Subaru pull out of world rallying

[staffsMike]

Yep, the radical shift from the former design to the new one was very odd... Why change from success to unknown?

It wasn't just them though, Mitsubishi went the same way. We knew a hatchback was coming for a long time anyway and it does make sense.

My old man is really happy with his MY08 STi having had a MY05 (blobeye) and just being a passenger in it you can see why. It wasn't a car he could live with everyday, doesn't like short trips to work etc.. So he constantly found himself in his run around (soon to be mine), swift sport.

It looks a bit odd from certain angles but the STi pack (strangely not fitted as standard..) makes it look a lot better

It has matured and it has become a car that takes a while to learn how to exploit but from what I've seen it's a far better car overall, just not such a good manic rally car for the road which, we are assured is coming..

[mc6415]

Dark, dark days for the world of motorsport, first Honda in F1 now Subaru in the WRC, hopefully these will be the last casualties now until the end of next season but you never know I guess, sad to see Subaru go, always liked them, especially that lovely blue colour they used on the cars.

[Rave]

WRC is too expensive and too boring IMO. They want to go on a cost cutting exercise there too. Apparently a modern WRC car eats its 10-grand diffs in one rally, and won't start without a laptop being involved. What's that all about?

IMO they should ban 4wd, and just go back to 1.6l or 2l N/A cars, with a good mix of tarmac, snow and gravel rallies. Have a weight formula to even up FWD and RWD cars if needs be.

Be honest- watching Ari Vatinen in a RWD Escort is more exciting that watching any modern WRC car. And I say that as someone who adores Scoobies.

I mean, wouldn't this through big crowds look sweet? Or this?

And as a bonus we might get some sweet homologation specials. Last time I checked you can't buy a 4x4 Focus or C4, which IMO defeats the point.

[digit]

WRC is too expensive and too boring IMO. They want to go on a cost cutting exercise there too. Apparently a modern WRC car eats its 10-grand diffs in one rally, and won't start without a laptop being involved. What's that all about?

IMO they should ban 4wd, and just go back to 1.6l or 2l N/A cars, with a good mix of tarmac, snow and gravel rallies. Have a weight formula to even up FWD and RWD cars if needs be.

Which is what they are doing forcing manufactorers to comply with and use the super 2000 rules.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72458

A statement from the World Motor Sport Council said: "The 2010 World Rally Car will be S2000 based. However, the removable kit, already adopted by the WMSC, will be redefined with no electronic benefits, or similar upgrades, to ensure cost reductions.

"The new S2000-based World Rally Car will only be permitted for use on World Rally Championship events."

[Betty_Swallocks]

I'm not sure that would be true of subaru, I mean they are alienating a large amount of their customers by not having a rally car.

To be honest I'm not sure that's actually true.
Yes, the rallying gets them a lot of publicity but tbh the majority of Subaru drivers (and buyers) are farmers and old people. I think a lot of them couldn't care less about rallying and high performance. The lads in the rally replicas are just a very high profile minority.

Just my opinion but as far as I'm concerned the more major players that get out of motorsports in general the better. Get rid of the big bucks teams and get it back to a point where driver skill is the dominating factor. In Formula 1 it doesn't matter how good you are, you're never going to be World Champ unless you're in one of the top two or three teams and that's purely because they can afford to throw more money at it. Michael Shumacher couldn't win at Jordan.

[tiggerai]

first mitsi, now scoob.


a girl needs her car porn!

[digit]

Motorshows?

[Lee H]

a girl needs her car porn!

Well there will always be the re-runs of older rallys on channels like Dave

I've got me lancia delta integrale images on my desktop at home, so that's enough car pr0n for me.

[staffsMike]

To be honest I'm not sure that's actually true.
Yes, the rallying gets them a lot of publicity but tbh the majority of Subaru drivers (and buyers) are farmers and old people. I think a lot of them couldn't care less about rallying and high performance. The lads in the rally replicas are just a very high profile minority.

It's a valid point, but the customers of the Impreza was more what I was aiming for not the forrestor or legacy etc..

They are probably one of the bigger enthusiast groups when it comes to cult cars but as you say they are reasonably minor in volume sales.

The problem I find with losing such a group of people is that hearsay mentality of the lesser bothered people. The PC World shopper who still thinks AMD are the best because their son bought one 5 years ago blah blah. While their purchases are minor their influence shouldn't be underestimated imo.

[ACiD303]

Hopefully Richards (ProDrive Dude) buys Honda F1.