The Rallye's of Volkswagen Motorsport
 

In conclusion to our earlier thread on the standard VW Golf Rallye, I want to tell you guys a bit more about the Rallye's that where build by Volkswagen Motorsport. Kicking off with a history-lesson :)

1986 - a World-title -
In 1986 Volkswagen wins the World Title for Drivers with Swedish driver Kenneth Eriksson in a Volkswagen Golf GTi 16v in Group A trim. In 1986, not Group A, but Group B is drawing all the attention. Due to a minimum of technical regulations, Group B offers the teams a nearly limitless playground in which they can build really vigirous machines. Cars like the Audi Quattro, Ford RS200 and the Lancia Delta S4 competed in the Group B Rallies. They where delivering up to 600 BHP in those days and manufacturers such as Porsche and Ferrari where even developing cars to start in the 1987 season as the series drawed a huge amount of spectators and media-attention. Unfortunatly there were some severe accidents with fatalities in the 1985 and 1986 season, which made the FIA decide to stop the Group B Class at the end of the 1986 season.

1987 - Time for something new -
Due to the closure of Group B, Group A became the main attraction. A lot of manufacturers who competed in the Group B rallies altered their cars to suit Group A regulations. Kenneth Eriksson, still VW Works Driver, ended the season with a 4th place overall, whilst Lancia dominated the season with their Delta Integrale HF ending up with 1st, 2nd and 3rd position in the Drivers Championship and a 1st position in the Constructors Championship. Volkswagen ended up 4th in the Constructors Championship. Although the 2WD Championship still ended up with VW, it became very clear that they needed a 4WD car to be able to win Rallies

1988 - Development starts -
In 1988 brainstorming began on the new car. It had to comply with Group A regulations and needed 4WD and a super- or turbocharged engine to compete with Lancia. Group A regulations also meant that there had to be a Series-production of at least 5000 cars. The decision was made to take the MKII Golf as a base-modell on which the Rally-car had to be developed. The 1.8 G60 engine of the Corrado would be the powerplant underneath the hood. In the mid 80's VW developed the Syncro-system, this would make a nice 4WD system for the rally-car. Early 1988, development on the Golf Rallye starts. Due to the fact that the car was made up of different parts already used in the Volkswagen-concern, development rapidly moved forward.

In the meantime, Lancia was dominating the Group A season, winning 10 out of 13 races. Volkswagen was nowhere to be seen, still driving the 2WD GTi 16v which had to compete with cars such as Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and Nissan 200 SX.

1989 - Time to get your Golf Rallye at the dealer -
Fall 1988, the VW Golf Rallye production model was launched at the Dealers. Equipped with a syncro 4WD system, 1H 160 BHP G-Charger engine, widened wheel-arches and a special Recaro interior, it proved to be a dream to each car-enthusiast. Meanwhile Volkswagen Motorsport (VWMS) was receiving their first Rallye's to convert into real Rally cars. VWMS decided to build a Group A car, while this championship was the most appealing at the time. Later on, there would also be a Group N version, which had to be more like the production model. The Group A car was homologated on the 1st of December 1989.

Lancia was almighty, again they won both the Constructors and the Drivers Championship. Volkswagen ended up 9th in the Constructors-championship.

1990 - It's time to burn!! -
In 1990 VWMS starts the Volkswagen Golf Rallye as a Works-Team in the World Championship Group A. The first Rally in which they competed was the 1990 Costa Smeralda Rally on Sardine. Lancia's home-base.....

So on the 4th of April 1990, the WOB AZ 144, drove up the starting ramp in Sardine not knowing what would happen next. Volkswagen blew the entire competion away on the first day. The three stages driven on that day, all ended up in Erwin Weber's hands resulting in a firm 1st position at the end of the day. Needless to mention that Lancia aswell as the worldpress were shocked. What had VWMS been building in their Headquarters in Hannover. VW ended the Costa Smeralda on a 6th place.




As promising as the start in the Rally Costa Smeralda, as disappointing was the rest of the 1990 season. Volkswagen was unable to keep up with the pace of the other competitors. The main reason was found in the reliabilty of the car which proved to be dramatic. Best result of the season was a 3rd place in the New Zealand for Erwin Weber. As 2 litre engines were allowed again in the 1990 season, VW had no real chance in driving up front. This meant that Volkswagen would resign at the end of the 1990 season in WRC Group A Rallying.

1991 - Deutsches Rallye Meisterschaft -
The end of VWMS in the WRC didn't meant that they gave up on rallying. In 1991 they started in the German Championship with the Golf Rallye and Weber and Baumschlager as their 2 drivers. VWMS proved to be dominating. They won the 1991 championship, both Constructors and Driver (Erwin Weber). At the end of the succesfull 1991 season, Volkswagen decided to stop Rallying and this also meant the end of the Works-team. Eversince there have been several VWMS Rallye's used in rallying, but never again by the Works-team.

VWMS Golf Rallye Group A Specs
 

General
Manufacturer: Volkswagen
Type: Rallye Golf G60
Cylinder Capacity: 1764cc (x1,7= 2999cc)

Dimensions
Length: 4060mm
Width: 1717mm
Wheelbase: 2485mm

Engine
1764cc (x1,7= 2999cc)
Bore: 80,6mm
Stroke: 86,4mm
Engine-management:VW Digifant (Bosch)
Single Overheaded Camshaft
2 valves per cilinder
Water-cooled engine with a wet sump lubrication system
Equipped with G-Charger
280 BHP @ 7000/min

Drivetrain
4WD, 6 speed dogbox with hydraulic clutch. Independent suspension on al 4 corners. 325mm front-brakes, 280mm on the back.

Weight
1050kg

The VWMS Rallye's
 

VWMS Rallye 001: WOB AW 482







VWMS Rallye 002: WOB AZ 144



This is the 1991 DRM Championship car




A few years ago it had a rebuild and is now rallying again under different license-plates:





VWMS Rallye 003 WOB CL 622







VWMS Rallye 004 WOB CL 636




VWMS Rallye 005 WOB CL 757




VWMS Rallye 006 WOB CL 770







VWMS Rallye 007 WOB VC 87




VWMS Rallye 008 WOB VX 44
This is the one from the brochure and the promotional video

1H Group A Engine
 

How do you know you have a real VWMS Rallye in front of you
 

If you search the web for Rallye's on a regular basis, you are familiair with terms such as "Genuine VW Motorsport Shell" or things like that. The real VWMS Bodies have a few "Tells" with which you can identify "the real deal"

Let me take you through them:

1) The filler cap is located in the last pillar, not in the sidepanel, as you can see in the picture beneath:



2) There is a jacking-point in the sideskirt.



3) No VWMS Rallye has a sunroof

4) A VWMS Rallye has a small ID-plate on the B-pillar



5) A VWMS Rallye has Suspension-domes with camber/caster adjustment



6) Group A Rallye's do not have the supports under the roof-plating. (Group N still have got them)

7) The Group A Rallye-body is a so-called "Dünnblech-Karrosserie", 0,6mm plated bodies to reduce weight (Group N is a normal body)

8) Group A Rallye's have no mounting-brackets for the rear-seats. (Group N is fitted with these brackets)

9) Group A Rallye's have double layered brackets in the engine compartment which are for the engine-mounts (Group N has single layered (series) items)

OK guys, that's it for now. If you have comments or suggestions, please let me know!

PS: As you can see, I don't have pictures to all the VWMS Rallye Tells above, if anyone of you has them; do not hesitate to contact me!

I know that a couple of Rallyes went to USA, I once read an article on them in VWTrends back in the early 90s. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the driver and his team, but IIRC, his cars were genuine VWMS cars with the correct VWMS colors, and probably the only true US-spec Rallyes ever. I don't know if these cars were Gr.N or Gr.A, but I thought I should mention them.

why the x1,7?

i believe its due to the pressure filling from the g-lader the cylinder capacity is in theory the same as an 2999cc engine

The FIA permitted a normal aspirated engine with a maximum of 3 Litres or a charged engine of equal calculated volume. To calculate this volume, the capacity of the engine is multiplied by 1,7.

aaah, so it's the number the FIA came up with to compare blown engines to NA..

I received some information of a Rallye-enthousiast from England.
He sent me some results from back in the day:

WRC

37th Rally Acropolis 03/06 - 06/06 WOB CL 622 Erwin Weber/ Matthias Feltz car 15 retired after stage 18 due to water pump failure.


20th Rothmans Rally of New Zealand 30/06 - 03/07 WOB CL 622 Erwin Weber/ Matthias Feltz car 8 3rd in 6h.56min.24s. Winner completed rally in 6h.48min.26s
(Special stage positions ss1-3rd ss2-7th ss3-12th ss4-9th ss5-3rd ss6-4th)


3rd Commonwealth Bank Rally Australia 20/09 - 23/09 WOB CL 636 Erwin Weber/ Matthias Feltz retired after stage 27 in car 10 after being excluded. I think they were pushed out of a control zone when an electrical fault cut the engine.
(Special stage positions ss1- 0 ss2-1st ss3-1st ss4-1st ss5-5th ss6-7th)

Others

European Championship Rally 11
Costa Smeralda 04/04 - 06/04 Erwin Weber/ Matthias Feltz WOB AZ 144 6th in 4h.43min.31secs. Winner in 4h.35min.43secs.

European Championship Rally 43
Bohemia 02/11 - 03/11 Baumschlager / Zeltner GpA WOB CL 622 1st 2h.33min.52secs
------------------------------

He also had some information on the car which Per is remembering;




1990 Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race, also known as the Climb to the Clouds Tim O'Neil set a time of 7:45

March 30-31, 1990 Sunriser 400 Forest Rally GpA Tim O'Neil / Martin Headland dnf car 4.

April 28-29, 1990 Rim of the World GpA Tim O'Neil / Martin Headland 2nd car 4.

May 12, 1990 Tiadaghton Trail PRO Rally GpA Tim O'Neil / Martin Headland dnf car 4.

June 1-3, 1990 Susquehannock Trail PRO Rally GpA Tim O'Neil / Martin Headland dnf car 4.

August 24-25, 1990 Ojibwe Forests Rally GpA Jean-Paul Perusse / Martin Headland 3rd .

October 26-28, 1990 Press On Regardless GpA Tim O'Neil / Martin Headland dnf.

Nov 9-11, 1990 Coachman Stages PRO Rally GpA Tim O'Neil / Martin Headland 1st car 4.

April 19-21, 1991 Rim of the World GpA Tim O'Neil / Martin Headland dnf car 6.

May 3-5, 1991 Tiadaghton Trail PRO Rally GpA Tim O'Neil / Martin Headland 2nd car 6.

June 1-2, 1991 Susquehannock Trail PRO Rally GpA Tim O'Neil / Martin Headland dnf car 6.

Scott Fuller and Ben Bradley ran an ex Vince Wetton (UK) car in 1996.





February 24, 1996 Doo Wop I PRO Rally Scott Fuller / Ben Bradley 1st car 20.

February 25, 1996 Doo Wop II PRO Rally Scott Fuller / Ben Bradley 3rd.

March 24, 1996 Doo Wop III & IV PRO Rally Scott Fuller / Ben Bradley dnf car 20

Nov 8, 1996 Tour de Forest Scott Fuller / Ben Bradley 12th.

------------------------
And last but not least he supplied me with a genuine Press Document which you can find in the Rallye Golf Album





Mark a big TY from the Volksforum Crew for your information!

1991 DRM Championship
 

Here are the results of the 1991 Deutsches Rallye Meisterschaft (DRM)
Some info is missing, we would like to see it completed, so contact me if you got more info.

Rallye Niedersachsen---21-24/02
WOB AZ 144 Weber/Heimer 1st 1h24min40sec
??????????? Baumschlager/Zeltner???

Sachs Rallye Franken---21-23/03
WOB AZ 144 Weber Heimer 2nd +1min27 (Winner 1hr21min25sec).
WOB AW 482 Baumschlager/Zeltner 4th +2min16sec.

ADAC Saarland Rallye---11-14/04
WOB AZ 144 Weber/Heimer 5th +5min03sec (Winner 1hr27min57sec) Co-driver side of car all smashed.
WOB AW 482 Baumschlager/Zeltner out with transmission failure

Rallye Hessen---30/05-02/06
WOB AZ 144 Weber Heimer 1st 1hr38min57sec
WOB AW 482 Baumschlager/Zeltner 3rd +1min54sec

Hunsruck Rallye---04-07/07
WOB AZ 144 Weber Heimer 1st 3hr20min19sec
WOB AW 482 Baumschlager/Zeltner 4th +6min54sec electrical problems (misfire)

Rallye Deutschland---18-20/07
WOB AZ 144? Weber Heimer 2nd +45sec (Winner 3hr32min26sec)
???????????? Baumschlager/Zeltner???

3-Stadte Rallye---24-27/10
WOB AZ 144 Weber Heimer 1st 2hr16min29sec
WOB CL 770 Baumschlager/Zeltner 3rd +5min28sec
WOB AW 482 Beck/Feltz ????

Overall
1st Weber Heimer 357 points
5th Baumschlager/Zeltner 143 points

Also a press-release on the 1990 3 Städte Rallye. The first appearence of the Rallye Golf in the DRM Championship. Because the images are to big, you can view them in the Rallye Golf Database.

Page 1 Press Release 3 Städte Rallye 1990

Page 2 Press Release 3 Städte Rallye 1990

Page 3 Press Release 3 Städte Rallye 1990

Ah, yes, Tim O'Neil was his name. And, the car you see in the picture is something as rare as a true US-spec Rallye Golf. Notice the side marker light (above the Sachs logo) and US-spec Corrado headlights.

Youre right Per. This is 1 of the 2 US Spec Rallye's. Don't know where the other one went, still trying to track it down aswell...

A French guy has bought one the CL 622.

look in the french thread,.. he's a member here

Yesterday I received the Original Press-Information Bulletin of the 1991 Hessen Rallye. It was scanned so that we can share it with you guys:



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A big Thank You goes out to Ruud Buitendijk who has made this possible by placing the Original Press Information to our disposal.