Rally Discussion and Bar Talk Thread

[Rally Power]

I really think both Mitsubishi and Subaru have really suffered, far more than they could have imagined, from leaving rallying.

And Lancia, which become irrelevant after quitting the sport.

[NickRally]

And Lancia, which become irrelevant after quitting the sport.

Though if I am not mistaken that was driven by internal Fiat politics favouring Alfa Romeo, nevertheless a valid point and the first brand that I thought about when I read about Mitsubishi exiting the UK market, though obviously in terms of relative quality of product at the time of market exit is incomparable, in favour of Mitsubishi that is (and this is coming from a Lancia fan as you know). Interestingly Lancia still enjoys some very loyal following in Italy.

[Rally Power]

Though if I am not mistaken that was driven by internal Fiat politics favouring Alfa Romeo, nevertheless a valid point and the first brand that I thought about when I read about Mitsubishi exiting the UK market, though obviously in terms of relative quality of product at the time of market exit is incomparable, in favour of Mitsubishi that is (and this is coming from a Lancia fan as you know). Interestingly Lancia still enjoys some very loyal following in Italy.

Yep, at the time it was told that the late Giorgio Pianta was highly influential on Abarth’s move to racing, througth Alfa Romeo. Their DTM program was far from the previous WRC success and despite a continuous relauching effort, Alfa keeps being a brand in crisis; ironically, even selling a single model (the Ypsilon) on a sole market (Italy), Lancia still manages to beat Alfa sales in Europe... https://www.best-selling-cars.com/eu...rs-and-brands/

[Franky]

Isn't Lancia Ypsilon heavily used by the rental companies?

[pantealex]

Isn't Lancia Ypsilon heavily used by the rental companies?

It´s only model which Lancia produces and it´s from 2011

and officially only sold in Italy.

[Zeakiwi2]

Subaru has continued rallying in the USA and their sales there were increasing since 2008 (When the wrc program stopped) until this year's problems.
Subaru is niche with around 1 million car production capacity.

https://www.goodcarbadcar.net/subaru...sales-figures/

Europe is a small sales area for Subaru, compared to the usa. https://carsalesbase.com/europe-suba...25%20in%202017.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Funny I've been watching a lot of YT video's lately on performance car driving and noticed so many of the American ones used Subaru Impreza's.

They are still highly respected over there.

[Rally Power]

Isn't Lancia Ypsilon heavily used by the rental companies?

The 500 or the Panda are even more and they’re also best-sellers among Italian private costumeurs.

The point is that Fiat wasted Lancia’s motorsport heritage in the most brainless possible way; rally and racing were vital to promote Fiat group brands but steadily all their motorsport programs were shut down (there’s only the small 124 Rally operation left) and Abarth, surely one the most vibrant racing department of the world on its golden times, was turned into a tuning company. Only Mitsubishi has done worst; they closed Ralliart in 2010 and completely pull out from motorsport a couple of years later.

Subaru has continued rallying in the USA and their sales there were increasing since 2008 (When the wrc program stopped) until this year's problems.Subaru is niche with around 1 million car production capacity. https://www.goodcarbadcar.net/subaru...sales-figures/
Europe is a small sales area for Subaru, compared to the usa. https://carsalesbase.com/europe-suba...25%20in%202017.

I had no clue that Subaru sells 7 times more in the US than in Japan! Sadly the European market means very little to them (even Australia is better) but it’s great to see that Sti is still alive and rockin. Maybe a US WRC round is what Subaru’s board really needs to decide re-entering the series.

[cali]

The 500 or the Panda are even more and they’re also best-sellers among Italian private costumeurs.

The point is that Fiat wasted Lancia’s motorsport heritage in the most brainless possible way; rally and racing were vital to promote Fiat group brands but steadily all their motorsport programs were shut down (there’s only the small 124 Rally operation left) and Abarth, surely one the most vibrant racing department of the world on its golden times, was turned into a tuning company. Only Mitsubishi has done worst; they closed Ralliart in 2010 and completely pull out from motorsport a couple of years later.




I had no clue that Subaru sells 7 times more in the US than in Japan! Sadly the European market means very little to them (even Australia is better) but it’s great to see that Sti is still alive and rockin. Maybe a US WRC round is what Subaru’s board really needs to decide re-entering the series.

In all honesty Mitsubishi financially did not do well even during the rallying days and as far as I know have struggled for decades.

Otherwise I completely agree

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[Gregor-y]

I had no clue that Subaru sells 7 times more in the US than in Japan! Sadly the European market means very little to them (even Australia is better) but it’s great to see that Sti is still alive and rockin. Maybe a US WRC round is what Subaru’s board really needs to decide re-entering the series.

The performance crowd is small but dedicated even if the car's getting larger and heavier. Old ones are plentiful and the cheapest way to get a 4WD rally car with lots of parts availability. Luckily Subaru's US arm keeps promoting it. Canada's official team is gone but the distributors still provide support and contingency money.

I'm sure Dirtfish has great dreams of getting a US WRC round, probably on the west coast near their headquarters, but everything's a bit of a mess here at the moment. There are events still happening but I generally don't like hot weather let alone a surging pandemic. Hopefully the fall will be better.