The mighty Lancia Delta S4 in full detail and new Mazda and Golf racers ...

[Wouter Melissen]

The virtually no limits Group B class of the 1980s resulted in some of the most sophisticated rally cars of all time. One of the very best of these is the Lancia Delta S4. A Delta in name only, this mid-engined machine was the first Lancia rally car to be fitted with all-wheel drive. It also featured a cutting edge engine, which combined a turbo and a supercharger to cure the lag from which turbocharged engined machines suffered. The spectacular Lancia went head-to-head with Peugeot's 205 T16 in what was to be the final season for Group B. Over the years, we have captured three different examples of these legendary Martini liveried machines and with the help of Guido Bortolani, we have chronicled them in our detailed article, which is illustrated by a 32-shot gallery.
A brand new rally car is this Volkswagen Golf SCRC, developed specifically by Prodrive for the Chinese Rally Championship. Built to the spirit of the current WRC regulations, it does feature a slightly larger, two-litre engine, which produces in excess of 300 bhp. With the Golf SCRC Prodrive has created a rally car for a seventh manufacturer in the specialist manufacturer's 30-year history.
At this week's SEMA Show, Mazda released the first details of the new MX-5 Cup. Intended to compete in one-make series on several continents, the new MX-5 racer will hit the track in 2016.
Porsche, meanwhile, has thoroughly revised the Cayenne GTS. Instead of the V8 previously used, it now features a new twin-turbo V6 engine, good for 440 hp. Along with a new entry level Cayenne, the revised GTS will officially be revealed at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show.
Dubbed a Sport Utility Coupe and sporting a Star Trek-inspired warp-drive grille, the Mercedes-Benz Vision G-Code is a design study specifically targeting the Asian market. It was introduced at the opening of a new Product Engineering Centre in Beijing.

Enjoy the links:

1985 - 1986 Lancia Delta S4 Group B - Images, Specifications and Information

2016 Mazda MX-5 Cup - Images, Specifications and Information

2015 Porsche Cayenne GTS - Images, Specifications and Information

1985 - 1986 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale - Images, Specifications and Information

2014 Mercedes-Benz Vision G-Code - Images, Specifications and Information

2014 Volkswagen Golf SCRC - Images, Specifications and Information

[Ferrer]

Wouter, I think there's a mistake in the Delta S4's text.

There was a homologation requirement of 200 examples and there were four displacement divisions with their own minimum weight ranging from 820 kg for the 2000 cc group to 1100 kg for the 4000 cc group.

Shouldn't that be 3000cc instead of 4000cc?

(This is also the reason why the original engine in the 037 was bored out to 2111cc from 1985cc, because it still was under the 3 litre limit considering the forced induction 1.4 equivalence factor)

[pimento]

No there was a 4L category, hence the 288GTO and 959 being GroupB spec cars.

[Ferrer]

Now that I re-read it, it seems I misunderstood the text; I thought it implied there were two classes, up to 2000cc and up to 4000cc but this is not the case.

My bad.