Jump to content

The Top Gear Thread


Smo™

Recommended Posts

Ahhh, that's what that thing was, I missed the very beginining of last episode. Awesome technology, but it's a bloody ugly car... :ermm:

:o

I hope you like the back end at least, seeing as if you ever came across one on the road it's all you'd get a glimpse at.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine the technology to keep the turbo spinning would at least be attempted to be transferred over to the WRC car but seeing as they run at high revs throughout the stages I doubt it'd be a whole lot of use...

The car as a whole will almost certainly not go to WRC. For one it's not a four door (I think?), probably doesn't have "only" a 2 litre turbo charged engine and there definitely hasn't been 25,000 made of them!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine the technology to keep the turbo spinning would at least be attempted to be transferred over to the WRC car but seeing as they run at high revs throughout the stages I doubt it'd be a whole lot of use...

Motec offer anti-lag on their aftermarket ECUs. If you're doing 'spirited' road driving, it can make sense and it removes lag (and kills the turbo, fries the cat, etc...). Still better than a flamer kit.

The car as a whole will almost certainly not go to WRC. For one it's not a four door (I think?), probably doesn't have "only" a 2 litre turbo charged engine and there definitely hasn't been 25,000 made of them!

IIRC, 5 doors are not a requirement (remember the Peugeot 207 CC?), it was built around an existing Impreza platform - not the new 2.5 engine so it would be 2 litre, and under WRC rules you don't need to produce 25,000 homolgation special (like the old Evos or Lancia Deltas) like the Group A regs. All you need to do is produce 20 kits of parts and body work to turn the standard car into the WRC car. So no reason why it couldn't go rallying.

However, given that Prodrive is launching on an F1 programme, I would think they don't have the resources available to start a production run of cars. It's more of a development programme to show Subaru and Saab (who also use the Subaru chassis and engine) what Prodrive can do with the car, and to pay them more money in the future to get access to those diffs.

Prodrive had a mule running several years ago with customisable computer controlled diffs, which some Subaru Owners got a chance to drive. An engineer with a laptop could change the diff map at a moments notice and completely change the handling of the car. You could have the same car with different diff software, one would understeer massively, and the other would do nothing but oversteer. Massive reductions in productions costs, and the prospect of people chipping their diffs. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Motec offer anti-lag on their aftermarket ECUs. If you're doing 'spirited' road driving, it can make sense and it removes lag (and kills the turbo, fries the cat, etc...). Still better than a flamer kit.

I know the technology is already around (it's an obvious development area but as you mentioned there are severe drawbacks) but I was thinking in terms of WRC legislation.

IIRC, 5 doors are not a requirement (remember the Peugeot 207 CC?), it was built around an existing Impreza platform - not the new 2.5 engine so it would be 2 litre, and under WRC rules you don't need to produce 25,000 homolgation special (like the old Evos or Lancia Deltas) like the Group A regs. All you need to do is produce 20 kits of parts and body work to turn the standard car into the WRC car. So no reason why it couldn't go rallying.

"They're familiar because the FIA stipulates that every World Rally Car must originate from its fourseater road-car and be available to the general public (so at least 25,000 of them must have been built). But that's where the similarities end..."

Taken directly from the WRC's own website.

The time of Lancia Deltas and other similar cars was a very different situation in the rally scene compared to today's cars. Much much more regulation going on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I wanna see the caravan bit :D

zoo baby!

"some say that he invented the branston pickle....and that if you insult his mother,he will headbutt you in the chest...all we know,is that he's called the stig"

Edited by zoo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...