Group B?

Man of Honour
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One of the most impressive aspects of the RS200 was how well it rode on rough surfaces. To get out of my friends grounds we had to drive across a cobble road and it simply soaked up the bumps really well, which is something that has always impressed me when I have been in modern Rally cars, such as Evo's, Escorts and Scoobies (not the road versions, WRC and Group A) and this is the same. Twin dampers are clever and really do a great job. Steering looked very sharp and the gearbox also looked a real handful and didnt like off throttle coasting! Internals are a Ford parts bin special but it was built for a job and had it had the time to evolve I suspect it would have been a winner.
 
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Don
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Internals are a Ford parts bin special but it was built for a job

I love the interior in the RS200. It's a weird mix of Sierra, Escort and Fiesta parts.
The 6R4 interior always makes me laugh. If you ignore the extra gauges and keep looking forwards, you could be in an Austin Metro 1.3.
 
Soldato
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Just wow, not two cars youd ever expect to see in the same picture, i was totally gob smacked just to see an rs200 a year or so ago
 
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For anyone who doesn't know what these were like back in the day youtube group b rally cars. The sound they make alone is awesome.

The first group B car I heard was an Audi Quattro S1. I had a strong mental image of a giant budgie riding an angry giant bear (I was much younger then :) ) and that's stuck in my head. All that furious snarling and chirruping...glorious. I was glued to the telly. Even then I thought the spectators were stupid and wondered how the drivers managed. Don't stand in the road, idiots!
 
Soldato
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Hehe nice, I had matchbox versions of these when I was a kid, had the Audi Quattro, Peugeot 205 and I think I had a Lancia Stratos too.
 
Man of Honour
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RS200.. My favourite Rally Car ever.. Wish I was around this age in that Era of Motorsport.. :(

I still have fond memories of Group B as I was lucky enough to be in my late teens and got to see them every year in the Lombard RAC Rally....to give its proper name. Seeing these at full chat through both Kielder and Grizedale (spelling?) was stuff of legend I promise. I remember waiting in Penkridge in a little garage on the high street to watch the cars pootle through only to have a gate open behind me and the works T16's pour out after a service stop! One by one the traffic stopped and they shot off up the road. Just ace
 
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GTO and 959 were both group b, iirc. group b wasnt just limited to gravel hence this sort of thing

They changed all the formulas around 1982/3 as when I was growing up we had the following:

Group 1 - Production based touring cars with fairly tight rules
Group 2 - Production based touring cars with less tight rules
Group 3 - Sort of died off replaced by Group 4
Group 4 - Sports cars which looked like the production version
Group 5 - Production based sports cars but highly modified
Group 6 - Prototype sports cars

These were the main categorise that covered track and rally cars into the early 80's.

The British Touring cars were Group 1, made up of things like Capri's, Rover's, RX7's, BMW's, Audi's. The European Touring cars also allowed Group 2, so things like Zakspeed Escorts, Camero's, CSL's, Skodas etc. The Group 2 cars were allowed a higher state of tune and also bigger and wider wheels and tyres with extended arches and some spoilers. For me, this was the best Touring car ever and surpassed the Super Tourers and RS500 era.

Rally cars were sort of Group 1, 2, 4 and included Escorts, Sumbeams, Chevette HSR's, Stratos, 911 etc.

Le Mans as sports cars were Group 4,5,6 and were also epic cars with things like the 935K3 and Lancia Montecarlo's standing out to me in the late 70's early 80's together with Group 6 cars like the 936, Alpine Renaults, Mirages.

In the early 80's it all changed and we got Group's A, B and C pretty much covering all of the above. For me this was the peak of motorsport as we had tech and performance starting to show itself, so they were incredibly quick and loud but also fun to watch as it was early stages of aero making the sort of impact we see today.
 
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