new breed of WRC's

reiger

The New breed of wrcs broke cover today

the Festia


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the Mini


















the DS3

buttersbrady

Very nice. The Fiesta especially.What horsepower do these have?

Drummerboy08

buttersbrady wrote: »

Very nice. The Fiesta especially.What horsepower do these have?

If they're going to be competing as WRC cars then I think they have to be limted to 200bhp or something.

The Fiesta Ken Block is driving for the Gymkana videos has 650bhp though! :eek:

Its fairly clear that the Mini WRC is just a marketing ploy - why enter the brand new to the market 5dr model as a rally car, when the 3 door would better suited to the job?

Robbo

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

If they're going to be competing as WRC cars then I think they have to be limted to 200bhp or something.

The Fiesta Ken Block is driving for the Gymkana videos has 650bhp though! :eek:

Its fairly clear that the Mini WRC is just a marketing ploy - why enter the brand new to the market 5dr model as a rally car, when the 3 door would better suited to the job?

They expect somewhere in the region of 300 bhp from them.

I don't think the regular Mini is big enough for the regs and I doubt there's enough space to fit in a reasonable amount of suspension travel.

pdbhp

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

If they're going to be competing as WRC cars then I think they have to be limted to 200bhp or something.

The Fiesta Ken Block is driving for the Gymkana videos has 650bhp though! :eek:

Its fairly clear that the Mini WRC is just a marketing ploy - why enter the brand new to the market 5dr model as a rally car, when the 3 door would better suited to the job?

I believe it's to do with homoligation with a 3 door you have to abide by a certain set of rules but with a 5 door there's different rules regarding homoligation/size/weight etc.
If they are to compete in the WRC class then they're gonna have to push 300 BHP unless they're 1.6 or 1.8 turbo engines then they'd have to adhere to different weight standards.

Forgot to add they all look sweet

losthorizon

The Fiesta looks lovely. I assume thats at the Paris Motor Show?

De Hipster

Really like the look of all ...I'm sure the mini will eventually grow on me! Can't wait to see Prodrive back and the S1600 regs come into play.

Grim.

anyone have a ball park figure for how much they weigh?

Dcully

Loving that Fiesta.

Grim at a guess id say maybe 1000-1200kg

reiger

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

If they're going to be competing as WRC cars then I think they have to be limted to 200bhp or something.

The Fiesta Ken Block is driving for the Gymkana videos has 650bhp though! :eek:

Its fairly clear that the Mini WRC is just a marketing ploy - why enter the brand new to the market 5dr model as a rally car, when the 3 door would better suited to the job?

these are the the new generation WRC cars they are replacing the present world cars.as pdbhp said the mini been used is nothing to do with marketing its to do with minimum car lenghts the 3 dr would not meet the reg's for the new cars,subaru was sucessful with the 5dr s7 s8 and s9 so you argument about a 3dr been better is aload of bull,

the block car you talk of is a version of a rallycross car it would have no relation to these cars bar the shell.

reiger

De Hipster wrote: »

Really like the look of all ...I'm sure the mini will eventually grow on me! Can't wait to see Prodrive back and the S1600 regs come into play.

ill put on my pedantic hat its not super 1600 its 1600 turbo regs

Drummerboy08

reiger wrote: »

these are the the new generation WRC cars they are replacing the present world cars.as pdbhp said the mini been used is nothing to do with marketing its to do with minimum car lenghts the 3 dr would not meet the reg's for the new cars,subaru was sucessful with the 5dr s7 s8 and s9 so you argument about a 3dr been better is aload of bull,

the block car you talk of is a version of a rallycross car it would have no relation to these cars bar the shell.

Ok.

Owen

Robbo wrote: »

I don't think the regular Mini is big enough for the regs and I doubt there's enough space to fit in a reasonable amount of suspension travel.

That's just the press photo with the suspension dropped to make it look more butch. The real car will have a lot more room under the arches.

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Its fairly clear that the Mini WRC is just a marketing ploy - why enter the brand new to the market 5dr model as a rally car, when the 3 door would better suited to the job?

They're pretty serious about getting back into Rallying, always have been from the outset, but just never had the right car. The 5 door Countryman is the best option they have at the moment. The normal 3 door hatch wouldn't have been a good car for it, no ground clearance, and no option for all wheel drive - with the exception of the car Getrag built back a few years ago which had 4wd in a standard MINI.

ianobrien

PaintDoctor wrote: »

That's just the press photo with the suspension dropped to make it look more butch. The real car will have a lot more room under the arches.



They're pretty serious about getting back into Rallying, always have been from the outset, but just never had the right car. The 5 door Countryman is the best option they have at the moment. The normal 3 door hatch wouldn't have been a good car for it, no ground clearance, and no option for all wheel drive - with the exception of the car Getrag built back a few years ago which had 4wd in a standard MINI.

Na, the reason for the Countryman is mininium car lenghts. That's why the 206WRC had the fat bumpers, to make it long enough. It's got nothing to do with ground clearance, lack of transmission tunnel space etc. For these cars, if the transmission tunnel isn't big enough, they'll make it bigger (how do you think they got the propshaft and rear diff under the Fiesta and DS3)

The only original Mini parts left would probably be the lights and Mini Badges. The odd bracket might survive (door hinge etc) The rest would be custom made including the bodywork.

I was reading in the Motoring News (Sorry, Motorsport News - It used be called the Motoring News a long time ago and it's still called that in our house) that Prodrive looked as the new regs and designed their ideal car (lengths, suspension pick-up points, driver location, overhang etc) and once that was done, looked for the bodyshell that best fitted. The Mini Countryman was the best "fit" for their design.

pdbhp

PaintDoctor wrote: »

That's just the press photo with the suspension dropped to make it look more butch. The real car will have a lot more room under the arches.

Thats the tarmac version. they will always show that model as it looks the best with enlarged arches big tyres etc., if they had shown the snow version it would look hideous with narrow tyres and the like.

Oblomov

The 2011 WRC is shaping up to be more interesting than it has been for many years with the adoption of the new Super 2000 rules for next year’s series. The latest machine built to the new specification is Fords Fiesta RS WRC which has been unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. It’s tiny, crazy fast, and a pure gravel-t0-tarmac rally machine.
Built around a 1.6-litre EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the Fiesta RS WRC likely achieves an output around 300kW from its small displacement, though Ford hasn’t announced the official power specs. The move to the smaller engine is driven by the WRC’s adoption of the Super 2000 rules for 2011, which mandates a maximum displacement of just 1.6 litres.
Designed by Ford of Europe with assistance from rally partner M-Sport, the Fiesta RS WRC is based on the Fiesta S2000 rally car that won the Monte Carlo Rally.
The go-hard Fiesta is preparing for its first shakedown run on gravel in Spain next week, though it has already conducted about 3,000 kms of testing with various engine set-ups. Ford WRC factory rivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen will be piloting the test vehicles.
It will first see official competition on February 10-13, 2011, at Rally Sweden.

Oblomov

LOL Citroen DS3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxGailh1Bis&feature=player_embedded

Oblomov

In typically audacious style BMW has announced it will campaign the Countryman SUV rather than the standard Mini, starting with selected WRC rounds in 2011 followed by the entire 2012 season.
It’s also a return to WRC for Banbury-based Prodrive, the outfit behind Subaru’s legendary WRC success, who will develop the car and run the team. Prodrive last campaigned in the 2008 season, and have been developing the Countryman since early 2009.

The car is based on the production Countryman, and will run the BMW Motorsport 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engine, to comply with the new Super2000 regulations. Being an SUV, it will also have four-wheel drive – ironically the only car in the field to do so.

Prodrive boss Dave Richards says: ‘This very exciting. I believe the Countryman will become a firm favourite with the latest generation of rally fans.’
BMW board member Ian Robertson thinks the Mini Countryman is perfect for the job: ‘It provides an excellent basis from which to create a competitive racing car for the world championship,’ he says. ‘I am convinced we will add a few more chapters to our success story in rallying.’

The Countryman WRC will also be available for customer teams, and Richards confirms that several orders have already been placed. The car starts testing in the autumn.

Grim.

Oblomov wrote: »

likely achieves an output around 300kW from its small displacement

that's a nice amount of power for such a light car if its right :eek:

Oblomov

World’s most successful Rally driver, Sebastien Loeb will be getting a new company car based on the Citroen DS3 with no less than 300 bhp to enter the 2011 WRC season with. But as a sort of warm up for him, and also promoting the car, Citroen put Loeb in a DS3 Racing special edition. This car is not just as powerful and fast as the rally version, but with 200+ bhp and top speed of about 150mph, it is quite hot for a city hatchback!

reiger

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I think Prodrive have confirmed that they are going to run a Mini for next years championship. I am looking forward to it as the WRC has been a bit diluted the last few years.

aye there to do 8 rounds next year as far as i know portugal to be the first round

afatbollix

An Irish man is buying the first one that is rolled out the production line!! car number 1 and its not Kris Meeke.. Its a private deal!!

homer simpson

Oblomov wrote: »

.... it will also have four-wheel drive – ironically the only car in the field to do so.....

where'd ya get that info / quote from, they are all 4wd, lol.

ianobrien

afatbollix wrote: »

An Irish man is buying the first one that is rolled out the production line!! car number 1 and its not Kris Meeke.. Its a private deal!!

Ya, I heard that it's heading to the South East....

dcr22B

ianobrien wrote: »

Ya, I heard that it's heading to the South East....

That rumour about an t-Uasal Boland had been mooted a long, long time ago.

reiger

jasus that bolland talk is around a long time.he been one of prodrive best customers over the years so i would imagine this story wouldnt be hard to start,but then again he hasnt taken to evo x that well so perhaps the mini wrc in the ITC next year wouldnt it be good to see.