GRP B Aero compared to modern WRC Aero?

[Zico]

The subject of Grp B Aero and downforce levels compared to modern the WRC cars, (especially the 17-21WRC cars) came up while chatting a with a friend... he seems to think that Grp B had more downforce.

Sure, Grp B had these huge draggy bolt on wings and probably look like they had more downforce but I'm not convinced. Maybe I'm wrong and they did but I'd suspect they also had huge amounts more drag due to not having CFD back in the day.

I get that teams will typically keep these types of figures to themselves so not expecting a definitive answer but who is more likely to be right?

Be interested to hear your opinions..


TIA.

[mknight]

My opinion:

2017-21 cars definitely had much higher downforce levels. Just look on the areas around the wheels and huge diffusers.

Current cars are likely still over, but not by much.

[becher]

I'd say Group B was a joke compared to today. a big wing alone doesn't necessarily do a whole lot if the wing profile and position is off. Although those cars might have seen more full scale wind tunnels than any current car, at least Abarth did that.