These Mad Gifs Prove Why Group B Was The Ultimate Era For Rally

Brave drivers thrashing overpowered cars on a variety of challenging stages...As they say: "WRC is for boys, Group B is for men"

Neil Winn

07 Apr 2016

These Mad Gifs Prove Why Group B Was The Ultimate Era For Rally

1. The crazy proximity

2. The jumps

3. The epic slides

4. The speed

5. The diversity of machinery

Can anything really top Group B? Let’s see your favourite rally Gifs!

Comments

a couple of these gifs are from the group 4 period not group B!

Yeah, i was about to say..

Watching more than one gif at a time is very satisfying

Am i the only one who thinks that modern era WRC cars are better and more exiting? Firstly correct me if I’m wrong but the gearboxes of these cars were geared so that the top speed is around 130mph, just like modern cars so they can get more torque. this means they will be going around the same speed except group b can get bigger slides (which I will admit is awesome). Also modern cars have more advanced diffs and suspensions so they will definitely be going around corners faster. In my mind that is more exiting than hoping my favorite driver doesn’t turn into a barbecue after hitting a tree and having his car go up in flames. Also I think anyone who stands on the outside of a corner in rally is a colossal moron and should be banned from any racing event if they want to endanger themselves or the crew of the cars. Yes group b got close to spectators but it was only a matter of time til a rally car crashed into a crowd of people. This ban on group b cars pushed engineers to think outside the box and that’s why we have these tiny engines producing so much horse power and the advances in suspension and diff technology so the teams could go as fast as possible while still being restricted by the same rules. Sorry for the rant.

Well, I wouldn’t say ones better than the other. They’re just very different. I don’t think it’s a fair comparison.
In most of these gifs the cars are on gravel. Something you don’t see as much in modern day rallying. Also with all the technological advances the cars seem easier to drive to most spectators. Furtermore the stages don’t have so many fast swooping bends, tight hairpins and height differences. You see the same thing in F1. It’s also one of the reasons why WRC switched from electronic diffs back to mechanical diffs a couple of years back.
Most of this is done for speed or safety and has resulted in just less spectacular spectator sports.
So no, I wouldn’t say modern WRC is better or word than the old group B. You just don’t see the big slides, weight transfer (modern cars don’t move around as much as the old ones do to better suspension), jumps and high speed cornering. Or at least it looks like it. Giving the spectator the idea that rally drivers don’t have to as hard as they used to in order to put down a fast time. Making it less spectacular to watch.
Just my 2 cents

I agree with a lot of what you’re saying, I think way too many people say current WRC sucks and Group B was amazing but few actually have actually watched Group B or given WRC a chance.