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The four-class system was confusing, with John Cleland winning the title in his Astra despite the RSs dominating the overall race results. Also, the RS was nearing the end of its homologation period. When they exited, the series faced the prospect of just one or two Nissan Skyline GT-Rs — a relatively unknown car at the time — taking their place at the top.
Engines would have no more than six cylinders, with drive sent to two wheels only. Turbocharging was suggested, but opposition from BMW nudged things in favour of natural aspiration. There was an rpm rev limit and, initially, standard engine mounting positions were used.
Performance increased, too. With four-wheel drive permitted in the European series, progression to a quattro version of the new A4 for the season was a natural move, and the new car picked up where the 80 left off, securing the Italian title and taking more victories in the German and French touring car championships, against strong opposition from BMW and Peugeot. Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, then head of Audi Sport, made the decision in mid that the company should be represented in the British Touring Car Championship — a series rapidly developing a reputation for exciting racing and intense competition, with no fewer than nine factory entries that year.
John Wickham was drafted in to manage the team, which for seconded the considerable driving talent of Biela, alongside newcomer John Bintcliffe, who had seen some success in single-make tin-tops. The A4 provided Audi Sport with some immediate benefits over the 80, including a shorter overall body length, longer wheelbase and wider tracks, as well as a shorter front overhang.
Like its rivals, the A4 sported 8. Based on the same in-line, valve four-cylinder used in the 80, it was always underpowered next to the competition.
Like other engines of the era, it still represented the peak of naturally aspirated tuning for the time, outfitted with individual 44mm slide throttle bodies fed by an enormous carbonfibre intake, upgraded with 85mm Mahle pistons and utilising dry-sump lubrication. Some sources quoted power as high as bhp at rpm, and lb ft of torque at a screaming rpm. In , further modifications lifted power to around bhp — though some rivals were by then estimated to have more than bhp. The position of the engine proved difficult too.
As our images show, the four is mounted as far forward as it was in the road cars, a symptom of the all-wheel-drive layout. What the A4 lacked in straight-line speed it made up for in reliability and ease of use. The quattro system gave the A4 astonishing traction, braking stability and balance, though the engine layout did make it slightly nose-heavy, tending towards mild understeer.
Viscous front, centre and rear differentials allowed the team to vary the torque split, sending more power to the rear on circuits with faster corners and even running a locked rear diff where traction was a priority. Unlike its front-drive rivals, the Audi ran similarly sized brakes at both ends to take advantage of its even balance, with mm discs at the front, mm at the rear. We ran the car for eight hours, non-stop, and he just kept going.
It was hit with significant weight penalties from the start, carrying 95kg more than the kg front-drivers, and the amount of ballast grew further in until Audi decided it was being unfairly penalised. Events Multimedia Gaming Miscellaneous Website discussion.
Ford Mondeo Super Touring. This was a particularly competitive and popular era of the BTCC with the cars built to the relative liberal Super Touring regulations and by some of motorsport's finest organisations like Williams and TWR. Ahead of the season, Ford stepped up its efforts and entrusted the development and construction of the latest batch of Mondeos to Prodrive, while signing Alain Menu and Anthony Reid to drive.
Using a stripped out Mondeo road car shell as the basis, Prodrive engineers George Howard-Chappell and David Lapworth created one of the most sophisticated touring cars ever built. Mounted as far back and down as possible was a production based V6 engine. In fact, it was installed so low that the drive shafts ran over the crankcase between the two cylinder banks. Modifications to the exterior to the front splitter and the single-piece rear wing.
Its displacement was reduced from the road car's 2. Used from , it produced an impressive bhp by It was mated to an XTrac sequential gearbox and installed transversely, virtually underneath the dashboard. Thanks to the extensive use of lightweight materials throughout the car, Prodrive's Super Touring Mondeo tipped the scales at well under 1, kg. Add your comments on the Ford Mondeo Super Touring. Cars by brand.
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Le Mans Series Catalunya km. Skip to Content Skip to Footer. Not only did it drop down from 2. Based on the same in-line, valve four-cylinder used in the 80, it was always underpowered next to the competition. Can-Am - A touring car class that focussed on these would be a success for manufacturer support, so I guess they just hoped that a fan base would follow. Ford
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- Ford Mondeo Super Touring: shot gallery, full history This was a particularly competitive and popular era of the BTCC with Mounted as far back and down as possible was a production based V6 engine. It may be without an engine, but you could drive this effectively new SuperTouring-era car against some of the BTCC greats.
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