New WRC rules

[huck369]

Did anybody else hear about the FIM changing the rules for the WRC, and going to one tranny for everybody, and only a transverse mounted motor will be allowed (to bolt up the new standard tranny).......


This eliminates Subaru, as they have a longitudinally mounted motor.... ...this pisses me off

[Landshark]

that's a bunch of B.S.!!!

[Kurt_W]

FIA began to suck a couple years ago. I kind of lost interest in WRC this year after watching every event for the previous 3-4 years (when I became aware of it.)

It's kind of amusing to me that the car I drive (the WRX) was spawned for a style of racing that it no longer qualifies for.

[Darksied-X]

This is the article I read: http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/rally/13153/

I have yet to see the part where it specifically states that the boxer will be eliminated. But, no matter what, the proposed changes, if they are implemented, will suck @$$! Now, I don't get into WRC as much as I would like, but heres my impressions. This whole mess seems to be to be because Mitsubishi can't build a car, and went home crying. It just seems to me they are trying to eliminate bad seasons by eliminating costs. But thats not the problem, the problem is the manufacturers that can't build a decent car. Mitsubishi just plain sucks, and Puegeot made the dumb move to switch from the near-unbeatable 206 to the POS 307. Yet, a couple of years ago, Citroen was barely even competitive, and now they're leading the damn thing. Building a bad car has nothing to do with money. WRC's main concern should be luring fresh blood to the sport, not trying to keep the teams that are failing happy. But like I said, I I don't watch as much as I would like, so I may not even know WTH I'm talking about. It's just my $0.02.

[Bwana]

Somehow I doubt they would do that to Subaru. Doesn't Subaru have one of the biggest fan bases out of all of WRC? If not in the world, atleast here in the US.

Would they really do something like that?

[huck369]

If they REALLY want to cut the costs of running a WRC car, make the manufacturers, run a stock model, with nothing but a roll cage added.....this would eliminate the high cost one off stuff, AND the manfacturers would produce hotter models for the public, so they could race them...a win/win situation in my eyes....

[svxsubaru1]

These rules havent been finalized yet and may make a standard longitude trannie for subaru also, becasue i dought subaru wouldcomplety build a new chassi,new engine that went against are there design ideas.

I think Group N being popuarized would bea good idea and would create great road cars, but then there would only be two compaines that would competitive in the beggining at least, Subaru, and Mitisubishi, and the rest of the companies would need to produce a competley new car to compete and since, they dont have a AWD turbo car. Theses rules are supose to reduce cost and make more compaines active in the sport i dought they would do this.

Darksieded X

The puegot 206 was not unbeatable far from it the last year it was made it was falling behind the speed of all the other makes in the championship, and the citreon was updated substanialy, to make it competitive.

[Royal Tiger]

svxsubaru1, were you drunk when you wrote that, or am I not drunk enough yet to read it? Seriously, I agree. Subaru would not change their corporate identity to appease FIA, the rulers of the worlds worst racing. F1 just about blows on a regular basis, and SCCA Pro Rally has better racing, because they don't micro-manage their teams to death. The only thing FIA has over the IRL and SCCA are the driver talent.

[BordeauxComet]

Originally posted by huck369
Did anybody else hear about the FIM changing the rules for the WRC, and going to one tranny for everybody, and only a transverse mounted motor will be allowed (to bolt up the new standard tranny).......


This eliminates Subaru, as they have a longitudinally mounted motor.... ...this pisses me off

And how about the no turbo rule...

[huck369]

Originally posted by BordeauxComet

And how about the no turbo rule...

Might make 'em bring out some hi-po na flat-6 motors.....(course there is that little 2.0 litre issue... )

[BordeauxComet]

Yeah I thought of that, but that 2.0 litre thing just messes everything up doesn't it.

When are these new rules supposed to be implemented, '05?

I've actually been considering going to Mote Carlo for the start of the 2005 season, it's surprisingly inexpensive (for the bare minimums anyways).

[Darksied-X]

Originally posted by svxsubaru1
Darksieded X

The puegot 206 was not unbeatable far from it the last year it was made it was falling behind the speed of all the other makes in the champion ship, and the citreon was updated substanialy.

I unfortunately haven't watched much WRC since '02, since I'm now an old fart and usually can't stay up for it on Speed. But whether you meant to or not, you just helped me prove my point. IIRC, the 206 was nigh invincible that year and the Citroen most definitely was not. But, as you pointed out, things change. Just like any sport, teams are going to have good years and bad years. My point is that it's bad business to create new rules simply because a couple of teams are not performing at a competative level, and don't want to play anymore. All thats going to do is hurt those that can keep they're teams at a competative level, thus forcing competition on the teams, and hurting healthy competition.

NASCAR is a perfect example of this. One of the biggest complaints I hear from the F1 elitists, besides the word circle, is that the cars are all too similar, and they're right. NASCAR is inching closer every year to common greenhouses with different noses for all the makes. The reason? Because for most of the last decade, ford has *****ed and moaned incessantly that they were at an aerodynamic disadvantage to the GM cars, even though the numbers showed otherwise. At every event, press conferance, post-race that a ford didn't win, the ford drivers and reps would whine about this. The result, nearly identical cars that have hurt the competition.

And BTW, there's only one set of ED's plus a hyphen in my name, you drunken tool.

[Darksied-X]

Originally posted by PA_SVX
F1 just about blows on a regular basis...

Wow, hell must be freezing over, 'cause I never thought I'd hear those words on this site. But, I must concur wholeheartedly.

[HighwayUFO]

They will do just about anything to screw up ingenuity. The same thing has happened in the JGTC. The Mugen NSX in the GT500 series keeps getting the shaft because it is a superior machine. It is the same with the WRC. And I'm not hinting to the fact that Subaru is the greatest rally car of all time.

Keith

[UberRoo]

Rules stink, but they're what make this a game. Give these things wings and landing gear, and how much fun would the races be? ...Okay, the landings could be interesting I suppose.

I have to wonder about the current batch of transmissions. They seems to be the least reliable component in the whole car. Every team seems to be plagued by nearly constant transmission problems. Is it just me that notices this?

Currently, I'm fairly happy with how things are run. Tire choices, maximum displacement, road-legal equipment, blah, blah, blah. I like it when a team runs out of good tires, especially when they do well despite it. "Gripe, gripe, gri... Oh look, we won!"

I don't think Subaru with have to forego their boxer engines, even with a common tranny. Just 'cause the transmission is the same, doesn't mean the bell housing and differentials go in the same places. But I agree that this may be going too far.