FIA expands the coolest class since Group B

http://www.fia.com/news/2015-fia-r-gt-cup

R-GT all the things!!

This likely means that I'll be spending a fair amount of 2015 shuttling back and forth across the Atlantic, but considering why I'm ok with that.

ELI5 please.

http://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/regulation/file/256%20%282014%29x.pdf

2 door, 2WD sports cars with at least 200 produced a year and a minimum truck space requirement

http://www.worldrallyblog.com/2013/03/09/wrc-news/fia-make-room-for-gt-cars-in-rallying/

This is good news for rally. It could bring some much needed excitement back.

Domestically a lot of the top talent has moved away from AWD cars and the RWD 'GravelMachineGun' movement has taken hold. The cars are a lot more cost effective run campaign. Though a 997 build won't likely be much more cost effective then an open class car, the operation cost will be far lower.

And the cars won't all look like potatoes with wheels. I still want to build a second gen Firebird with a giant flaming chicken on the hood.

So much win

Egad, yes. Yes! YES!

I'll be in my bunk...

mazdeuce wrote: This is good news for rally. It could bring some much needed excitement back.

They are going in the wrong direction in the top class (what goofy name did they give it this week?). They are killing acceleration by going with smaller engines and boost limits and more limitations on the diffs.

I have said this time and time again: They need to quit focusing on that and focus on the real reason why modern WRCars are so fast yet boring to watch: The suspension. They are slot cars and reducing acceleration just means that they don't change speed much.

Eliminate the 13" travel and super fancy valved struts and then we'll be seeing some driving again. Say 7" front, 9" rear, and no external reservoirs allowed. Coincidentally enough, this is what most street cars have, too.

Watch Group A videos, where they were limited for travel by homologation reasons. They were all over the place and great fun to watch.

I don't know. I love the idea of the new class but I bet it will get the minimal coverage like Super 2000,WRC jr and similar classes that already run alongside WRC cars. They won't be as fast on loose surfaces and so many people look at stage times and rankings overall.

They may be a bit cheaper but other than a front diff and the transaxle/center diff there isn't much in the lower cost area that hasn't been tried with Group A, Group N, Normally aspirated 2.0 liter cars and R5 cars.

What will bring in more fans and reduce speeds as well as costs is to mandate higher homologation levels and keep the rules closer to production cars. This would likely bring in more manufacturer involvement from more OEMs. It would also allow new fans to see cars compete that are closer in looks to what they drive and the OEMs offer on the showroom floor.

When the rules (as they currently are) exclude or make it cost prohibitive makers like Subaru and Mitsubishi from competing where they have for years something is wrong. When all the cars look so similar (2 box tiny hatches) and the flares and wings alter the look too far people can't associate and fan-tisize that they drive the same car.

Global Rallycross does a good job at having a bunch of different looking cars(New Bug,Saab sedan,Sonic,Dart sedan,Subaru's 5 door and the Fiestas and Polos) They offer wheel to wheel action and mixed surfaces all in bite sized chunks for ADHD fans while offering all fans a view of the whole stage/course. It is growing and the FIA/WRC rally focus should be on doing more of what people want and can associate with.

Good, a nice homologated class.

Let's see a 370Z rally car.

Still not as cool as Group A IMO.

WRC has been barf for quite a while now, i'm open to any change.