BBC Four 22:00 tonight, Program about 80's rallying

[Novasport]

Not sure if it the same program that was on a few months back that somebody on here posted about.
Set the reminder for 'Madness on wheels'. Sounds good.

[chrisd1986]

Thanks for the heads up, i will record and watch it tomorrow

[cormac81]

Id imagine its the same one, its repeated now as much as only fools and horses. Good watch if you havent seen it yet.

[novalovingned]

Set to record now :) it's the wifes turn for a program now, I watched the football lol

[kevster]

On recored now , dew to the mrs watching some other crap.

Thanks for the heads up.

[staggy_gsi]

Damn it, why is there no BBC4 + 1?!?!

[Hobbit]

^ iplayer ^

[paulyb]

It's on again now if anyone missed it!

[DAVIDKEDENS]

Watched it last night.. that crash with the RS200 was crazy! Spectators were just stupid IMO

[turbojolt]

Watched it last night.. that crash with the RS200 was crazy! Spectators were just stupid IMO

thats a horrid bit of footage, sent shivers down my spin watching the car plow into them

[mowgli]

was it the portugal crash?? they used to tell stories of finding fingers in the front grilles of the cars on the portugal rally..

the most stunning rs200 crash is the kalle grundel circuit of ireland one when a kid runs across the road, is flicked high in the air & lands in the field with nothing more than a broken arm!!!! the footage was taken from a helicopter that was chasing the car..

[Mike]

thats a horrid bit of footage, sent shivers down my spin watching the car plow into them

And people wonder why Group S & B cars were banned lol lol

[turbojolt]

And people wonder why Group S & B cars were banned lol lol

its a shame they couldnt controll the crowds to keep it going, as its something i would have loved to seen, but when people start dying its just not on!

[mowgli]

the rules were so loose that the engineers could do pretty much whatever they wanted..and safety was not much of a factor

the lancia delta was simply crazy... it was a massive lump of composites & an aluminium roll cage.. then a turbo & a supercharger.. in those days, to get round the basic electronics, they simply dumped extra fuel in to cool the engines, something like 2mpg!! thus they had to have a lot of fuel.. so when henri toivonen's car crashed at 140+mph into some rocks, it simply exploded & incinerated the crew in seconds.

ironically, the 6r4 was built like the proverbial brick outhouse. and to be honest, if all group b cars followed the 6r4 model and had been built from a steel shell with as many safety & strength features that williams f1 could design into them, they would still be rallying to this day. the crowd control issues would have been sorted out by banning events until they could improve..

[Edd]

Everytime I watch it I want to build a mid engine Sprint C 'group b' Nova lol

[mowgli]

hmmm edd, i nearly put in a bid last week for a spares/repairs frontera v6 manual with a view to turning the running gear round 180deg and run it 4wd in a nova shell......it was on for cheap money, but i've got too much crap about already & can't afford a divorce

[L14MNP]

Delta S4. Occupants sat on top of a fuel tank each. Safety was not a priority then.
It is probably for the best that Group B was cut short tbh - and I love the footage (and extremely short memories I have of seeing it myself) of these amazing machines.

[Edd]

I have a Sprint C kit and a few shells laying around

Might cut the front off one and dump it in the back of another lol mid engine lol like that Michalak

I'd love it if there was a 'easier way of 4x4

I'm planning something crazy with what bits I have left tho

[mowgli]

for pure spectacle the last of the short quattros were the best, but the 205's & deltas were way faster. rs200 was great but late.

bernie ecclestone had a scheme to make silhouette racers with mid engine 3.5L engines & group s was a sort of rally version.. stock looking shells, but with about 350hp mid engined 4wd and monster roll cages. not much came of it unfortunately.

[mowgli]

I have a Sprint C kit and a few shells laying around

Might cut the front off one and dump it in the back of another lol mid engine lol like that Michalak

I'd love it if there was a 'easier way of 4x4

I'm planning something crazy with what bits I have left tho

turning a 4x4 running gear round is quite logical. the gearbox is between the seats, the exhausts run straight out the back, ok the fuel tank needs to be fitted in the front, but lots of cars have safely managed that over the years. sorting out the rear suspension would be the hardest thing. trailing arms & a decent diff need sourcing, and at the front, the original struts could be used, with custom shafts to an identical diff to the rear. all the things like heaters, brakes steering will have plenty of room, unlike fitting a front engine rwd setup

[L14MNP]

The RS200 has and always will be my favourite, but I think I could quite easily make room for a SWB Quattro, 6R4 and S4. I would be happy then. lol
Would have been nice to be a road car when Group B was canned...

Serious question, why didn't Vauxhall build one? They have never really been interested in rallying too much have they? Everyone was at it for Group B too!

[mowgli]

they had a go at a turbo manta 400.... but only just tried 4wd in time for the end of group b.. they did make a couple of group S astra mk2/kadetts with the manta 400 engine supercharged.. one is in the heritage centre at luton.. they ran them on the dakar rally iirc, and whoever did the gearboxes thought they would only use reverse at tickover, but when stuck in a sand dune, they soon packed up.. the car at luton does look handy though. one other was sold to a rallycrosser as it was cheaper to get the whole car than it was to buy a transmission, and it was cut up for the bits.

what you have to remember is that vauxhall was only in rallying because of the gm dealersport initiative where the dealers themselves all put some money in, and opel was run as a totally different concern, so the manta was their weapon of choice for far too long, yet regularly managed to get cars high up in the overall standings by the fact that the manta 400, with about 300hp was a way better balanced car than a lot of 4x4 group b monsters.

[L14MNP]

they had a go at a turbo manta 400.... but only just tried 4wd in time for the end of group b.. they did make a couple of group S astra mk2/kadetts with the manta 400 engine supercharged.. one is in the heritage centre at luton.. they ran them on the dakar rally iirc, and whoever did the gearboxes thought they would only use reverse at tickover, but when stuck in a sand dune, they soon packed up.. the car at luton does look handy though. one other was sold to a rallycrosser as it was cheaper to get the whole car than it was to buy a transmission, and it was cut up for the bits.

what you have to remember is that vauxhall was only in rallying because of the gm dealersport initiative where the dealers themselves all put some money in, and opel was run as a totally different concern, so the manta was their weapon of choice for far too long, yet regularly managed to get cars high up in the overall standings by the fact that the manta 400, with about 300hp was a way better balanced car than a lot of 4x4 group b monsters.

Cheers for that. Some good reading there.

I will read up some more when I think on. That mk2 Astra sounds worth a look!

Shame about the gearboxes. Sand dunes aside, what possessed them to think a rally car would only ever use reverse at tick over?! They slide off/crash all the time.

[mowgli]

i think the box was based on a rallycross/track design, where reverse is a necessary evil to satisfy the rules... i mean, f1 cars have a reverse gear yet rarely use it, they just bang it in 1st & light up the back end to get it facing the other way