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63-495: Each of the new tiers of the pyramid align numerically with the existing FIA sporting classes introduced in 2014. Existing rally cars not in the new Groups Rally and within their homologation period are still eligible to compete and thus are still included in the rally pyramid even if not actively promoted by the FIA. It may be that a particular group or class will be removed from the pyramid when all those cars' homologation periods ends. All

126-464: A car like windscreens or rear view mirrors. Article 256 covered the specific regulations for Group B with 5 paragraphs over half a page and includes most of the 7 pages of article 255 (Group A). The first two paragraphs of 256 covered the definition of (Sports) Grand Touring Cars (with a minimum of two seats) and the homologation requirements. The section, "3) FITTINGS AND MODIFICATIONS ALLOWED" states, "All those allowed for Group A..." These rules give

189-577: A car would have been required for homologation , rather than the 200 required for Group B. By the time of its cancellation, at least four Group S prototypes had been built: The Lancia ECV , the Toyota MR2 -based 222D, the Opel Kadett Rallye 4x4 (a.k.a. Vauxhall Astra 4S) and the Lada Samara S-proto, and new cars were also planned by both Audi (the 002 Quattro) and Ford (a Group S modification of

252-748: A driver aiming to be World Champion may have been via RC4 class Group R, R2 category in ERC3, followed by a 4WD Group N car (re-homologated in R4 in Group R) in ERC2, upgrading to RC2 category Group R, R5 class in WRC2 or ERC1 then finally progressing to a WRC (car) in the WRC (championship). Each tier of the new pyramid includes its own specification of car known as one of the Groups Rally , with each of

315-567: A driver went straight to R3 which was the case when Citroën ran JWRC. In 2011 an entirely new class structure was employed with the simultaneous introduction of a new 1.6 L World Rally Car based on S2000 body-kits, and SWRC and PWRC rules were also relaxed to allow cars from Groups R, N and A to compete. There were then 11 classes, ten being numbered from 1 to 10, and WRC. The classes were based on car performance, rising from 10 to 1, then WRC. The 4 classes of Group N stepped from 10,9,8 to 3 whilst Group R rose from 10,9,6,5,2. Group A rose from 7 to 5 as

378-632: A home in the World Endurance Championship , a new name for the World Sports Car Championship, though were secondary to the racing prototype Group C cars. The 1983 season had the first significant entry list including Porsche 930 , BMW M1 and Ferrari 308 GTB LM vehicles. Porsche won the FIA GT Cup in 1983, handing it over to BMW in 1984 and 1985. From 1986 the championship retired Group B in favor of IMSA regulated cars and

441-717: Is a rotary or similar, then the capacity is considered to be "twice the volume determined between the maximum and minimum capacity of the combustion chamber." The equivalent capacity, C {\textstyle C} , for a turbine engine is much more complicated, derived with the formula C = S ( ( 3.10 × T ) − 7.63 ) 0.09625 {\textstyle C={\frac {S((3.10\times T)-7.63)}{0.09625}}} (1982) or C = S ( 3.10 × R ) − 7.63 0.09625 {\textstyle C={\frac {S(3.10\times R)-7.63}{0.09625}}} (1986), where S {\textstyle S}

504-435: Is commonly referred to as the golden era of rallying. However, a series of major accidents, some fatal, were blamed on their outright speed with lack of crowd control at events. After the death of Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto in the 1986 Tour de Corse , the FIA banned the group from competing in the WRC from the following season, dropped its prior plans to introduce Group S , and designated Group A as

567-587: Is the "high pressure nozzle area" (cm ), and T {\textstyle T} / R {\textstyle R} is the "pressure ratio" of the compressor. Ultimately, there were few restrictions on technology, design or materials permitted. For example, fibreglass bodywork was used in the case of the Ford RS200 , a car without a commercially available counterpart, though silhouette race cars using space frame chassis were still common even when consumer car equivalents were mass produced, for example in

630-703: The Pikes Peak Hillclimb in Colorado . Walter Röhrl's S1 Rally car won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1987 and set a new record at the time. Audi used their Group B experience to develop a production based racing car for the Trans-Am and IMSA GTO series in 1988 and 1989 respectively. Many ex-rally cars found homes in European Rallycross events from the beginning of 1987 until

693-459: The "Lagoa Azul" stage of the Portuguese Rally near Sintra , Portuguese driver Joaquim Santos crested a rise, turning to his right to avoid a small group of spectators. This caused him to lose control of his RS200. The car veered to the right and slid off the road into another group of spectators. Thirty-one people were injured and three were killed. All the top teams immediately pulled out of

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756-473: The 1985 season. Although not without mishap: Vatanen plunged off the road in Argentina and was seriously injured when his seat mountings broke in the ensuing crash. Timo Salonen won the 1985 champion title with five wins. Although the crash was a sign that Group B cars had already become dangerously quick (despite Vatanen having a consistent record of crashing out while leading), several new Group B cars entered

819-475: The 3000 cc class (2142.8 cc with turbo or supercharger), 960 kg minimum weight ( Audi Quattro , Lancia 037 ); and 2500 cc (1785 cc), 890 kg ( Peugeot 205 T16 , Lancia Delta S4 ). The original Renault 5 Turbo had a 1.4 L engine so it was in the 2000 cc class. Renault later increased the size of the engine somewhat for the Turbo Maxi, so as to be able to fit larger tires (at

882-536: The A8 group over 2000cc were banned. New R-GT were in their own class of 4 whilst S2000 were split between 2 and 3. Some events ran without enough entrants to justify the class competition. Class 8 was only for Group N cars which were intended to be replaced. Their names no longer apt, SWRC and PWRC became WRC2 and WRC3 in 2013. During the years 2006 to 2012, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge ran featuring

945-450: The Codasur region had championships for each sporting classification, the only region to do so. The continents also have their own manufacturing industries and consumer and rallyist car preferences. Each regional championship outside Europe permits additional local cars to compete and this will likely continue with the intended goal of enhanced participation. An example route of progression for

1008-801: The Corsica rally. The final days of Group B were also controversial. The Peugeots were disqualified from the Rally Sanremo by the Italian scrutineers as the 'skirts' around the bottom of the car were found to be illegal. Peugeot immediately accused the Italians of favouring Lancia. Their case was strengthened at the next event, the RAC Rally , when the British scrutineers passed the Peugeots as legal in identical trim. FISA annulled

1071-460: The FIA made provisions for national championships and domestic racing until as late as 2011. In 1982 the FISA restructured the production car category of Appendix J to consist of three new groups. The outgoing Group 1 and Group 2 were replaced with Group N and Group A for unmodified and modified production touring cars respectively. These cars had to have four seats (although the minimum size of

1134-543: The FIA. Volkswagen left the WRC championship after their diesel emissions scandal, followed by Citroën in 2019. Lower costs and new technologies were cited in calls for a new car used in the manufacturer's championship. Slower and older WRC cars were and are still permitted by privateers. As recently as 2018 the WRC allowed S2000 cars, Group R and Group N to compete at RC2 level together. Super 1600 and Group R could also compete together at RC3 level, while Group A, Group R, Group N and kit cars could compete at RC2 level. Meanwhile,

1197-658: The Group B era as the Golden Age of Rallying. Many racing video games feature Group B cars for the player to drive. The 2017 video game Gran Turismo Sport features a rally car category known as "Gr. B", an obvious homage to Group B. This particular category features predominantly fictional rally cars based on newer models, such as the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and the Subaru WRX STI , although it does include

1260-539: The Group N, A and B rules were decided, the weight/engine displacement restrictions were thought the only way to control speed. Nowadays, the power of turbo engines is limited by mandating a restrictor in the intake, and the Groups Rally hierarchy for example, each have limits on weight/engine power (kg/hp). Within all the groups, there were 15 classes based on engine displacement with a 1.4 equivalence factor applied for forced induction engines. Each class had weight limits and wheel sizes. Notable classes for Group B were

1323-592: The Lancia had the upper hand on tarmac , but the Audi remained superior on looser surfaces such as snow and gravel). Nevertheless, the 037 performed well enough for Lancia to capture the manufacturers title, which was generally considered more prestigious at the time, with a rally to spare. In fact, so low was Lancia's regard for the Drivers Championship, they did not enter a single car into the season finale RAC Rally, despite

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1386-610: The RS200). The cancellation of Group S angered many rally insiders who believed the new specification to be safer than Group B and more exciting than Group A. The Group S concept was revived by the FIA in 1997 as the World Rally Car specification, which persisted until 2021. WRC cars were limited to 380 hp (280 kW) and required 2500 examples of a model but, unlike Group S, also had to share certain parts with their base production models. From their introduction in 1982 Group B found

1449-496: The WRC in 1986 on safety grounds, with the planned introduction of Group S abandoned, and the correction factor for turbocharged engines was increased to x1.7. From 1987, only Group A and Group N were permitted in the WRC, with a new Production Cup introduced solely for the often lower performance Group N cars. The cup was later renamed to the Production World Rally Championship . The World Rally Car formula

1512-524: The World Championship level, although Toyota won the 1983 Ivory Coast Rally after hiring Swedish desert driving specialist, the late Björn Waldegård . In 1984, Audi beat Lancia for both the manufacturers' title and the drivers' title, the latter of which was won by Stig Blomqvist , but received an unexpected new competition midway through the year: Peugeot had joined the rallying scene with its Group B 205 T16 . The T16 also had four wheel drive and

1575-561: The World Rally Car occupied RC1. R5 became hugely popular as a replacement for the high performance S2000. This resulted in star drivers in R5 factory teams in the same sporting class as privateer enthusiasts who had built their own R4 car. In 2017 the fourth iteration WRC, 'WRC+', was introduced with increased engine performance. This car could not be run by anybody other than the manufacturers registered in WRC and drivers had to receive approval by

1638-402: The base rule sets of what is allowed to be modified, how it can be modified, and what can be removed from the homologation road cars. (Specific tyre widths are not specified for 2,500cc, but it falls into the 3,000cc category) If a car has a supercharger (this includes turbochargers), then the engine capacity is considered 1.4 times larger for its other restrictions stated above. If the engine

1701-522: The car groups and classes permitted in FIA competition are described in this article under the sporting classes RC1 to RC5 as per the FIA sporting regulations. Groups A, B and N were introduced in 1982 to replace the numbered groups in existence. Each had 4 classes based on engine capacity which was corrected by x1.4 when a turbo or supercharger was used. N1 to N4, A5 to A8 and B9 to B12 were each based on less than 1400cc, 1401-1600cc, 1601-2000cc and greater than 2000cc respectively. Group B were banned from

1764-461: The case of the Peugeot 205 T16 or Lancia Delta S4. The rules provided for manufacturers who wanted to compete in rallying with mid-engine and RWD or 4WD , but their RWD production models had been gradually replaced by FWD counterparts. By reducing the homologation minimum from 400 in Group 4 to 200, FISA enabled manufacturers to design specialized RWD or 4WD rally car homologation specials without

1827-533: The championship became known as the World Sports-Prototype Championship the same year. The Porsche 961 prototype, intended to be the basis for a Group B homologation, won the GTX class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1986 race but crashed and caught fire in 1987. The Ferrari 288 GTO was built and sold the minimum requirement of cars to the public, but never saw action in its category. The WSPC grids it

1890-403: The development of a class of cars whose performance has not yet been surpassed within their category, even three decades later. In reference to their dubious safety record, the class has also earned an unsavory nickname among rally enthusiasts: "Killer B's". Group B also became synonymous with high-performance and danger amongst the motorsport community. In contrast to this, many enthusiasts refer

1953-411: The early 1960s, but in the early and mid-1980s engineers learnt how to extract extraordinary amounts of power from turbo engines. Some Group B manufacturers went further, Peugeot for example, installed an F1-derived Turbo Lag system to their engine, although the technology was new and not very effective. Lancia twincharged their Delta S4, adding both a supercharger and turbocharger to their engine. When

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2016-600: The end of 1992. The MG Metro 6R4 and Ford RS200 became frequent entries in national championships. For 1993, the FIA replaced the Group B models in the European Rallycross Championship with prototypes that had to be based on existing Group A models. The cancellation of Group B, coupled with the tragedies of 1986, brought about the scrapping of Group B's proposed replacement: Group S . Group S rules would have limited car engine power to 300 hp (225 kW). To encourage innovative designs, ten examples of

2079-578: The existing World Rally Car with new regulations in the 2022 WRC season . The newly created Group Rally3 introduced a brand new car in 2021. Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar Championship alongside

2142-628: The expense of somewhat higher weight). The Ferrari 288 GTO and the Porsche 959 were in the 4000 cc (2857 cc), 1100 kg class, which would have probably become the normal class for track racing if Group B had seen much use there. Classes in Group B: The existing Groups 1–4 were still permitted in the World Rally Championship during the first year of the new groups. Although some freshly homologated Group B cars were entered from

2205-525: The fact that driver Walter Röhrl was still in the hunt for the title. This may have been, in part, because Röhrl "never dreamed of becoming a world champion." The low homologation requirements quickly attracted manufacturers to Group B. Opel replaced their production-derived Ascona with the Group B Manta 400 , and Toyota built a new car based on their Celica . Like the Lancia 037, both cars were rear wheel drive, and while proving successful in national rallying in various countries, they were less so at

2268-416: The financial commitment of producing their production counterparts in such large numbers. There were no restrictions on boost , resulting in the power output of the winning cars increasing from 250 hp in 1981, to there being at least two cars producing in excess of 500 by 1986, the final year of Group B in rally. Turbocharged engines weren't common in commercial cars and had only been introduced since

2331-559: The first round in Monte Carlo, no car from the group podiumed at any of the season's 12 rallies. Although the Audi Quattro was still in essence a Group 4 car, it carried Hannu Mikkola to the driver's title in 1983. Lancia had designed a new car to Group B specifications, but the Lancia 037 still had rear wheel drive and was thus less stable than the Audi over different surfaces (generally

2394-429: The four wheel drive classes (R4 and R5) and each had their regulations changed over time. At first R1, R2 and R3 (and sub-classes) were split between N and A sporting classes which did not fit the ethos of Group R being a replacement for those Groups. R3 cars, though not hugely unsuccessful, were often overlooked after R2 presumably because a driver was looking to progress to four wheel drive, or R1 and R2 were overlooked if

2457-495: The future standards of rallying. The biggest differences between each group of cars is the performance and the costs involved to manufacture, run and maintain them. With the launch of the Rally Pyramid in 2019, three classes of Group R (including any sub-classes) were immediately renamed to new Groups Rally. R1, R2 and R5 became the technical standard for Groups Rally5, Rally4 and Rally2 respectively. Group Rally1 cars would replace

2520-515: The group made motorsport and the championships more accessible for car manufacturers before taking the group's technicalities and performance into account. 'Evolutions' could be included within the original homologation without needing to produce a new initial run, allowing manufacturers to tweak various aspects of their competing car within the requirement to produce only 20 'evolved' cars. Together, these homologation rules resulted in Group B 'homologation specials' (cars that were only produced to satisfy

2583-448: The group quota rather than for sales) extremely rare, if they continued to exist beyond presentation to FIA officials in the first place. Group B could be used to homologate production sports cars which could not be homologated in Group N or A, because they did not have four seats or were not produced in large enough numbers (e.g. cars like the Ferrari 308 , the Porsche 911 , etc.). Further,

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2646-404: The groups' names synonymous with the tier of the pyramid. Groups Rally3 to Rally5 have classes within the group for minor technical or regulatory purposes but there is no difference in competitive eligibility within each group. These groups are promoted by the FIA as the new standard progression for a rally driver's international career and give clear vision to the rally car manufacturing industry of

2709-413: The impact. The combination of a red hot turbocharger, Kevlar bodywork, and the ruptured fuel tank ignited the car and set fire to the dry undergrowth. Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto died in their seats. With no witnesses to the accident it was impossible to determine what caused the crash other than Toivonen had left the road at high speed. Some cite Toivonen's ill health at the time (he reportedly

2772-406: The kit car category also resulted in unfair competition and high development costs with some manufacturers using it to promote their two-wheel drive models instead of entering the main WRC manufacturer class. This resulted in the ending of the cup. In the 2000s, Super 2000 (S2000) and Super 1600 (S1600) cars became popular across motorsport and were also accepted into rallying as replacements for

2835-578: The kit-cars. The FIA introduced a new Junior World Rally Championship in 2001 solely for the Super 1600 cars. In 2010 a new SWRC championship was introduced for the S2000 cars which were in between Group N and the World Rally Car in terms of performance. Group R was created to replace Groups A and N and was specifically for rally cars. It had 5 basic classes but not all were equally successful. The two wheel drive classes (R1, R2 and R3) arrived in 2008, 5 years before

2898-592: The level of progression in the European Championship stepped up from 2wd R2 in ERC3, to a mix of Group N and R-GT machinery in ERC2, with Group R5 cars leading amongst others in ERC1. The other regional championships had their own structures of championships and categories too. APRC2 and ERT2 used two-wheel-drive cars, whereas ERC2, ARC2 and MERC2 used four-wheel-drive. Each of the Junior championships had different rules and

2961-569: The limited options of permitted Group B cars were not as competitive or ubiquitous as newer Group A cars. Porsche's 959 never entered a WRC event, although it did compete in the Middle East championship and won the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1986. Peugeot adapted their T16 to run in the Dakar Rally . Ari Vatanen won the event in 1987, 1989 and 1990. Improved Peugeot and Audi cars also competed in

3024-425: The low production requirement encouraged manufacturers to use space frame chassis instead of bodyshells typically used in most series-production road cars. Existing cars within Group 2, Group 3 and Group 4 homologation could be transferred to Group B, with many being automatically transferred by the FISA secretariat. Group B followed Article 252 and 253, which covered such things as safety cages or parts defining

3087-492: The more popular racing prototypes of Group C , Group B are commonly associated with the international rallying scene during 1982 to 1986 in popular culture, when they were the highest class used across rallying, including the World Rally Championship , regional and national championships. The Group B regulations fostered some of the fastest, most powerful, and most sophisticated rally cars ever built and their era

3150-475: The production-derived special builds of Group 5 used in circuit racing. Group 5 had never been permitted in the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers. The number of cars required for homologation, 200, was just 4% of the other groups' requirement and half what was previously accepted in Group 4. As the homologation periods could be extended by producing only 10% of the initial requirement each subsequent year, 20 in Group B's case compared to 500 for A and N,

3213-468: The rally and Group B was placed in jeopardy. Disaster struck again in early May at the Tour de Corse . Lancia's Toivonen was the championship favorite, and once the rally got underway he was the pace setter. Seven kilometers into the 18th stage, Toivonen's S4 flew off the unguarded edge of a tightening left hand bend and plunged down a steep wooded hillside. The car landed inverted with the fuel tanks ruptured by

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3276-522: The rallying world in 1985: For the 1986 season, defending champion Timo Salonen had the new Evolution 2 version of Peugeot's 205 T16 with ex Toyota driver, Juha Kankkunen . Audi's new Sport Quattro S1 boasted over 600 hp (450 kW) and a huge snowplow-like front end. Lancia's Delta S4 would be in the hands of the Finnish prodigy Henri Toivonen and Markku Alén , and Ford was ready with its high tech RS200 with Stig Blomqvist and Kalle Grundel . On

3339-463: The rear seats was small enough that some 2+2 cars could qualify) and be produced in large numbers. Their homologation requirement was 5000 units in a 12 month period between 1982 and 1992. From 1993 the requirement reduced to 2500 units. Group B was for grand touring (GT) cars with a minimum two seats, redefined as sports grand touring cars in 1986. It combined and replaced Group 3 and Group 4 , two grand touring groups already used in rallying, and

3402-528: The result of the Sanremo Rally eleven days after the final round in the United States. As a result, the championship title was passed from Lancia's Markku Alén to Peugeot's Juha Kankkunen. Timo Salonen had won another two rallies during the 1986 season and became the most successful group B era driver with a total of seven wins. Although 1987 saw the end of Group B rally car development and their appearance on

3465-674: The same mix of cars as the World and European championships. The challenge was made for TV and attracted fans and top drivers alike. In 2013 it effectively merged with the European Rally Championship when promotor Eurosport took on the promotion rights for the latter. R4 of Group R was designed around the Group N ruleset it intended to replace and was not successful for professional teams and prestige championships. The FIA abandoned this idea and no new R4 cars were homologated after 2015 as R4-Kit

3528-558: The top-line formula with engine limits of 2000 cc and 300 bhp. In the following years, ex-rally Group B cars found a niche in the European Rallycross Championship until being dropped in 1993. By 1991 the World Sportscar Championship had moved on from Group B and C, with the GT championships formed in the nineties preferring other classes such as the new Group GT . The last cars were homologated in Group B in 1993, though

3591-435: The world rally scene, they did not disappear. They were still permitted in regional championships providing they met the limit of 1600cc for four-wheel-drive or were homologated prior to 1984. Future FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was one privateer who contested rounds of the 1987 Middle East Rally Championship in an Audi Quattro A2 and Opel Manta 400. Independent teams would enter the European Championship too, though

3654-491: Was intended for was filled up by a batch of Group C cars (there would be no production sports car-based racers in European racing, including Le Mans, until 1993 ), but it saw limited use in an IMSA GTO race in 1989. The era of Group B is often considered one of the most competitive and compelling periods in rallying. The combination of a lightweight chassis, sophisticated aerodynamics and massive amounts of horsepower resulted in

3717-457: Was introduced in 1997 for use at World Rally Championship level and not in championships elsewhere. The formula was to level the competition in the manufacturers championship by replacing the many different forms of car permitted by Group A. Two-wheel drive Group A kit cars, used in the 2-litre Cup from 1993 to 1999, could often outpace the four-wheel drive World Rally Cars in asphalt stages, including winning two rallies outright. The relaxed rules in

3780-454: Was largely blamed on the unforgiving Corsican scenery (and bad luck, as his co-driver, Maurizio Perissinot , was unharmed), Toivonen and Cresto's deaths, combined with the Portugal tragedy and televised accident of F1 driver Marc Surer in another RS200 which killed co-driver Michel Wyder , compelled the FIA to ban all Group B cars immediately for 1987. Audi decided to quit Group B entirely after

3843-498: Was smaller and lighter than the Audi Quattro. At the wheel was the 1981 driver's champion Ari Vatanen , with future Ferrari Formula One team manager and FIA President Jean Todt overseeing the operation. A crash prevented the T16 from winning its first rally but the writing was on the wall for Audi. Despite massive revisions to the Quattro, including a shorter wheelbase , Peugeot dominated

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3906-413: Was suffering from flu); others suggest mechanical failure, or simply the difficulty of driving the car, although Toivonen, like Vatanen, had a career full of crashing out while leading rallies. Up until that stage he was leading the rally by a large margin, with no other driver challenging him. The crash came a year after Lancia driver Attilio Bettega had crashed and died in his 037. While that fatality

3969-727: Was the preferred path, R4 could then not be run in Europe. Privateers competing with older Group N cars were still allowed to run as an 'NR4' car. R4-Kit cars were smaller and allowed independent teams to purchase a kit to build a rally car. In 2014 the RC classes that exist today were introduced and these will remain into the future. RC5 to RC1 were still tiers of performance though Group R cars were mostly categorised inversely to their numbers. R1, R2 and R3 were in RC5, RC4 and RC3 respectively. R4 and R5 were both in RC2 whilst

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