by HoTWire
2. March 2009 04:03
One of my favourite things to do is day dream about what could have been with Group B. The last time I did that I discovered that Alfa Romeo actually did create a group B car. This time I wasn't so lucky, so I was left with my own thoughts on the matter.
Group A, not Group B!
The Car
Given the time period for Group B there was only one Volkswagen car to pick, the VW Golf, sure we could have gone nuts and picked the Passat but even Audi shortened their wheels base on the Audi, so the Golf seems to be the right size.
Bodywork
Whilst it didn't go into Group B VW actually had a strong presence in Group A rallying, so we can get some idea of where they might have gone with their Group B car, the Golf Rallye built in the late 80's would have had to be produced earlier however it fits the bill perfectly the wide arches read to house some serious rubber.
Transmission
This was a bit of a conundrum, sharing the same stable as Audi the immediate thought was to go for 4WD, however most of the other group B teams went mid engine, rear wheel drive. Some of the aborted Group S cars were front engine RWD, so that adds another dimension. VW came to our rescue though by producing the Syncro so they were clearly heading in a 4WD direction, indeed their homologation special Rallye was 4WD.
Engine
Another problematic area for our day dream is the power. We have a few options, would they have started developing the 1.8T earlier? Would they have pushed the G-Lader more, seeing just how much they could have got out of it? Maybe a combination of these two, in the style of the Lancia Integrale. Out of leftfield also comes the fact that Spiess were using VW engine blocks to power its Formula 3 engines, maybe further development of this, perhaps with a G-Lader strapped to it. The Rallye had a 1.8 G60 in it, so the engine would have needed to be more powerful than that, indeed it would need to be more powerful than the Golf G60 Limited that followed the Rallye. My money would be on an evolved F3 engine.
Engine position is another potential minefield, however if we assume they are going 4WD then I'd go for front mounted engine.
Conclusion
Would it have been competitive? In the right hands of course it would have. The scary thing is that people have built in their garages and sheds cars that are very similar at a high level to this idea. Sure they don't have the skilled race prep, or acid dipped shells, or masses of weight removed, but 1.8 Turbo, 4WD, Golf Rallye, I'm sure I can find one if I search on the web... Oh look.. theres one.
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