Anssi - Unfair Advantage is a reference to the Book written by Mark Donohue. It refers to the advantage some teams have when they search and exploit the possibilities for the car while still in the rules. It's not truly unfair, just seems so. BTW - it's a great book, check it out.
True, but this is the case today as well. The GTO class, in which Audi 90 GTO competed in, is today the GT1 class from ALMS. In GT1 only the engine block is kept. Transmission, most of the chassis and the aero package are completely different from stock.
f1 bmw's of the 1980's had 1000bhp++ from 1.3litre 4 cylinder based on production block pretty much.......the 80's was a great time for technology in all levels of racing.....le mans, f1, rallying, touring cars......too many rules now me thinks....good vid....audi's looked cool
Audi have a history of changing the rules and dominating sport events.... Quattro + TDI technology spring to mind immediately but as this video proves Audi again :)
@McLarenMercedes and that´s a reason why american car brands are not very established in europe. but i also have to say the european standards and the usa standards are very different
I see a lot of good comments below and some negative. I checked the records and Audi did not race after the 89 season. Were there rule changes? In addition, the 90 did not win the GTO class. They failed to enter enough races and had some DNF's that took them out of the points race at the end. If their point was to show off their technology and I am sure it was, they succeeded. Anyone notice that Mazda was one of the most successful in the IMSA series?
huckebeinFW - you answered your won question. Audi made such a powerful engine (which also definitely deserves kudos) because Quattro AWD has a weight penalty. Both go hand in hand. There is no point in having all that power if you can't keep the car on the road. As the drivers said - the more the track deteriorates (which undoubtedly it will) Quattro always provides the traction advantage. Either way you spin - the powerful engine or the Quattro - Audi got itself banned.
@DerFahrer5000 You saw Alesi in an F40?! Lucky bastard, I'd have paid good money to see him racing Ferrari's most beautiful car. I have seen him driving in a European sports car race and he was just as quick as in F1.
@LykosLykos If 4wd it's such a stunning vantage, all sports car (from touring to super-touring and Gt) should use it, it would also give an hand to 4wd system development for normal cars (you know, racing tech it's often a referring point to those used after some years in production cars) giving us better cars and faster races to watch...
Quattro for the win. The fact that no series allows awd anymore does seem to confirm that it's an "unfair advantage." Its a shame that there are no 'open' classes; car type, basic safety and a power/weight ratio should be the only regulations. Let the engineers go from there.
@UndeadTom1 Detroit survived for so long solely because they made all their money from trucks, which still is the most sold type of vehicle in the USA. For over a decade the Ford F-150 pick-up truck was the biggest seller of all cars sold. Since gasoline (petrol) is insanely cheap in the USA and the government insisted on living in a world where there are limitless of resources (or cheap imported oil from other countries, i.e Middle East) there was no need to design anything else but trucks.
I love Muscle Cars. I love their sound, I love their design. Some time i will get one. BUT: German drivers are better schooled in driving and German Cars where better, are better and will allways be better than all others in the world.
@WakAtak914, Quattro was not a significant advantage in IMSA, as it is not an advantage in road racing in general. The losses in power due to AWD config, the additional weight do not make up for the gains in traction. Indeed, the real 'unfair advantage' was the turbo. By the end of the 80s all IMSAcars were turbo, because the regulations favored them. There was a 15 to 20% weight penalty for the turbo cars, but they were having at 50% more power, thus the edge in racing.
It's not unusual to see this kind of decision: when a car uses a new feature the others should study it, copy and use it too (that's the essence of motor-racing, always improving) but usually the fast way to match the performances of the cars in the champ (ban the new tech) it's preferred because it's less expensive.
@AnssiMarkkanen "Unfair" has a different meaning in the USA. Unfair = Outsmart So since they couldn't beat the smart Audi guys, they had to change the rules to "remove" them from the "competition" again.
I think clarkson has competition on what the best looking car ever built is.He should put this on top gear and get the stig to do a lap time and see whats what.
I meant in PERFECT conditions-- In a world where tires don't degrade and the road stays clean throughout the race, etc. Yes AWD has at least some advantage in the real world no matter what the conditions.
First off, I grew after IMSA's glory days, in fact this video is probably the most exposure to the series I've had. So I have no real knowledge of IMSA and its regulations. I agree that in perfect conditions quattro gives no real advantage, but as soon as it starts to rain a bit, or whenever a layer of dust or debris or tire scrub appears on the track(which is very often), the benefits of quattro are unbeatable. If they aren't then why would so many series today disallow all wheel drive?
You are incorrect. Listen to the last 2 minutes and it explains that even in dry conditions - awd CAN be an advantage. Of course - engine, suspension, balance and driver also play a part. If you configure it correctly - the awd certainly can be an advantage in the dry...
What they mean by unfair advantage is that the audi's are 4 wheel drive while the other cars are rear wheel drive.The audi's would have twice the grip even with thinner tyres on them.Well at least thats what i think he means lol.
Audi don't change the rules... the rules change after Audi make a mockery of the regulations and completely destroy the competition. Like you say the regulations are getting stricter and stricter but there is always room for improvement.
as always,innovation and engineering epertise rise to the challenges,and the competition protest "unfair" how often has that happened?? ross braun did it with braun racing,some of the technical aspects of his car were like....wow,and then the naysayers got involved....it goes on.
Nonsense, without turbo the engine would have produced around 200 HP. That's very little compared to the actual output of the turbo Audi 90 GTO which was over 700 HP. The actual 'unfair advantage' of this car was the turbo, which at that point was not correctly regulated (no boost limit - this Audi had 3-4 atm boost!!). It is also important to mention that this Audi did not win the IMSA championship (GTO class) - this film seems to imply the opposite.
This makes me sad. Because I don't see any Audi racing at the race tracks with their AWD system "Quattro". I see BMW(M3/3series), Posche(Cayman/Boxster/911), Chevy(corvettes), Ford(Mustang/Focus RS) and lots of Mazda(Miata) cars.
so because other makers don't want to develop all wheel drive cars, the better engineered car is banded. this action has led to a lesser quality of motor vehicle released to the market in usa and aust. just to name a few.
