Why do Rally cars have 4 doors?
 

I have been curious why most rally cars are still 4 door vehicles. I cannot think of any good reason, other than ease of production, that they would be sedans.
I mean I know that alot of rally cars are hatchbacks like the focus and the golf, but why do cars like the Evo and the WRX remain sedans? If anyone could shed some light on this, it would be appreciated. Thank! :mrgreen:

Well after getting up close and inside a real WRC car I would understand the 4 door idea because they keep alot of tools and equipment in the back for easy access since they don't have hatchbacks. also the Subaru atleast has the spare tire right there aswell.

As I know, and of course could not be the whole truth, is that rally cars must be "replicas" of the actual production cars, or the same cars, even when rally cars cost more than one mil bucks
so, supposedly the wrc peugeot 307 cc has to carry many of the roof's mechanisms of the production car, and ppl at peugeot tell you that.

another example: if the new focus wrc will be based on the 5 door sedan, it will have 5 doors, instead of 3.

geek and/or ford capri must know the answer, they're hardcore rally

the older 22B STI had two doors and it was great

because they are based on production cars, like fabia and impreza are not 2 doors in serie,

yeah, rally cars have to be based on 4/5 seat production models and it just so happens decent 4 seaters are 4 door, plus the stuff t bird said

I think it got to do with weight distribution.. and the fact that the car got to be a production car in order for it to compete in rally events.. Maybe this is just some of the things.. I am sure someone will provide better info

The 307CC have 4 doors? And the Focus? And the 206WRC

believe, when will be Fabia 2 D will be in rallye, same in impreza

Simply the rallying cars are based on road versions since each brand has to produce a minimum number of units of the road cars(among other FIA requirements) in order to be homologated for rallying

and naturally the road versions have two or four doors depending on the market that each road car is aimed to (strategy of each brand at the end of the day)....for instance the first ford sierras versions had 2 doors (the RS), afterwords, the sierra cosworth became only the 4 door car version for the same type of client, some years after ford became to the 3 door concept with the Escort (the same type of segment as well)....Lancia has even had four door for its every Delta version although every Delta version has been always a crispy and dymanic car, as the Alfa Romeo 33 which has been always alongside the Delta two of the crispiest cars ever

That the 4 door versions mean more or less rigid than its equivalent two door version is a difficult question to answer...as well as any technical question...the only thing that remains certain is that according to the WRC stages (the overall speed is quite high, and since 80% of the stages are on gravel), the ideal size of the car is supposed to be about 4,35m and its equivalent wheelbase, since a shorter wheelbase makes a car nervous and difficult to drive (the pug 206 WRC, and the Fabia) although their agility in slow bends is superb, whereas the excess of lenght (such as the ancient Mitsubishi Galant, Subaru Legacy, the Skoda Octavia, the Ford Sierra 4 door) meant the car too difficult to enter in almost every bend

BTW antonioledesma thanks a million to the compliments although i could do better in every action

no they doesnt exist, but when they will be, they will be rallye cars,

Im not good as you in english, forgot that

It's obvious.Every wrc has to have a series replica,and actually,Impreza's are made with 4 doors

A 2 door Scooby has existed, like 23790554 pointed out. But a 2 door Fabia not of course.

but i have some informations that Fabia 2 D maybe will be,

2 door means it will be a coupe and won't have a hatchback. The Fabia only exists as 3, 4 or 5 door (if my memory serves me right). So there won't be a 2 door WRC version, since they have to be based on an existing model (or they have to produce loads of units of their WRC car), like Ford Capri explained.



I'm pretty sure it will again be a 3 door hatchback:
pic1
pic2
pic3


btw, over here sedan means 4 door, a 5 door means it's a hatchback with also rear doors. I didn't know sedan was also used for 5 doors elsewhere.

2 door means it will be a coupe and won't have a hatchback. The Fabia only exists as 3, 4 or 5 door (if my memory serves me right).


ok mine mistake , here is fabia most selled car,
but now have only 3 modifications
5D hatchback
4D sedan
5D kombi

3D is maybe planed for next generation 2006?

To me it's also a little bit curius because the first Audi Quattro which is regarded as teh first WRC car as we know them today was with 2 doors.

The first Audi Quattro was launched in the rallying world as a Group 8...since during the end of seventees (before the launch of the group B) the cars cathegory was classified according to the engines size....the case of the renault 5 Turbo and the Audi Quattros was an exception since their engine was turbocharged and their group was created as they had a bigger engine in order to make equal the turbos advantages in shorter engines....anyway...the Audi Quattro became just the first rallying car with the four wheel drive system in it....on the other side, before Audis launch of the quattro for the rallying, many 2 door cars used to take part in the world of rallying; such as the Ford Escort MkI, MkII, the Merc CL, the BMW 2002, the Fiat 131 Abarth, the 124, The lancia Fulvia, the porsche 911, the Renault Alpine A110, the Mini cooper, among others

ditto, but subaru did away with two doors...I know not why

Thanks for all the replies guys, but Im kind of confused as to the anwser. Heres what I know so far:

- The street version rally hot rods (evo, sti) are 4 door because the rally cars they are based off of are 4 doors.

- The actuall rally cars are 4 doors because the factory road cars they are based off of are 4 doors.

...... I am the only one that thinks this makes about as much sence as Government Intelligence.... They make both the Lancer and the Impreza in 2 door models. (like the 2.5 rs) Well actuall in america they stopped selling the old 2 door mirage/lancer, but these cars are dimentionally similar to their 4 door counter parts, only much more rigid and with better wieght distribution.
Im just saying there must be a technical reason behind the 4 door thing. I dont think they would have 4 doors for little reasons like ease of access :|
thanks again :mrgreen:

Wow ive thought about this question before and never bothered to ask any1 .. interesting read :P

whooops :oops: sorry, it slipped. thanks Wutputt for pointing that out. That's when you realize you must think in the same language you're speaking, talking, writting

the "technical reason" sometimes is purely based in marketing. See the most noticeable example: the 307 cc
How many versions exist of this car?? vagon, 3 and 5 doors hatchbacks and the cc. Why they didn't choose the hatchbacks? Mkt proposed to use the CC because it would look better and give an excellent promotion and publicity to the new product of peugeot. It was said in some wrc media that the 307 cc had some problems (the most known the gearbox) because the team wanted the 3door hatch (easier to tweak, modify, better performance, etc)