DModelkits 2023

[niteowl7710]

So I've not seen it mentioned here (that I can easily find), but DModelkits is well under way with their 2nd New Tool kit, a pair of 95 Toyota Celicas. Famous in WRC for running an illegal turbo and getting Toyota Team Europe banned from WRC for the back half of 1995 and all of 1996.

But today these guys announced two MORE new tool kits for later next year.

The Citroën C4 is also supposed to have an opening hood and an engine.

[stitchdup]

Cool, we've not had the late escort before except for an expensive trans kit. and the tamiya is pricey now so this is gonna sell well in the uk and rest of europe, and probably the southern hemisphere too since rallying is pretty big there too

[stavanzer]

Illegal Turbo?

Was using the Turbo not allowed?

Or did they pull a 'fast one' and use the wrong turbo? 

[keyser]

Toyota's Turbo scandal

In the history of WRC the most blatant case of cheating is Toyota’s illegal turbo discovered at Rally Catalunya 1995. On one hand, it was piece of brilliant engineering but on the other hand it embodied the desperation that TTE was in to make latest Celica competitive. Toyota forced the team to use Celica as a base for their programme, even though car was not ideal for the purpose.

Toyota has some of the best engineers in the world. Every car is inspected before the rally by by the governing body to make sure that the restrictor plate is installed. Toyota engineered a way to allow air in to the turbo intake that completely bypassed the seals around the restrictor. Additionally when the car was moving and the turbo was engaged, the restrictor plate would be moved back a couple of inches completely nullifying the effect of the restrictor plate. Some of the best judges and techs had gone over the car to make sure cheating like this were not taking place. In fact, the engineering was so good that when the turbo was disassembled post-race for inspection, judges couldn’t find any evidence that extra air had passed through the turbo. Toyota had manufactured special springs and clips that would move the restrictor plate back from the air intake, but when the turbo was disengaged the springs would pop it back in to position making it appear that everything was as per the FIA rules. 

Max Mosley, the president of the FIA at the time said this: “Inside it was beautifully made. The springs inside the hose had been polished and machined so not to impede the air which passed through. To force the springs open without the special tool would require substantial force. It is the most sophisticated and ingenious device either I or the FIA’s technical experts have seen for a long-time. It was so well made that there was no gap apparent to suggest there was any means of opening it.”

This gave the car an estimated 25% extra air coming in to the turbos, which added an 50 BHP. In the group A period the cars were restricted to 300bhp but most teams ran more power. The FIA quickly moved to ban TTE. Toyota lawyered up, but they were eventually banned for the rest of the 1995 and 1996 season.

[niteowl7710]

Yeah what Keyser said...illegal in the sense that it was probably the finest, most elegant example of cheating recorded in Motorsport at the time...maybe still to this day.

[Justin Porter]

Really hoping that DModelKits finds a a wholesale distributor for here in the states so I can get some of these onto my shelf. That Escort and the Citroen C4 in particular would be big eye-catches in my shop.

[stavanzer]

Re: Turbo Scandal.

So the Ghost of "Smokey Yunick" was guiding the Toyota Team!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Yunick

Smokey was famous for "Bending the Rules" to build faster cars.

[Motor City]

This reminds me of the diesel emissions scandal that VW got caught up in with software that complied during EPA testing, but then reverted to "dirty" emissions during normal driving. 

Everything You Need to Know about the VW Diesel Emissions Scandal (caranddriver.com)

The HD diesel truck engine manufacturers also got caught up in their own cheating scandal.

[stitchdup]

Was it lancia that had the roll cages that you could bend with your hands. and cars that were so poorly built they had mechanics among the crowds for the inevitable breakdowns.

[Joe Handley]

On 12/27/2022 at 9:59 AM, stavanzer said:

Re: Turbo Scandal.

So the Ghost of "Smokey Yunick" was guiding the Toyota Team!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Yunick

Smokey was famous for "Bending the Rules" to build faster cars.

This has to be one of my favorite videos on YouTube in relation to this matter.

 

I also used a the RSR story to help set up a 1/10 scale RWD and rear motor Traxxas Bandit that I built a couple years back to race against a buddy’s 1/8 scale, AWD and mid motorLosi 8ight E, but that’s more of a “run whatcha brung” than an actual racing class.   Should be interesting to see how the two pair up once we actually get to run each other.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Joe Handley

[stavanzer]

I look forward to hearing the results, Joe/