RE: B v WRC - some thoughts

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Dave E. quotes JM:

>"Is it [the Ford Focus] a million miles away from the cars that you drove
>[group b] in your career or are there some similarities?"
>"Yes, maybe not a million miles away but with modern technology everything
>is much more refined, especially with the suspension, transmission and
>differentials."

Kinda redefines "night and day" doesn't it?  Let's bottom line the 
differences in terms of competition and reality.  The "refinements" of a one 
off rally car are allowed to be much more exact in terms of chassis, 
suspension and diffs.  Right now the transmission refinement claim seems a 
bit on the premature claim side.  WRC results don't show a consistent 
advantage to the new "electronic" vs the old (and still used) groupe B/A 
type...  Especially in watercrossings :)

What is missing here Dave is the reality of competition and the advance of 
computer technology and CAD/CAM, in not only the laser cut and mic'd 
specification of parts, but the ability to create and test and evaluate parts 
in a virtual setting before they ever see dirt.  That includes the ability to 
instantly "copy" ANY competitive advantage.  Proof in the pudding?  Again, 
look at the individual stage results with all cars running top form.  Seconds 
 between first and tenth position (fractions of them between first and 
fifth).  So with that "refinement" comes equality and no domination of the 
sport.  This really started in the group B era, albeit at the very end (and 
ford got really screwed on that ruling).

The easiest way to dominate?  Cheat on horsepower.  Toyota proved it in WRC 
1994 (and for those of you not following, toyota used a ingeniously designed 
and constructed  lift off restrictor on the turbo, that actually pulled the 
restrictor away from the turbo, allowing more air into the motor, which in 
turn added horsepower over the competition, toyota won the 1994 
championship...  Then it was taken away and toyota banned from the 1995 
season).  

So, yes everything is "refined".  But mostly because horsepower isn't the 
war, you can't really cheat airflow thru a restrictor in terms of physics 
(and btw, the restrictor allowed by FIA is smaller than allowed by SCCA here 
in the states).  One could easily argue that the speeds are certainly in the 
same realm as they were in the killer b era.  So what happens next to slow 
the cars?  All those "refinements" to awd, just might make FIA come back to 
2wd only.  It's slated for discussion again (from the 1995 punt) really soon. 
 

My optimism about awd in WRC is waning.  The killer B era came to an end when 
the top gun fighters exceeded the talents of the pilots ability to control 
them (Stig had a great B story about wanting to put toothpicks in his eyes to 
keep his eyeballs from jiggling).  We are pretty much at the same crossroad 
that we saw in 1986.  When a couple of seconds splits places 1 and 10, 
statistically, the chances of pilot error are exponentially increased.  How 
many will FIA take before pulling the plug.  The 2wd rules are already on the 
table...

My .02

Scott Justusson