Pete. (l33t FS) said:
In reply to MrChaos :
It looks like they changed that to a system where they can only use it for a performance boost after a certain amount of braking has been done. I am curious what the exact circumstances are.
From what I understand, you only get one "shot" after the braking conditions had been met, so if you lift throttle after activating it (not certain if manually or automatically) then you don't get to use the rest of the "shot".
This combined with the reduced suspension travel should make things more interesting, the drivers having to drive more like rally drivers than open wheel racers. I wonder if the official feeds still have the obnoxiously bad commentators that they started to get about 15 years ago...
I have WRC+(since i forgot to not renew it) but didnt get to watch any of monte carlo this weekend. The commentary is fine imo, I like listening to the Japanese one since the guy sounds like he smokes 5 packs a day and is half asleep.
....wow
Stage appears to be a loop, trying to figure out how it does that.
"348 wHP , 1025 kg Ford Escort, Mark 2" That's better power/weight than a WRCar, even factoring in the electric assist! And less drivetrain drag because it isn't AWD. And less weight means more tire grip. And it has paddle shifters, which have been banned for quite a while in WRC...
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
I looked up this rally on the web. All Escorts in Belgium
Escort Rally
All-Escort rallies are not uncommon.
Here's something that was uploaded to YouTube 16 years ago. No idea how long ago the actual rally was.
I had favorited it because of things like the guy talking about mounting tyres, and then doing it by hand. Having mounted 255 width gumballs on 13x10 wheels I can NOT imagine doing it by hand!!
Edit: Okay, so watch that helmetcam video and note that his right hand is actually brushing the roll cage while holding the wheel. And it is a fairly small steering wheel. And he is shoulder to shoulder with his co-driver.
Escorts are small!
I never appreciated that until I got the RX-3, noted how much side impact room there wasn't, and then compared its dimensions to an Escort, finding that they are just about the same.
MrChaos said:
I'm sure that there are cars out there in the world that are faster than this one, but it's hard for me to imagine it. That's incredible! And the sound of it all
This looks sped up.
Winter rally tires + ruts + suspension and steering that work = incredible ability to change direction!
Somewhere I'd read that they can generate more lateral G with properly selected studs on ice/snow, compared to slicks on tarmac. And that is before factoring in using ruts and snowbanks to Initial D your way through corners...
Me: got a trunk full of parts and gear, time to go work on the Mini
YouTube: amjayes has just released a 1 hour long video about Henri Toivonen
Me: curse you
j_tso
Dork
3/17/23 11:20 a.m.
Clips from the Shinshiro Rally of the Japan Rally Championship. Heikki Kovaleinen drives a Skoda.
I found it interesting that some of the Japanese drivers had their pace notes in English. Reminds me of how Norwegian champ Petter Solberg always had English speaking co-drivers.
The Skoda co-driver at 3:00 seems pretty excited.
j_tso
Dork
3/17/23 11:42 a.m.
oh and it's St. Patrick's Day
j_tso said:
Clips from the Shinshiro Rally of the Japan Rally Championship. Heikki Kovaleinen drives a Skoda.
I found it interesting that some of the Japanese drivers had their pace notes in English. Reminds me of how Norwegian champ Petter Solberg always had English speaking co-drivers.
The Skoda co-driver at 3:00 seems pretty excited.
I have noticed that too... all-Japanese teams with their notes in English.
Is English maybe more conducive to rapid notes-speak than Japanese? Or could be like how Japanese cars have their badging and gauges and stuff in English or German because cars came from England and Germany, Rally came from the West so they read out in Western languages?
(I cannot discount that last one... I know of at least one American who practiced getting his pace notes in Finnish)
Spybreak!
Another in a long list of videos I used to have and am finding on YouTube
Apropos of nothing
What is somewhat horrifying is seeing the relatively gentle roll deform the left side of the roof and roll cage, and the driver's helmet getting wedged against the now lower cage tubing... which proceeds to get smashed down further on the next roll. That's the sort of thing that put Frank Williams in a wheelchair.
I spend my Saturday mornings watching a Facebook page called "Special Stage Rally video". Live telecasts from various British rallies.
