All group B cars were banned after 1986 because of some well publicized fatal crashes (Henri Toivonen was the big one) at that point Audi was not dominating, here is a breakdown;

1986 Juha KANKKUNEN (Peugeot) Peugeot (Gr. B) World Ch. (drivers & manufacturers)
1985 Timo SALONEN (Peugeot) Peugeot (Gr. B) World Ch. (drivers & manufacturers)
1984 Stig BLOMQVIST (Audi) Audi (Gr. B) World Ch. (drivers & manufacturers)
1983 Hannu MIKKOLA (Audi) Lancia (Gr. B) World Ch. (drivers & manufacturers)
1982 Walter ROHRL (Opel) Audi World Ch. (drivers & manufacturers)

Audi was getting consistently beaten by Peugeot by the time Group B ended. The car was too nose heavy compared to the better balanced also AWD competitors. They came out with a SWB version (Sport Quattro) but it was not enough. Great car but not as dominant once it had AWD competition but it was the innovator

 

Wrong.

Only on the TT/R34 setup does that happen. It's the Haldex system.

The rest of the Audi line uses Torsen (TORque-SENsing) diffs with an even split. The exception being the newer S4/RS4 lines with a RWD bias.


The ATTESA system is nice. And stout. But it's REALLY HEAVY. The G35 US version that got the AWD system was tested to be several hundred pounds heavier with their AWD system. It's listed by the manf. at 3650 lbs! Regular G35 sedan weighs in at closer to 3480lbs. What a porker with AWD!!!

I'll take a lightweight, proven, traditional AWD system with very high quality diffs any day.

 

Mmmm I've always bene fond of ATESSA, but Matt brings up a point I wanted to mention; you beta me to it guy! Anyways, the Skyline was always called a "lead sled" by many enthusiats. Wonder why? It was indeed the AWD system that weighed the car down GREATLY. Even so, I still love it.

 

Curb weight of the Evo is 3263lbs (1483.2kg), the R32 Skyline GTR weighs 3256 (1480kg)......a porker? Hardly.

 

Remember we're comparing a coupe from 1990 with a 4 door sedan from 2003. Cars are much heavier today because they are engineered to much higher safety standards than 15 years ago.

 

My VR-4 was a porker weighing in at like 3800 lbs

 

i own a subaru also umm.......they've been doing awd systems for a few years too.
(my father works for GM) GM is now getting most of its awd systems from subaru they also own 60% of the company. idk if this helps but i thought it was interesting anyway

 

Actually totally wrong. GM just sold their 20% stake in Subaru. To toyota...

http://www.autoblog.com/entry/1234000133061918/

Also, no Subaru AWD technology has ever made it into a GM car, the 9-2X doesn't count since it's made by subaru in japan.

 

Read it again: Toyota is only buying 8.7% of FHI, the rest of GM's share was sold back to FHI.

 

oh yea, btw, i have a best motoring video of evo7 vs sti vs r34 in the snow...evo wins with sti close behind it and skyline trailing wayyy behind. skyline seemed to understeer a lot.

also another clip i have from top gear, they ran evo7 or 8, i forget, against the old rally version of audi quattro (forgot what it's actually called) and evo won.

so yea, new AWD systems r definitely better even in street cars.

 

What about the Bugatti Veyron? I think it can go from 0-100% Front or Rear.

 

^^^ all vw. Im sure its the quattro/4motion seeing that vw owns bugatti veyron.

 

We're actually supposed to be comparing AWD systems, not which car weighs more. Nevertheless, I'd like to see this video of the Evo, Scoob and Skyline race in the snow.......

 

Right. My point is really that GM never owned 60% of FHI and that Subaru technology never really got the chance to move to GM, but your point is well taken- when correcting someone else you better be correct yourself or you look like an ***.

 

well the r32 was the lightest and is considered by many to be the purest form of skyline esp for motorsports use, that was the complaint with r33s and r34s since they kept getting heavier. the r34 weighs 3672lbs (though the R33 was only 3375lbs). i don't know if the wording makes sense but you get the jist of it...