Rally2 (ex-R5) News

[Andre Oliveira]

Best looking

[Sulland]

Sure but on the other hand the Polo is really big for an R5 car. Its size and wheelbase might not be ideal.

It would be reasonable to expect the Polo to be at least as fast and possibly faster than the Fabia. After all it will have the same engine, and probably other parts but I guess VW will have been able to further optimise some stuff Skoda could not do just with jokers.

In light of this, what are the differences btw the two VAG R5s?
So far it looks like the Polo is quick, and maybe quicker than the sister on gravel/snow.

[Mirek]

Long wheelbase may be an advantage on very fast events like Sweden or Finland. It may be a disadvantage on twisty roads like on Corsica. Definitely if it is a disadvantage somewhere, it's not in Sweden where we shall see it.

Anyway Polo has newer stronger engine and different suspension layout (no idea about transmission). It's not a sister car because it's based on completely different platform. It's possible that Fabia Evo will have same engine like Polo but that's just my guessing.

[br21]

Long wheelbase may be an advantage on very fast events like Sweden or Finland. It may be a disadvantage on twisty roads like on Corsica. Definitely if it is a disadvantage somewhere, it's not in Sweden where we shall see it.

Anyway Polo has newer stronger engine and different suspension layout (no idea about transmission). It's not a sister car because it's based on completely different platform. It's possible that Fabia Evo will have same engine like Polo but that's just my guessing.

Transmission is also Xtrac, but not exactly the same. Diffs are very similar, but for example disconnect unit completely different.
Regarding the wheelbase you need to remember that each R5 car has base and +/-. So basically almost 50mm each car can be longer or shorter which is quite a lot. And usually when changing wheelbase castor also changes, which is influencing the turn-in, etc.

[Mirek]

I know that there is the tolerance +/- 1% of the stock nominal value (cca +/- 25 mm) but if anyone really checks it during the event I can't believe they can design the suspension so that they use complete tolerance limits for variable nominal position (different setup options). IMHO they need to use at least part of the tolerance to cover the real production and assembly inaccuracies.

[br21]

I don't know yet how it works with Polo, but for example with Fiesta you can easily change the wheelbase by ~40mm. Of course whole setup is affected then, so needs a lot of adjustments, etc but it's doable. Also depends on ride height, etc as this changes the wheelbase also (mostly on gravel where big ride height differences possible).
And yes they check quite often the wheelbase, not only on WRC, ERC but also in national events, it's relatively easy to measure for scrutineers.

[TWRC]

There was an interview with Tamás Tagai, owner of TRT Europe about their new C3 R5. He said that the main advantage of this car (and other PSA R5s) is the easy serviceability compared to the Fiesta and Fabia. One interesting detail he showed was the position of the turbo, which is in front of the engine, rather than near the scuttle panel as was in the 208/DS3, Fabia etc. He said that by their initial judgement, the car has good potential and looks to be well thought out and well designed, but obviously they have yet to run it on a rally. They are currently negotiating with drivers for programmes with the car, and he said hopefully they can run it both in Hungary and abroad as well.

[br21]

I think this "easy serviceability" is related only to turbo, for sure rest is more "complicated" than Fabia or especially Fiesta.

[Jarek Z]

Former racing driver, who turned to rallying, Dennis Rostek is going to drive VW Polo GTI R5 in the German champiosnhip. The car will be rented from BMA. First event - ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye (March 8-9).

Source:
https://www.rallye-magazin.de/drm/ar...r5-in-der-drm/

[bomber21]

Will there be a new Peugeot 208 R5 based on the new generation 208 that is coming?