Subaru & Suzuki out of WRC

[Mr Revhead]

subaru had planned to pull out end of 2009 anyway
and if you look regionally, subaru has been pulling out of rallying and going circuit racing for the last 2-3 years

[ee904age]

Does this mean that they can stop making ugly hatches and make the Impreza a sedan again

I think the new WRX hatch looks awesome!

[B1NZ]

I like the idea that the cars have to be production models.

I don't like the idea that they're allowed to add a turbo kit. I reckon they should have to sell the production turbo models

Agreed!! A 4WD Turbo Peugeot 206 or Suzuki SX4 would have been cool in a road going version

[GTTpower]

Does this mean that they can stop making ugly hatches and make the Impreza a sedan again

I think the new WRX hatch looks awesome!

2009 WRX comes in a sedan as well, imo it looks like fail.

[Leon]

Nothing wrong with the new Sti that taking 400kg of shit out of it wouldn't cure ...

[FXGTV]

So skoda will have cars in the WRC, but subaru wont? I never thought i'd see the day the Impreza was retired. I've missed the coverage NZ tv gave to the WRC every Sunday. Theres hardly any coverage over here in Aus. There was something awesome about watching Evo's and WRX's fanging around when you're really hungover It would be sweet if Toyota magically released the new ae86, entered the WRC and caned everybody. And with a Subaru boxer engine possibly, it would be killing two birds with one stone

[2jayzgte]

Its Shame subbie are gone but the economic reality has hit.I reckon Citroen will be next they have always had F1 ambition and now Honda have there F1 team for sale it could be good by for them as well out of WRC personally I think WRC has been up the duff for awhile now and to me without the big manufacturers on board well the sport is in big trouble.To be honest I don't no how FORD are still hanging on.

[Dragger_Dan]

Were Volvo ever serious about the WRC or were they just teasing us?

[Adamal]

Were Volvo ever serious about the WRC or were they just teasing us?

I just had an image in my head of something like this trying to go round a muddy hair pin at speed....

[xsspeed]

Were Volvo ever serious about the WRC or were they just teasing us?

I just had an image in my head of something like this trying to go round a muddy hair pin at speed....

+1

[Mr Revhead]

they won in touring cars, so why not rally?

[durty starlet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4FAUU8_CFw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne4rIFkTFEs

[durty starlet]

[B1NZ]

Does this mean that they can stop making ugly hatches and make the Impreza a sedan again

I think the new WRX hatch looks awesome!

2nd'ed, But Only the STI, and especially in black

[B1NZ]

So skoda will have cars in the WRC, but subaru wont? I never thought i'd see the day the Impreza was retired. I've missed the coverage NZ tv gave to the WRC every Sunday. Theres hardly any coverage over here in Aus. There was something awesome about watching Evo's and WRX's fanging around when you're really hungover It would be sweet if Toyota magically released the new ae86, entered the WRC and caned everybody. And with a Subaru boxer engine possibly, it would be killing two birds with one stone

Skoda pulled out a few years ago along with Hyundai, Hyundai were saying that they were aiming to be back in the 2007 season for memory but it never eventuated.
The WRC coverage has been stolen by sky over here so you have to subscribe to sky sport if you want to watch it now, or just download it off the net and watch it before it screens on sky


Im hoping the group N cars will still be around for a while yet, Hopefully other manufacturers start building 4WD turbo cars as well

[RollaGT_87]

It would be sweet if Toyota magically released the new ae86, entered the WRC and caned everybody. And with a Subaru boxer engine possibly, it would be killing two birds with one stone

That would be sweet... but why use magic? Not to mention, why use a suby motor?

I reckon the new rules are a primo opportunity for lower budget teams to really make an impact on WRC! Think about it, group A cars are hard to run and hard to come by. Expensive when they're running and far more expensive when they're not! Surely with what is effectively a Group N WRC young bucks like Paddon in the future could enter in their cars without nearly the difficulty that a Group A effort would be. OK so factory backing is obviously severely lacking with teams dropping out, but it won't be so necessary.

It could (and I know this is a long shot) be the saving grace of Rallying the world over, and could even (a longer shot) be a long term opportunity for our local guys to break onto the world stage! Not to mention the added interest other manufacturers are bound to show if the new regs have a positive effect on the world circuit! I would not put a Toyota re-entry off the cards at all, and suby OUT of WRC? Yeah right! Once you can enter in next to standard cars, private teams are gonna be throwing STIs at the WRC like there's no tomorrow.*

Hell, let's make it interesting and throw an Accord or something in there up against our Corollas, private Mitsi and Suby teams, Fords, Ovlovs (for a laugh) and anything else under the sun...

Increased entertainment and accessibility in a sport can never go unnoticed so I think rally fans may be in for a treat.

My 83 cents.




*Given the current economic and global climate I'm not ruling this out as a possibility if not an eventual inevitability...

[FXGTV]

It would be sweet if Toyota magically released the new ae86, entered the WRC and caned everybody. And with a Subaru boxer engine possibly, it would be killing two birds with one stone

That would be sweet... but why use magic? Not to mention, why use a suby motor?

That was just based on an Auto Salon mag i was reading not too long ago. It was a concept ae86 with a 2ltr boxer engine from subie in it. It had all the lines of an ae86, with some classic celica and new corolla lines too.

[2jayzgte]

What is there for Toyota to gain by entering into a competition that potientally could go tits up not much I suspect though they are building a car with Subaru I just can't see Toyota wasting there time by entering back into this competition.Toyota should just concentrate alot of there efforts in improving the F1 team like they did this year.I'm afraid WRC is but a distant memory for Toyota.

[GTTpower]

What is there for Toyota to gain by entering into a competition that potientally could go tits up not much I suspect though they are building a car with Subaru I just can't see Toyota wasting there time by entering back into this competition.Toyota should just concentrate alot of there efforts in improving the F1 team like they did this year.I'm afraid WRC is but a distant memory for Toyota.

Lets face it, Toyota's F1 campaign has been a failure. A string of 3rds and one 2nd does not justify $500m+ annual budgets, when they could spend a fraction of that in WRC and achieve similar, if not better results.

My 2c

[TRD Man]

What is there for Toyota to gain by entering into a competition that potientally could go tits up

That's nonsense! There is no suggestion that the WRC will not be around for many years to come. We have endured periods before when there only been two manufacturer teams and, no doubt, it could happen again. But the sport adapts, survives and carries on.

Lets face it, Toyota's F1 campaign has been a failure.

I think if you were to ask Toyota themselves about that, they might have a different view, (albeit one that wishes for better results).