**The Thrilling Story of Group B: A History of Speed and Danger**

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**Group B: The Scariest Thing That Happened in the Woods Since Ghosts Were Invented**

It was too beautiful and dangerous to exist in this world. Just like Heath Ledger, GROUP B was a World Rally Class whose four-year history would be cemented in the minds and myths of race fans for years.

**A Brief History of Group B**

At its peak, thousands lined the streets to bare witness the speed and fury of the cars and their engines that exploded in a beautiful cacophony of flat fours, V-6s, and inline 5s. With nearly no regulations placed on the cars, fearless drivers thrived as they hurtled through actual streets of actual towns all over the world.

**How Group B Came About**

But how did Group B come about? Well, grab your helmet and tighten up your harnesses baby, because we're going for a ride. This is everything you need to know to get up to speed on Group B racing.

**The Comparison with Group A**

Before Group B, the WRC was pretty cool – a bunch of cars racing around doing their best to squeeze performance out of production cars. A lot of well-loved cars and game-changing technology came out of WRC Group A. The legendary five-cylinder Audi Quattro being just one of those.

**The Key Differences between Group B and Group A**

But Group A had a ton of restrictions on power, size, technology, and cost. AND the base model for Group A was a production car, while Group B cars were specifically designed for racing. The minimum weight for Group A cars was also lower than that of Group B.

**The Rise of Group B Cars**

In addition to the Audi Quattro, other notable cars in Group B included the Ford RS200, which made a purported 550 HP at all four wheels, and the Citroën BX 4TC, which was a cumbersome little beast. Rover created the distinctive Metro 6R4, which featured almost comical, boxy bodywork and a large spoiler mounted on the front of the car.

**The Emergence of Henri Toivonen**

We are now in uncharted territory, and the stage is set to find out the world's best rally car and driver. And one young Finnish driver – Henri Toivonen – was emerging as a gifted wunderkind for whom Group B seemed the perfect format. Where more mature drivers were all too aware of the dangers, Henri pushed as hard as he could.

**The Consequences of Driving in Group B**

Drivers like Bjorn Waldegard look back at the danger less romantically - they say that "the cars were so quick your brain could not react in time; it was just too much." That sounds f***in' nuts! The technological achievements of Group B were at once a recipe for glory and all-out disaster.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enGroup B, the scariest thing that happened in the woods since ghosts were inventedIt was too beautiful and dangerous to exist in this world. Just like Heath LedgerGROUP B. A world Rally Class whose four yearhistory would be cemented in the minds andmyths of race fans for years. At its peak,thousands lined the streets to bare witnessthe speed and fury of the cars and their enginesthat exploded in a beautiful cacophony offlat fours, v-6s and inline 5s.With nearly no regulations placed on the cars,fearless thrived as they hurdled through actual streets of actual towns all over the world.On snow, mud and asphalt, the Group B drivers defiedbelief and cheated death.How did group B come about? How did it end?Well grab your helmet and tighten up your harnesses baby,cause we’re going for a ride. This is everythingyou need to know to get up to speed on Group B B racing.This episode of Up to Speed is brought to you by MVMT Watches.I wear mine everyday and I've already been married 9 times.Before Group B, the WRC was pretty cool- abunch of cars racing around doing the bestthey can to squeeze performance out of productioncars. A lot of well loved cars and game changingtechnology came out of WRC Group A. The legendary five cylinder Audi Quattro being just one of those.But Group A had a ton of restrictions on power,size, technology and cost. AND the base modelfor a Group A auto had to be mass-producedwith at least 5000 units a year and had tohave 4 seats.In contrast, Group B had few restrictionson technology OR design and only requiredthat weight was kept as low as possible. High-techmaterials were permitted, and there were norestrictions on boost. And for homologationrequirements, manufacturers only needed toproduce 200 cars.I mean I made 200 cars last week.That's nothing.PLUS, they left a special “evolution” clausethat meant year to year, if an update wasmade to a model, only 20 cars needed to reflectthe change, in Group A, you’d need to manufacturea fresh 5000. That's also what they used to call me in highschool. Fresh 5000. Supp'The only restrictions in Group B were:the cabin had to fit two seats and could notbe open roofed.A minimum weight calculated by engine displacementMaximum tire width calculated by engine displacement.And… that’s it.Those are all the rules.It took about a season for manufacturers torealize the limitless performance potentialof the group. In its first year, Audi didlittle to change their Quattro from its Group4 setup, but its still innovative drivetrainwas advanced enough carry Hannu Mikkola tothe driver's title in 1983. Lancia, however,made more bold improvements to their rear-wheeldrive 037 in shape, weight and power, andthe car was consistent enough to take theManufacturer's title.After its inaugural season, Group B’s lowhomologation requirements attracted more manufacturersand more experimentation. Opel replaced theirproduction-derived Ascona with the Group BManta 400, and Toyota built a new car basedon their Celica. Like the Lancia 037, bothcars were rear wheel drive- they were powerful,and could dominate on asphalt, but, they were stillfalling short when the terrain became lessstable. And this was the beauty of Group BRally… the restrictions were so few, thatmanufacturers were free to explore the bestcombination of power and drivetrain that wouldwork over a myriad of different surfaces.While Opel, Audi and Toyota were making tweaksto their existing cars, other teams realizedthe low homologation requirements would allowthem to start with a clean slate. Peugeotengineer Jean Todt studied the restrictions,looked to Audi’s success, and came up witha shorter four-wheel-drive car with more rear-biasedweight distribution. The Peugeot 205 T16 washomologated mid way through 1984. Featuringa mid-mounted, 1.8-liter turbocharged engine,350 hp, and four-wheel drive, it was immediatelycompetitive and became dominant from Augustonward. The evolution nudged 400 hp. It wouldhave won its first race, but driver Ari Vantenencrashed just before finishing. He was leading the pack by a lot.And speaking of crashes… these races andcars were getting so gnarly that crashes beganhappening more and more frequently. Vantenenled a ton of races for Peugeot, but seldomwon them because he had a consistent recordof crashing just before winning. Sound like my love life.Part of the thrill of watchingthe races was the excitement of knowing thatdrivers were toeing the line between triumphand calamity. Michelle Mouton, who Niki Laudadescribed as “superwoman” was notoriousfor her fearless driving, and she wasno stranger to gnarly exits either. In her firstgroup B race, she slid through a patch ofice and crashed at over a 100 miles an hour.Drivers were going so fast through such tightturns that their skills were being testedlike never before- Bjorn Waldegard looks backat the danger less romantically-- he’s sincesaid, “the cars were so quick your braincould not react in time; it was just too much.” That sounds f***in' nuts.Listen, these cars were using kevlar doorsto save on weight, they were using massivelyoverpowered engines and employing cuttingedge suspensions out of necessity. Body-kitswere radical amalgams of aero-innovationsand induction channels or cooling vents. Biggerengines meant wider wheelbase and tires, buta heavier minimum weight. As small enginepower output improved, you’d have the lightestcars on the circuit pumping out over 400 horsepower.The technological achievements of Group Bwere at once a recipe for glory and all out disaster.And guys, if you’re getting upset becauseI keep using the word “gnarly…” Afterraces, when they worked on the cars, Mechanicswould find things like severed fingers in the cars. Teamshad therapists and psychologists on retainerbecause just WORKING on Group B cars was thattraumatic. Those who won or placed in stages were exalted.But just finishing a race alive wasenough tao cement your status as an elite rally driver. driver.By end of 1985, in addition to ravenous GroupB attendance, and accomplished, heroic drivers,there was an outright cornucopia of competingcars, all testing theories about the rightmix of balance, power, weight and wheels.Lancia replaced their outclassed 037 withthe Delta S4, which featured both a turbochargerand a supercharger. Ford had returned afterseveral years away with the Ford RS200, whichmade a purported 550 HP at all four wheels.Citroën developed and entered the BX 4TC,which was a cumbersome little beast. Rovercreated the distinctive Metro 6R4, which featuredalmost comical, boxy bodywork and a largespoiler mounted on the FRONT of the car, andAudi's new Sport Quattro S1 boasted over 600hp (450 kW) and had a frickin' snowplough for the front end.We are now in uncharted territory, and thestage is set to find out the world’s bestrally car and the world’s best driver.And one young finnish driver- Henri Toivonen,after years of unfulfilled potential, wasemerging as a gifted vunderkind for whom GroupB seemed the perfect format. Where more maturedrivers were all too aware of the dangers,Henri, in his mid 20s- pushed as hard as hecould. Rally legend Walter Röhrl said “Henriwas a little bit crazy. He was fast and alwaysgetting faster, like someone in a trance."I could never be faster. Henri reached thepoint where it was only a question of timebefore something went badly wrong.And early in 1986, something did go badlywrong. On the "Lagoa Azul" stage of the PortugueseRally near Sintra, Portuguese national championJoaquim Santos crested a rise, turning tohis right to avoid a small group of spectators.This caused him to lose control of his RS200.The car veered to the right and slid off theroad into the spectators. Thirty-one peoplewere injured and three were killed. All thetop teams immediately pulled out of the rallyand Group B was placed in jeopardy.This crash came a year after Lancia driverAttilio Bettega crashed and died in his 037.His co-driver Maurizio Perissinot was uninjured,so the fatality was largely blamed on theunforgiving Corsican scenery and bad luck.But, with such a massive injury toll and thedeath of 3 spectators, the Lagoa Azul accidentwas making it apparent that Group B may betoo dangerous to exist.The promising driver Toivonen and his co-driver,Sergio Cresto sat at the start of the TourDe Corse, waiting for the signal. When theylaunched in the turbo and supercharged lancia,all four wheels gripped at the pavement tosend them hurtling past hundreds of spectatorswho lined the streets. But just seven kilometresinto the stage, their S4 flew off the unguardededge of a tight left turn and plunged downa steep, wooded hillside. The fuel tanks ruptured,and the car became a fireball on impact. Whencrews arrived nearly 30 minutes later, theinferno had left nothing of the Lancia buta charred tangle of tubing.Toivonen and Cresto's death, combined withthe Portugal tragedy, forced the FIA to act:Group B cars were immediately banned in 1987.Group B was done. It was an amazing time inautomotive ingenuity and ultimately provedtoo dangerous to exist.Could it happen today? With modern technologyand safety? Honestly, probably not.There is a certain beauty in those thingsthat can scare us. The raw power and magnificenceof a waterfall as you stand at the base; the exhilarationatop a cliff as as you stare down to the hard earthstories below. This is the allure of GroupB. It was an intersection of Icarian aspirationand technology in racing that can never beduplicated, and has become all the more mythicfor its short existence.This episode of Up to Speed was brought to you by MVMT watches.MVMT was founded on the belief that style shouldn't break the bank.Their goal is to change the way consumers think about fashion by offering high quality, minimalist products at revolutionary prices.With over one million watches sold, customers in over a 160 countries, MVMT has solidified itself as the world's fastest growing watch company.It's like the Volkswagen GTi of watches. Simple, cool looking and functional.Go to MVMT.com/DonutMedia or just click the link in the description below.Use promo code DonutMedia (duh) and you will receive $15 off of any of their sweet watches or sunglasses.Did I mention free shipping and free returns?They've got boy stuff! They've got girl stuff. They've got stuff for dads.The watches start at $95 bucks.Their sunnies starts at $75 bucks.You can get them polarized, just like one of them giant white bears from the north pole.This is everything you need to know to get up to speed on Group B.This one was a little bit serious.Not a lot of jokes. It's pretty much about people dying.How many times have you watch those group B videos on the internet which are just like ??????Uh, send me a dollar for a Lamborghini. And as always: like, comment, subscribe and share.