The Škoda Octavia WRC and the Acropolis Rally
Škoda Octavia kit-car The history of the Škoda Octavia WRC started in 1997 as a kit car. After the successful
Read more
WRC History
Turbofan wheels in the World Rally Championship
Brake cooling has always been an issue in rallying. The constant evolution in materials and design has been key for
Read more
Aero evolution of the Citroën Xsara: from the Kit Car to the T4/WRC
The Citroën Xsara WRC is one of the most successful rally cars in the history of the World Championship, for
Read more
Active suspension, or how to make the aero of a rally car more efficient
To @DemaMarcE, for inspiring this article. One of the main problems of rally cars, in terms of aerodynamics, is the
Read more
Wind tunnels in the history of WRC
Wind tunnels have been present in WRC history since the moment that manufacturers realized that aerodynamics could also play an
Read more
Mitsubishi Lancer WRC04 aero design and performance
The last evolution of the successful Mitsubishi Lancer to take part in the World Rally Championship (named as WRC04 and
Read more
Aerodynamics and cooling for the Safari Rally in the old days
The recent confirmation of the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the iconic Rally Safari means that we will have
Read more
Aero review of the Subaru Motorsport USA rally experience: the early years
The 2020 season will be the 20th season of the Subaru Motorsport USA engagement in the National Rally Championship, since
Read more
Hyundai Accent WRC aerodynamics
Hyundai’s first approach to the rally world came as early as 1991, following Wayne Bell participation in some Australian events
Read more
Are the current WRC cars’ aero devices really original?
One of the main characteristics of the current WRC car generation is the use of multiple aero devices in every
Read more
Subaru Impreza WRC03 aero and rally performance
Only nine months after the introduction of the Subaru Impreza WRC01 into the World Rally Championship, Subaru and Prodrive decided
Read more
Seat Córdoba WRC: an unfinished story
The Seat Córdoba WRC was the culmination of the rallying experience the Spanish manufacturer accumulated since the 70s. Built after
Read more
Subaru Impreza WRC 2001/2002
After the success of the Subaru Impreza since its launching in 1992, Fuji Heavy Industries decided, as early as in
Read more
Rally Finland 2003: Ford Focus RS WRC03 vs Peugeot 206 WRC
The 2003 edition of the Rally Finland saw one of the tightest battles between the successful Peugeot 206 WRC, which
Read more
Ford Focus WRC: the start of a new era for Ford (1999-2003)
The new Ford Focus road car was launched in July 1998 in Europe, as the successor of the glorious Escort.
Read more
Marcus Grönholm led Peugeot back to success with the 206 WRC
It was December 1997, just eleven years after the last rally win in the World Championship by Peugeot with the
Read more
Ford Escort WRC: Ford transition to the new century
The introduction of the WRC concept for 1997 posed a dilemma for Ford: the new model (Focus) was still in
Read more
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI and TME: last success of the Mitsubishi and Mäkinen combination (Lancer Evo part III)
As we saw in a previous post, 1998 was the most successful season in the history of Mitsubishi and Ralliart
Read more
1997: And Toyota came back with the Corolla WRC
Toyota had been banned from participating in the World Rally Championship in 1996, after the discovery of a tricky bypass
Read more
Subaru Impreza WRC and the WRC concept
The homologation of a group A car, until 1996, was a long and expensive process, as the production of 2500
Read more
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV and V or how a group A car could beat the WRC (Lancer Evo part II)
The 1997 season brought a major change in the rules of the World Championship, with the birth of the World
Read more
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and Tommi Makinen mastered the WRC in the 90s (Lancer Evo part I)
Mitsubishi launched the fourth generation of the Lancer model in October 1991. One year later, based on the GSR 1.8
Read more
Mitsubishi Galant VR4, the base for Lancer Evo dominance in the WRC
Mitsubishi appearances in the WRC started in Africa, as Toyota, Datsun or Subaru did. Victories came very soon when Joginder
Read more
Subaru Impreza extended Japanese dominance on the WRC in the 90s
While Toyota mastered the WRC, especially between 1992 and 1994, other Japanese manufacturers made their progress into the Championship, to
Read more
Toyota Celica GT Four put Japan on top of WRC
Japanese cars have been present in the World Rally Championship since the very beginning. They got high reputation in the
Read more
Ford Escort RS Cosworth: the RALLY CAR
In the late eighties, Ford had reacted too late for Group B, had been unable of setting up the 4×4
Read more
Deltona: last winning bid from Lancia
Lancia introduced the Delta HF 4WD model in 1987 World Rally Championship, and they refined the car with different and
Read more
Sierra RS Cosworth: first Ford’s whale-tail
The Sierra RS Cosworth was an attempt in 1983, from recently named Director of Ford Motorsport in Europe Stuart Turner,
Read more
1987: back to Group A simplicity
Group B cars were banned since January 1987, as well as new-born group S. In spite of the effort of
Read more
Ford and Citroën joined group B too late
Soon after Ford decided to cancel the development of Escort RS1700T in March 1983, a new project, initially called B200
Read more
MG Metro 6R4: F1 technology into rallying
Austin Rover sponsoring of Williams F1 team in early 80’s was key for the collaboration of engineers from both teams
Read more
LANCIA DELTA S4
Lancia soon realized that, in spite of winning 1983 World Championship with the 037 Rally, four-wheel drive was key to
Read more
1985 group B: biggest wings ever
Audi Sport Quattro S1 The impressive performance of the Peugeot 205 T16 in the World Rally Championship forced Audi to
Read more
Peugeot 205 T16 changed it all
Peugeot 205 T16 was designed by Andre De Cortanze (with Jean Claude Vaucard as Chief Engineer and responsible of chassis
Read more
First Group B cars: Lancia Rally 037 and Audi Quattro A1
Group B was launched in 1982 with the purpose of attracting more makes into the World Rally Championship, by reducing
Read more
Early 80’s: waiting for group B revolution
In the first years of the 80’s, some new cars appeared in the World Rally Championship, still with very limited
Read more
70’s Rally Cars: more spoilers and first wing
Ford response to Porsche 911 Carrera and Lancia Stratos was second of successful Escort series, which since the beginning (1975)
Read more
60’s & early 70’s Rally Cars: first spoilers
The first appearance of aerodynamic devices on rally cars is dated in mid-sixties when Porsche presented the 904 GTS model,
Read more