http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/15/rumormill-subaru-pulling-out-of-wrc-tomorrow This seriously cannot be happening. :wtc:
I found this on a official WRC site. "Subaru warn against 2WD future Subaru World Rally Team managing director Richard Taylor believes the manufacturer would quit the World Rally Championship if a two-wheel-drive future is enforced by the FIA. Autosport magazine this week reports that the sport's governing body will consider whether to limit the main class of the WRC to two-wheel-drive cars from 2010. A decision is expected at the next meeting of the World Motorsport Council on March 26, and Taylor thinks Subaru would walk away from the WRC if they couldn't field their four-wheel-drive cars. "Subaru's market is four-wheel-drive," he told Autosport. "If this change came it could be the trigger for Subaru to pull out, they wouldn't be remotely interested in it." The other manufacturers, and the WRC Commission, have already agreed that a four-wheel-drive Super 2000-plus specification would be the best way forward, but FIA president Max Mosley is rumoured to prefer the idea of a two-wheel-drive future." All wheel drive/ 4wd is Rally haritage. HAHA front wheel drive rally is a joke!!!!! and rear wheel drive rally is just dangerous on the off road and snow sections, what are they going to do put chains on the RWD vehicles on the snow sections or put bags of cement in the rear of the cars? That will do a number on thier best time! THE FIA Presedent needs to be FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if the FIA goes through with it I can see a lot of driver deaths in rallying in a FWD car because of the lack of traction on the rearend of the car.
This is a rumor I have been hearing for years. Actually last time I heard it, there was no mention of 2WD, but they were talking about making Turbo Charging against the regulations for WRC Class. Subaru needs to focus all their energies into the SCCA Rally League if they don't continue with the WRC, which I don't blame them. At the same point, they have to encourage the other teams, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, and even Toyota to get into SCCA Rally. They should get all the Manufacturers to chip in enough to get SCCA coverage on Speed or OLN. I have seen an occasional SCCA Rally on TV. Very similar to WRC, except that 95% of the field are in Subarus. I love my Subaru, and love to see it dominate the Rally Courses, but at the same point, there needs to be diversity. I don't know how the others would fit into SCCA. For example, to enter a car in SCCA Rally, does the car have to be available for sale here in the States? If so, that would knock out Citroen, Peugeot, and Skoda.
420, that or WRC needs to sever the ties with the FIA, cause the WRC doesn't agree with the presedent of the FIA's idea of 2wd only cars. they want 2WD make one rearwheel have traction and one front wheel have traction. is that not considered 2wd? I actualy had a soap box derby car that had only two wheels touching the track lets just say I got first place and no one knew why my car was the fastest. just a thought. it would have front and rear traction no?
I am quite sure I will go down in flames for this, but here goes: in rally, rwd beats awd from a spectator standpoint. I grew up watching rally. For the longest time, the cars to beat were Manta 400s, Renault Maxis, RS2000s, 911SCRS, Abarth 131s,...... Those cars were absolutely spectacular to watch. Then the group B cars arrived. Yes, the speeds were in a different league. But the cars were a lot less sideways than the old-school rwd cars. The awd cars were good to watch, sure, but less dramatic. Just my 2c. I must go now and get ready. *dons asbestos suit*
^you will need something more than asbestos, hopefully some NASA grade carbon-ceramic will barely shield you from the heat you are about to recieve lol
So...we're going to take a 20 year step backward. Might as well Porsche to re-enter their cars back into WRC. Oh, and go ahead and scold Audi for entering the Quattro into WRC as well. Sorry, you're wrong for wanting 4 powered wheels.
No, that's not my point. If rwd/fwd is mandated, I do look forward to it. Group B was great in its way, as was the 'new' Group A. But rwd Group A, now that sounds VERY good. Who's got the goods at this point? There aren't that many short-wheelbase rwd cars out there. BMW might be back in the game....
But much safer for all involved, drivers, crew and spectators. That was part of the beauty of the RWD cars. Nothing was better than watching a driver lose it on a straight. To much power, the back end starts to slip out and then there is nothing left to do except go flipping thru the air end over end. It is rare to see an AWD car lose it on a straight.
Well, Group B was lethal. Absolutely lethal. That's why the 2.0 Group A formula came in. Restricting engine size and power was a VERY good idea. 500HP+ Lancia S4s racing down county lanes = deadly.
When Group B was banned, the RS200s, Quattros and 205T16s all went over to rallycross. Some of the entries were factory-backed. We may see this happen again. Prodrive entering a works rallycross team = most excellent!
well, as much as it pains me to say it, if subaru pulls out of rally, then doesnt that give them the opportunity to challenge other 'road' races? i mean one of the biggest appealing thing about my car i thought is that somehow, my car would be indestructable like the ones you see on rally, and i guess when i was buying the wrx, it led me to think, 'if they jump and flip this $hit every now and then and still drives, this car must be crazy reliable' kind of a thing. but, how many people that arent car enthusiasts know about rally over F1 races or other form of 'road' racing? knowing how fast drifting is catching on, this may be just a smart move for subaru... i mean, how many of us actually drive on dirt or snow everyday? 90% of our driving is done on paved road and frankly i`d rather have subaru have the chance to research and hoan the cars that will be driven on paved road (think small width tires, long travel suspension, puny swaybars, etc exchanged for sharper road car). now, if toyota says no racing for you subaru, then it will really really suck.. ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip (flaming suit on).
Toyota doesn't own enough shares of Fuji Heavy Industries(Subaru's parent company) to dictate things like that(thank goodness). This just blows. I think it has more to do with proposed FIA regulations that would basically make it so that Subaru cannot run a boxer engine(spec drivetrains). Those regulations(that most think are a done deal) would have cost Subaru millions in development of a inline 4. Combine that with the economy and Subaru not wanting to give up the boxer and you have them leaving.
I remember reading something recently, that was from Ford/Citroen stating that Subaru had a very limited future in WRC...mainly because of the engine placement over the front axle; thus causing the infamous "understeer" issues. If Subaru wanted to contine, it would need a complete redesign. I will try to find a link.
Subaru pulls out of WRC http://www.swrt.com/news/latest_news.html?id=1590 more holiday cheer for the current economy ding... fries are done.
I work at burger king making flame broiled whoppers I wear paper hats Would you like an apple pie with that? Would you like an apple pie with that? Ding fries are done (x4) I gotta run (x4) Don’t bob for fries in hot vat it really hurts bad and so do skin grafts Would you like an apple pie with that? Would you like an apple pie with that? Where is the bell? Wait for the bell Can’t hear the bell Where is the bell? Ding fries are done (x4)
500hp rwd, or 500hp awd, which is safer? There are MANY people who don't know shit about racing, but immediately relate Subaru to rally. The world as we know it is going to crash and burn as the mega-rich continue to control...lol.
Formula one also went to a spec motor this year. Combine this with the "car of tomorrow" and the racing world officially sucks.
Now they can put that money into PROPER research: 1. Not producing vehicles that come factory equipped with rattles. 2. Getting Diesel and hybrid technology to the US market before its too late for SUBARU to be competitive (wait, it IS too late for that already!) 3. Their WRC heritage based market is no longer their target, now they'll have more money to put towards mainstream marketing that'll actually get customers in like everyone else has been doing for the last 10~20 years. 4. I knew this was going to happen. The WRC team *HATES* the new Impreza.
As longfury said, Toyota doesn't own enough stake in Fuji to dictate anything to them. As for the strength of the car, you can't base that on any racing series. Your car could easily handle a similar jump as you see regularly on WRC if the car was being rebuilt after each event. After each rally event, the car is striped down, and rebuilt with new parts. The entire suspension is striped and either replaced, or revalved, or whatever they have to do to make it like new again. The engine is pulled from the car, and all internals are replaced. When it comes to other racing series, the question comes to how competitive is the car in x class. Meredith and Brian could probably provide more insight into this, at least from an AutoX perspective.
I can tell everyone with absolute certainty that no factory produced SUBARU is going to be competitive in a full blown road race class. Even in the JAPAN GT races subaru has not seen much success. Now when you run in a PRODUCTION based class, they are somewhat competitive. The Legacys that run in SCCA have proven that.
as long as they bring a turbo-diesel boxer with awd in the impreza platform to the US, i'll be happy. otherwise, audi (with all their problems) is starting to look good for a future platform (for me) i wonder if they're gonna puss-out after only 6yrs of making a "respectable" street/track car.
I was not trying to direct my comment at ya It was just a sarcastic comment from the head of the FIA to us as the viewers.
I can only speak for myself in that their rally inspired vehicles is what attracted me into buying an Impreza. Seems like they are moving towards a total rebrand and like WJM attempt at enterring the main stream market. Hopefully it brings them succes I can't see the Impreza having much more of a future though at least performance wise.
seems to me Honda has a hand in the play of the restucturing of the WRC naming the class the "S2000 class". hmmmm...makes you think. But like I said before make one front wheel and one rear wheel have traction and there is your 2wd with stability. or beter yet built a transmission for subaru that only has a rear wheel drive setup. wait the already have, for the new subaru/toyota RWD vehicle. I can see WRC loseing a lot of fans because subaru is no longer affiliated. Solution: WRC needs to sever the ties with the FIA. Rally is an endurence time trial on a road course that is comprised of on road and off road sections, they realy think it is going to be safe in a 2wd vehicle on the off road section? I remember my first Impreza it was a FWD L model tryed rallieing it on a dirt road over here by my house lets just say 2wd+dirt road dont work well together over corected 2 times couldnt control it and slam head on with the side of the embankmen, it didnt hurt the car but it is a good example of 2wd rallieing. There has to be a sport for AWD vehicles and they shouldnt take rally away from us.
Proof that 2wd rally is dangerous http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOXFNYtrJs4 And more proof http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5H5zrEKBNw
this just sums up what i wanted to say... at this point i dunno if it is going to be good for subaru yet... but if hyundai, probably the one of the most boring and unoriginal company decided to take a risk to build a RWD platform, something tells me that drifting is really taking place in america (toyota-subaru coupe thingy in progress); but if subaru doesnt race at all = epic failure for a cool brand image = boring = guess what? another toyota, a car company so dangerous because it puts drivers asleep from being so bored behind the wheel :fawk:
You made a good point and others must have agreed. What about the Xgames rally events? Is that the same league or different? And If I can find a link i'll post up of a hybrid powered (thinkin rwd ) car that was designed in early 2000s that was called the B9 something and resembled a BMW Z8. Comment directed at WJM. http://www.diseno-art.com/encyclopedia/concept_cars/subaru_b9_scrambler.html I believe Road & Track did a write up of the car. I have the actual magazine. I'll look for that link.