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Originally Posted by JC
Exactly. Everyone else got smaller faster cars and Subaru got a bigger slower one. Doesn't sound like that would be Prodrive's choice to me.
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The 2000 and 2001 WRC Rally cars both weighed 1,230kg. But the 2001 was a stiffer chassis.
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Originally Posted by JC
People said that the bugeyes looked like a Mercedes E Class too. People will say a lot of things to justify stupid purchases. Some will even spend tens of thousands of dollars try to make a bugeye fast. Clearly these people lack proper judgment and perspective.
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You work with what you got. I thought about an '01 instead of an '02, but the lack of a turbo made a bigger difference to me than the looks. Some of us aren't so vain that we would pass up 60hp.
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Originally Posted by JC
Incorrect, the GC chassis just made all other vehicles pale in comparison. It was only with the introduction of the GD that other cars were able to compete again. Don't make me quote wikipedia I GUARANTEE it will agree with me. |
The GC and GD chassis have both won a single WRC Championship each (McRae in '95 was still Group-A, and that was when Toyota was DQ'd, so who knows if they'd really have won it). Plus when Solberg did it in '03, he did it with 4 wins over much more advanced competition than Burns' single win in '01. I see no evidence that the GC was more dominant than the GD, and I see no evidence that it was the introduction of the GD that put Citroen on top in '04+. IMO, the reason the GD started getting beat was because Seb Loeb is a better driver than Subaru's pilots, and because the Xsara and the 206/307's all got better. Going back to the GC chassis in '04 certainly wouldn't have suddenly bumped Subaru back to the top of the WRC standings.
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Originally Posted by JC
Nothing in that says increasing chassis stiffness was to be more competitive in racing. Do you really think if Prodrive had free reign to design a chassis they would have added 300lbs to the car? I mean honestly guys. They made the car safer, quieter, and more solid. That's so they can sell more cars not win more races.
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Again, the 2000 and 2001 WRC Rally cars both weighed 1,230kg according to Subaru's own website. The 4-door GD is a stiffer chassis than the 2-door GC. Facts are facts. Feel free to make up your own "whys". I don't think the road-car weights mean much to Prodrive, considering they strip it down to nothing, then weld in a massive cage. Prodrive can make the car weigh pretty much whatever they want it to weigh, which I'm guessing is the 1,230kg WRC minimum. But I'll bet Prodrive was interested in a more rigid chassis which would allow them to spend less weight in the cage making it stiffer, thus moving weight lower in the form of ballast which lowers the CG of the car.