS WRC 2017

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Let's face it. The boat has been missed yet again. It's just another wasted opportunity where something much better should have been created. The cars will look virtually the same as they do now with no major shake-ups and from what i've heard so far, the sound is just as weak and quiet as it was before.