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Best listened to through headphones.
A bit of rest bite through the madness that is the holiday break..
S4 for me thanks!
RS200 please
Looks like the front end of that Q wants to take off. I guess that at that speed the rear downforce is doing it's thing but the front isn't. (I am not an aerodynamicist)
Really need a LIKE button 👍👍
Lovely, led on nicely to " climb dance" 👍
MG Metro 6R4
Loved both the Quattro and 6R4 and the Audi was my dream car as a kid but I think the 6R4 maybe takes it for me as it was based on a car that no one lusted after
I think the Quattro was the angriest thing I ever heard in the forests.
The 6r4 was by far the best sounding and to watch in the UK forests, for years the Audi was so boring to watch major understeer but still won. It was mostly gp1 Audi with Dai Lewellyn although when Walter Rohrl ,Hannu Mikola or even Meeshel Mouton drove here they were definitely better. Tony Pond was great to watch in the 6r4
Those s4 deltas were something else and the wail from the supercharger is so charismatic. I’ve seen a few in action in anger, usually at the brooklands AutoItalia car days but I’ve also been lucky enough to see one ice racing in Tignes. There’s plenty of privateers using them in Italian hill climbs and “slaloms”. Check out the YouTube channel 19bozzy92, it’s full of drool-worthy stuff.
needs moar BDA
Enjoy.
I may need a moment to myself after that...
Love abit of Group B (Even if it was before my time, grew up watching Group A) RS200's my fave, T16/UR closely behind
First rally I ever went to was the 1976 rac , Keilder forest in wet cold November ,Alitalia sponsored Stratos, Roger Clark with his stunning looking Cossack hairspray MK2 and possibly the Eaton Yale Escorts but they were probably two years later. 2am was the Keilder stage then 7am an airfield outside Carlisle Brampton maybe. The noise was fantastic heard them for ages and the mud on the hot exhaust smell and getting blinded by the 4 Cibies
Such a shame Group B will never come back.
Can't think of anything in sport that would be more exciting, but I suppose it was the mental power and imminent danger that made it exciting in the first place. It just wouldn't happen in this health and safety obsessed world.
Maybe Redbull should invent their own 'no holds barred' series with not a battery or hybrid in sight.
Just seen there's a 6R4 for sale on ebay for £350k.
Now if we all chipped in £100.....
My brother had a 6R4 a few years ago, I went out in it once and it was quick but so bloody noisy with no sound proofing and a bit of thin polycarbonate between your head and the engine. He sold it and bought this the Black Renault 5 turbo 2 on this page:
http://www.johnpricerallying.com
He no longer has that but now has an R5 Maxi
https://images.app.goo.gl/korAXzZUvQKwwPsEA
Nice car choices eskay!
Back in the day when I was competing I navigated in a bunch of ex-works cars of various specs:
- gp4 Mk2 Escort an ex Andrew Cowan / Tony Fowkes car (OLD421P which is a fairly notorious car)
- gpN Daihatsu Charade GTti
- gpA Sapphire Cosworth an ex Francois Delecour car
- gpA Subaru Legacy an ex Alastair McRae car (K88LNX)
And also a works-spec Escort Cosworth and a couple of tarmac focussed Darrian T9s which were awesome. The Escort Cosworth was probably the most brutal in term of performance but the Darrians were incredibly effective on asphalt.
When I was a teenager I had the Darrian and a 6R4 on my bucket list of cars to nav but never quite made it in to the Metro. A stunning car and still a beast in the right hands.
Just seen there’s a 6R4 for sale on ebay for £350k.
Now if we all chipped in £100…..
Er let’s not, we could get a quality used mclaren an warranty an still have money fo tea an buns.
Er let’s not, we could get a quality used mclaren an warranty an still have money fo tea an buns.
And lose money hand over fist, while the 6R4 gains in value even if you use it and will always be approximately a million times more awesome.
Here’s a little bit of more recent nostalgia...
The bloke who bought my brother's 6r4 put it in a ditch on his first drive of it!!
Luckily you can still get panels for them because they still race them. John Price supplies parts from memory.
He sold it probably 7 or 8 years ago for around 100k, that has certainly gone up in value.
rest bite....?
Same rally as the OP but 34 years apart. The cars may not sound as good, but bejeesus they are some bit faster these days. Mental skills.
As great as it is to see there will be a big loss of life in the future if the spectators still stand even on a straight and wreck rallying for a few years. Look at the Jim Clark at Duns and Mull ok they are back but will never be the same. It will be drone footage on big screens and big money to watch
I guess the cluster of deaths 85/86 were the death knell for Group B.
Betegga, Toivenon and Cresto and then three spectators.
Look at the Jim Clark at Duns
...though the three fatalities on the Jim Clark, tragic loss that they were, were not spectators. Authorised, signed on journo / photographers with many years of experience who had taken the decision to stand in an out of bounds area “for that special shot”.
The media had to be corrected officially on many occasions not to use the term spectator. Because they weren’t.
I've been to Wales Rally last two years, and must say, the new WRC cars must be faster than the old Group B - they are insane. Sound's not as good, more like a very angry bee, but my word, they shift.
I’m with you @alpin 😉 although I decided not to comment earlier cos it’s xmas and give the pedantry some.... respite.
Good thread!
Still love a bit of Frank Kelly though.....
(not the ad at the start mind)
He is so good Frank but his navigator matches him, how can he read notes without puking. His Italian equivalent in the Fiat 131 is great to watch too
Burton Beast
Thought id slip this one of Colin i took a couple of years before he died on the uphill at Craigvinean not far from the downhill track is
s
I forgot how good that Peugeot was
The new WRC cars really do have dialled and sorted suspension, amazing to see them look so composed on landing after big air.
If you haven’t watched it the the documentary ‘Madness on Wheels - Rallying’s Craziest Years’ all about the Group B madness is an absolute corker
It’s not on iplayer any more unfortunately
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x14ems5
Front had to leave enough room for bumps so was high off the ground with air going underneath, Lack of under car aerodynamics meant there was lift.
Basically they saw front wings on road cars and copied, broke loads, lifted them and lost most of their purpose
Had a ride in a 6R4 at RaceRetro a couple of years ago on their demo stage. oK so it was a nadgery little tarmac stage but it was the most violent, manic, noisiest, hottest, fastest thing I have ever been in - and just amazing! Watching the guy smash up and down through the gears on the dogbox without using the clutch was eye-opening...
No video, but I have a fond memory of a bunch of cars taking part in the RAC rally on a road stage down to Longleat, and the A350 at that time ran past the top of my road.
One car sticks in my mind, the Lancia Delta - I could hear the damned thing for ages after it went past, easily as far as Lacock, about three miles, possibly as far as Melksham, about five miles; a spine-tingling wail.
Much as I loved Group B my favourite recollections of rallying are the Group 4 days. Following the RAC around from Clipstone to Dalby, Olivers Mount, etc.
I was road rallying from mid 70s for about 30 years on and off. I had a spell overseas early 80s and when came home I popped out to see a local event in Derbyshire. I stood by the Jarnett near Tideswell (I'm some of you know it) watching ex works Group 4 Escorts. I did the Devil's Own when it was won by an ex works Ascona 400. Those were the days.
Father Christmas came up trumps with this gorgeous book, I’ll finally have some time tonight to dig in.
Group B: The rise and fall of rallying's wildest cars
Just loved the Group B’s of the 80’s , standing in the freezing fog in the middle of a Welsh forrest at 2am listening to these monsters echoing along the stage.
For me the best sound was the 6R4.
Slowoldman, ace background with the road rallying, I managed to squeeze a couple of seasons in in the mid-80s before the major (sensible) rule changes.
the Devil’s Own when it was won by an ex works Ascona 400
...that was possibly Theo Bengry’s Ascona 400 from Leominster. He still runs a dealership in town. Very talented chap and his son too.
I love these two, they make a vidcast every so often and they cover some very funny topics..
This one is about Group B...
Watch and giggle.