Two Guys Rally

Sequential Transmission and Rally America: An Update [ March 31st, 2009 ] By:Charles Smith

In June of 2008 I wrote an article lamenting about Rally America’s rules on sequential transmissions. Turns out they’ve caved…a bit. I was reading the rules and I stumbled over this on page 89 section 6c:

Gear Change: The use of an unassisted manual sequential gear change mechanism is allowed.

Neat! You can use a sequential given that you have direct access to the mechanical selector. That is only one step away from an electro-whathaveyou sequential with paddle controls. Although you cannot control many parts electronically (yet), as seen on page 89 section 6b:

Electronic Controls: No type or form of electronic control is permitted for the following components:
i. Suspension, steering, braking, gear change/clutch, front and rear differentials.
ii. Simple engine cut operating during a mechanically activated gear change is permitted.

So you cannot control the clutch/transmission electronically yet. But you can flat shift, which means you keep your foot planted on the gas pedal during shifts and electronically cut the engine’s power. Either way, there is hope for Rally America to become the premiere rally league in the future. Not for a while though.

Rally To Become Cheaper [ June 26th, 2008 ] By:Charles Smith

The FIA cleared up rule changes for the 2010 World Rally Championship. They decided that the WRC will adopt rules similar to Super2000 (aka S2000) in an attempt to make the WRC cheaper and easier to enter.

One of the new rules is that they will impose a price limit on the car. However I think big teams will still be able to get around this. The Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT), for example, is handled by Prodrive and they could absorb much of the design cost of the car and not “charge” as much as they should for parts. Even so, I think the lower priced cars will draw more manufacturers and competitors alike, so that is a good thing.

Hopefully, they do not ban forced induction, ie turbochargers, as that is one of the rules in S2000. I am fond of turbochargers, but I do understand that adding a turbocharger and making a reliable setup can be expensive, but I just love them too much. I seem like a giddy schoolgirl around turbochargers and will giggle uncontrollably when hearing them spool. However this rule may make sense if the FIA also introduces a lower power limit (280HP for S2000 vs 300HP for WRC).

One rule that is present in S2000 and not the WRC is the transmission requirements. In S2000 you must buy an official gearbox (sequential duhhh) while in the WRC the top teams make their own. It will be interesting to see if and how this rule is implemented. I doubt that it will make entering the WRC any cheaper and could pose a problem if teams are not allowed to redesign a mediocre sequential gearbox that they must buy.

Im glad that the rule changes are going to be less drastic than people thought at first (Front-Wheel Drive Only, 1600cc limit, etc…). It is bringing the WRC back to the “Real Cars, Real Roads, Real Fast” that rally is so often described as.