Electric RallyCar Development

[Francis44]

Two weeks ago I went to a rally with my son after more than a year. He plays rally on computer, sometimes watches rally online with me and has driven in noisy "performance" cars before.

After R5s a 208 Rally2 came... son's reactions:
"Daddy why can't they make electric rally cars so they don't make so much noise?" (holding his ears)

Funnily enough, some weeks ago I took my 12 and 7 year old nephew's to Rally de Portugal, they enjoyed it massively. Their number 1 complaint? The wait times and the lack of noise from the cars �� .

[mknight]

Funnily enough, some weeks ago I took my 12 and 7 year old nephew's to Rally de Portugal, they enjoyed it massively. Their number 1 complaint? The wait times and the lack of noise from the cars �� .

Did you notice that the lesson learned is actually the same as in my case?
Namely:
What is "normal" (rally) car sound, depends entirely on what you are used to.

[er88]

I feel noise is one of the biggest reasons rallying is such a spectacle - to fans who regularly attend. Hearing cars echoing for miles away in the forest/ countryside makes the sport for me and millions of rally fans around the world. The IRC became huge because of those screaming s2000s compared to the group Ns (even though in visual speed, there wasn't much difference at times). The WRC has been amazing to watch stageside since 2017.

Electric can only work if they come up with a proper artificial sound to add to it. Otherwise fans on the stages will diminish. I guarantee you.

I used to "moan" as a young wee boy about how loud air shows were, or listening to old metros and the like screaming through forest rallies. But the noise and thrill is what always stuck with me and pulled me back. That wow factor combined with the speed.

I'm not absolutely against Electric, but we need a sound (even if it is fake). Just make it sort of realistic if that's the direction we have to end up going years down the line.

[mknight]

I agree that there needs to be some (amplified) sound. I don't think it should be "petrol engine imitation" though, but that's not a main point.

Stageside the sound is important also for the reasons you list but for Online/TV viewers the magnitude doesn't matter at all, if it's too loud it gets muted and if its too low it gets amplified, heli pictures have no sound at all
For WRC in the future the majority of viewers will come from online/tv and not from stageside (if it doesn't already atm).

Therefore the sound is much more important for "local" national rallies than it is for WRC. Which is why for example the electric Corsa is imo a bad idea, while the Fabia which already has some sound amplification afaik is better.

But in the end rallying is attractive due to 3 things:

1. Cars look same as normal cars (and "sound" similar, so if most cars are electric hearing petrol cars will be strange and the other way around)
2. Stages are on normal roads that people can relate to
3. Cars compete for time not for "sound points" or "sideways points"

[Francis44]

1. Cars look same as normal cars (and "sound" similar, so if most cars are electric hearing petrol cars will be strange and the other way around)
2. Stages are on normal roads that people can relate to
3. Cars compete for time not for "sound points" or "sideways points"

Again you write this as if your speaking for everyone.

I would be able to give you several examples of friends of mine, casual fans, and they would give the Following reasons why they find the sport somewhat attractive:

1. On the limit driving, sideways, close to walls.
2. Spectacular sounds.
3. Crazy scenery.

You do know that most fans barely look at the standings and check stage times religiously?

[EstWRC]

I agree that there needs to be some (amplified) sound. I don't think it should be "petrol engine imitation" though, but that's not a main point.

Stageside the sound is important also for the reasons you list but for Online/TV viewers the magnitude doesn't matter at all, if it's too loud it gets muted and if its too low it gets amplified, heli pictures have no sound at all
For WRC in the future the majority of viewers will come from online/tv and not from stageside (if it doesn't already atm).

Therefore the sound is much more important for "local" national rallies than it is for WRC. Which is why for example the electric Corsa is imo a bad idea, while the Fabia which already has some sound amplification afaik is better.

But in the end rallying is attractive due to 3 things:

1. Cars look same as normal cars (and "sound" similar, so if most cars are electric hearing petrol cars will be strange and the other way around)
2. Stages are on normal roads that people can relate to
3. Cars compete for time not for "sound points" or "sideways points"

im not sure if you mean this seriously or not?

i dont know anybody from my close relatives and friends who is interested in rally because of those reasons.

its the reasons what Francis44 brought out, especially reason nr.1

[Duvel]

Again you write this as if your speaking for everyone.

I would be able to give you several examples of friends of mine, casual fans, and they would give the Following reasons why they find the sport somewhat attractive:

1. On the limit driving, sideways, close to walls.
2. Spectacular sounds.
3. Crazy scenery.

You do know that most fans barely look at the standings and check stage times religiously?

Agree 100%

[mknight]

Again you write this as if your speaking for everyone.

I would be able to give you several examples of friends of mine, casual fans, and they would give the Following reasons why they find the sport somewhat attractive:

1. On the limit driving, sideways, close to walls.
2. Spectacular sounds.
3. Crazy scenery.

You do know that most fans barely look at the standings and check stage times religiously?

The things that I wrote is what differentiates rally from other motorsports .

The things you wrote can be found in multiple different motorsports, sometimes also together. Rallycross is obviously the closest. But for example hillclimbs offer pretty spectacular driving with sometimes crazy cars at insane speeds. (provided you like tarmac)

But off course in order for my list of 3 things to work it has to be spectacular to watch, but a lot of other motorsports are spectacular to watch. In fact, most are in a way, otherwise nobody would watch them.


With regards to stagetimes I also don't look at them when I am stageside, specially when it's some local rally. Online it's something else, as claimed before majority of WRC fans watch online/tv.

im not sure if you mean this seriously or not?

i dont know anybody from my close relatives and friends who is interested in rally because of those reasons.

its the reasons what Francis44 brought out, especially reason nr.1

Yep you follow every rally Tanak does in detail to cheer how he went sideways through the corner. Makes one wonder why you get upset when he doesn't win though...

[EstWRC]

what this has to do with me following Tänak and how he went through the corner? lol

i was talking about the bigger picture why other people like and follow this sport

[AnttiL]

Rallying is great because it can be loved for several reasons. I would say the opposite ends are following results of an events live through ewrc-results without seeing any visuals or spectating live without knowing the results. I've done both during the last month. Or even during the last week. Then you have car enthusiasts, route enthusiasts, stats enthusiasts, history enthusiasts, people who just want to hear engines roar, people who just want to get adrenaline running, people who like to analyze driving performances and styles through what they see, people who like the spectating experience of going into the nature and meeting people etc or people who go to a rally like a rock festival, enjoying the atmosphere more than the sport itself. Or any combination of these. It's a versatile sport and we shouldn't consider anyone better than the other.

If you take the sound off, it's one aspect. It may be the most important one for someone, and that person might move to following other motorsports, where combustion engines are still used.