Thanks for sharing. Ever since the Killer B's in the 80s those guys have been at the top of my skills list for racers/drivers. I plan to go to a rally camp one day in WA -
Up Your Game Rally School Programs - Got to start saving.
Group B drivers are the greatest drivers ever, period.
The cars were as fast as F1 cars of the day but on dirt. So it was like trying to drive a bull that was on meth.
A new WRC car would murder a group b on time but it is a much easier car to drive and handle.
When group B came around WRC was basically gutted stock cars, no difference besides some performance shocks and off road tires. Thats it. Group be decided to change the formula letting it be purpose built "rally cars". I put that in quotes because they really weren't purpose built rally cars but purpose built sports cars with a leaning to rally. So they kept their street suspension set up due to this. No difference between the two set ups on a sports quattro and a works sports quattro. Shock valving would be different and maybe using a different kind of bushing.
But if you look at a current WRC yaris set up vs a street one you will see that the WRC car is completely different in the suspension department.
Add to this no HP limit just CC size.
Add again that "rally" tires back then weren't much different that an AT tire. Look at a modern rally tire to see the difference vs a group b one.
So you had cars with a little over 500HP in their final year, (the sport quattro had doubled its power but not changed much else other than body works) with street suspension, and steet"ish" tires. The cars reacted faster than most people can due to the power of them, but most of the time that was pretty unpredictable. That was what killed them and some spectators and drivers. The drivers had to think 4 or 5 moves ahead with almost not room for any error. Today the machines are much more forgiving and able to drive on the edge without going straight over.
Its a shame because some companies where actually thinking forward and changing up the suspension design. The RS200 was a huge leap forward but was rushed into the 86 season, leading to mechanical failure and lack of suspension fine tuning, and was too little too late ultimately.
@uzj100 let me know when you are coming out to dirt fish to do a school... i'm out there all the time for their shows. Sadly had to work last weekend when my friend with his gutted all track and gen IV engine did their course. I had shotgun rights but had to give them up.