Rallycar street versions where are they?

[AdvEvo]

Rally was far more popular in the days that we could buy Evo 5,6 etc and Subaru impreza s. Now most manufactures come with a FWD drive car and some WRC stickers on it. Not manny buying into that marketing crap.

I really think a new car like Evo s and Impreza s could boost the populairity of the rally.

Also ford brought us fine rally specials i remember the nice ford escort cossie 4x4 with big wings on it. Awesome i have had lots fun with it.

If i could buy an I20 wide body with mechanical diffs 4x4 and 300hp street version i buy it without any doubt. I am rallyfan and would like to have such car for the street. I have had almost all numbers of evo s and owned impreza too. Nowadays i drive BMW. Because i can t buy any rallyspecials anymore.

Will we see such cars back again in the near future?

[AndyRAC]

No, unlikely. Far too expensive tp produce – and don’t sell many. The Manufacturers didn’t like having to build an ‘Homologation special’ – and therefore the WRCar formula came in in1997.
However, it was always great to go to a Rally car park and see all these fantastic cars; something we don’t see anymore. Who really wants to buy a Fiesta ST, Polo R, DS3 Racing, etc??

[Mirek]

You will not see them anymore. Nowadays a development of such car can not be profitable. The market for them is too small and the investments too high. I don't believe even Mitsubishi or Subaru make profit on these cars despite they have the know how (unlike most of others). In my opinion they are still here only because of prestige and sentiment. Not speaking about other issues such as big consumption and emissions which don't play well on the market these days. The world has changed. Maximum what You can expect is something built from already used corporate parts but that would have hardly anything to do with rally cars (such as 4x4 with Haldex).

The homologation specials are out of question completely. For manufacturer a WRC-like formula is multiply cheaper and way more flexible than gr.A regulations. That will never come back.

EDIT: I'm slow :)

[dimviii]

thats why i will keep my evo viii for ever.Pitty that they dont build anymore rally replicas.

[A FONDO]

Rally was far more popular in the days that we could buy Evo 5,6 etc and Subaru impreza s. Now most manufactures come with a FWD drive car and some WRC stickers on it. Not manny buying into that marketing crap.

I really think a new car like Evo s and Impreza s could boost the populairity of the rally.

Also ford brought us fine rally specials i remember the nice ford escort cossie 4x4 with big wings on it. Awesome i have had lots fun with it.

If i could buy an I20 wide body with mechanical diffs 4x4 and 300hp street version i buy it without any doubt. I am rallyfan and would like to have such car for the street. I have had almost all numbers of evo s and owned impreza too. Nowadays i drive BMW. Because i can t buy any rallyspecials anymore.

Will we see such cars back again in the near future?
I agree completely with everything

[BDA Cosworth]

No, unlikely. Far too expensive tp produce – and don’t sell many. The Manufacturers didn’t like having to build an ‘Homologation special’ – and therefore the WRCar formula came in in1997.
However, it was always great to go to a Rally car park and see all these fantastic cars; something we don’t see anymore. Who really wants to buy a Fiesta ST, Polo R, DS3 Racing, etc??

Ever driven a Fiesta ST? Hmm maybe the massive waiting list wants to buy one?

You can have just as much fun in a light weight FWD as you can in a Turbo 4x4 on twisty sealed roads. You'll have more fun on gravel in the later though. But do those cars do 6L per 100km? Nope!

[AndyRAC]

Ha ha, I take your point, as the new Fiesta ST has got very good reviews, and isn't a bad looking car. It's probably slightly unfair to compare to the old Ford RS models....There was something special about them though.

[Zeakiwi]

Quite a few BMWs are used in Targa rally events, so #1 you are still probably driving a street version rally car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH2d9-XX ... maeMFHSEps (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH2d9-XX2HU&feature=share&list=PLzUH1gGk5m4VRnjiAtL0NqFmaeMFHSEps)

Video does not show the 135s. I'll see if I can get a few pics next week.

There is also the BMW racing series - some drive their car to the track and home again if they haven't bent it.