Came here to say this. I hate you, Carlitos. taking words from my mouth…
Because aerodynamic and practical
They are not aerodynamic.
However, market trends are leaning towards hatchbacks. Marketing rules the day in rallying, usually.
It’s a trend that started with the original Mini Cooper. The smaller, lighter frames made the cars more agile than their larger Coupe or Sedan cousins. While a lot of earlier hatchback rally cars were slower they could corner quicker and did quite well because of this.
Something about the physics of rallying a hatch as a opposed to a sedan make it favorable body style. I’d imagine it’s the cornering style of Rallycross, as opposed to say, Time Attack, which I believe favors Sedans.
Is it really? Not that much
I belive it has to do with chassis dinamics, a hatch tends to have a much smaller wheel base improving maneuverability. Deriving in smaller chassis hence less tubing
Weight distribution is pushed towards the rear.
Just a guess, I’ve always wondered this myself.
Everyone mentioning technical factors, when it says in the regulations of the sport (FIA WRC anyway) that the vehicle must be a mass manufactured vehicle with 3 doors (used to be five before the regulations changed a few years ago) of which more than at least 200 have been produced and sold to the public.
The Skoda Fabia R5 has 5 doors :)
Engine sizes are limited to 1.6L for WRC these days, used to be 2L hence why imprezas and evos were used.
That’s the main reason then
FIA blue book states that wrc cars have to be derived from a 3 or 5 door hatchback (5 door can be used for R5 cars)with a maximum capacity of 1600cc. As for other championships hatchbacks provide a shorter wheelbase do the car is more agile.
Comments
Because hatchbacks are cool as f*ck.
Came here to say this. I hate you, Carlitos. taking words from my mouth…
Because aerodynamic and practical
They are not aerodynamic.
However, market trends are leaning towards hatchbacks. Marketing rules the day in rallying, usually.
It’s a trend that started with the original Mini Cooper. The smaller, lighter frames made the cars more agile than their larger Coupe or Sedan cousins. While a lot of earlier hatchback rally cars were slower they could corner quicker and did quite well because of this.
Something about the physics of rallying a hatch as a opposed to a sedan make it favorable body style. I’d imagine it’s the cornering style of Rallycross, as opposed to say, Time Attack, which I believe favors Sedans.
Is it really? Not that much
I belive it has to do with chassis dinamics, a hatch tends to have a much smaller wheel base improving maneuverability. Deriving in smaller chassis hence less tubing
Weight distribution is pushed towards the rear.
Just a guess, I’ve always wondered this myself.
Everyone mentioning technical factors, when it says in the regulations of the sport (FIA WRC anyway) that the vehicle must be a mass manufactured vehicle with 3 doors (used to be five before the regulations changed a few years ago) of which more than at least 200 have been produced and sold to the public.
The Skoda Fabia R5 has 5 doors :)
Engine sizes are limited to 1.6L for WRC these days, used to be 2L hence why imprezas and evos were used.
That’s the main reason then
FIA blue book states that wrc cars have to be derived from a 3 or 5 door hatchback (5 door can be used for R5 cars)with a maximum capacity of 1600cc. As for other championships hatchbacks provide a shorter wheelbase do the car is more agile.