The cars of Group B

In four years, rallying’s top class moved from modified production cars to pure prototypes with a road-legal shadow. Line the cars up and you see three generations: the rear-wheel-drive transition cars (Opel Ascona/Manta 400, Lancia 037, Toyota Celica TCT, Nissan 240RS), the first four-wheel-drive Group B cars (Audi Quattro A1/A2), and the mid-engined, four-wheel-drive ‘supercars’ (Peugeot 205 T16, Lancia Delta S4, Ford RS200, MG Metro 6R4).

Grouve Sport documentary

Episode 7 — The Underdogs: Toyota, Opel, Nissan, Mazda, Renault, Citroën, Porsche & Ferrari

A technical journey through the Group B cars, from turbo lag to twincharging.

All the cars

Audi Quattro, Sport Quattro and S1 E2The car that taught rallying four-wheel drive: from the Quattro A1 and A2, via the short Sport Quattro, to the winged S1 E2.Read more →Lancia Rally 037The last two-wheel-drive car to win the manufacturers’ title. Light, supercharged, engineered by Abarth with Dallara and Pininfarina — and in 1983, faster than the Quattro.Read more →Lancia Delta S4A turbo and a supercharger, a mid-mounted engine, four-wheel drive and a Kevlar body. The Delta S4 won on its debut and on its first Monte — and is forever linked with Toivonen and Cresto.Read more →Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 and E2The most successful Group B car: 16 world rally wins, two manufacturers’ and two drivers’ titles.Read more →Ford RS200An all-new car with no production sibling, a Tony Southgate chassis and a turbocharged Cosworth engine. The RS200 programme arrived too late — and was overshadowed by the tragedy in Portugal.Read more →MG Metro 6R4A city car with a 3.0-litre naturally aspirated V6, developed with Williams. Third on its debut, then dogged by reliability problems.Read more →Toyota Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64)The king of Africa: six world championship wins, all of them in Africa — Ivory Coast 1983, 1985 and 1986, and three Safari Rallies in a row.Read more →Opel Ascona 400 and Manta 400Röhrl’s 1982 title-winning car and its Group B successor: rear-wheel drive, a Cosworth cylinder head and most of its success in national championships.Read more →Porsche 911 SC RSPorsche never officially fought for the Group B world title, but the Rothmans/Prodrive 911 SC RS won on asphalt in the European championship and took a podium in Corsica.Read more →Renault 5 Turbo and Maxi TurboA mid-engined supermini: three world rally wins, two of them in Corsica with asphalt master Jean Ragnotti, plus a home win for Joaquim Moutinho in Portugal in 1986.Read more →Nissan 240RSNaturally aspirated, rear-wheel drive and built to survive: Nissan’s Group B car for the long rallies.Read more →Citroën BX 4TCThree rallies, one sixth place and 86 buyers: Citroën’s brief Group B adventure.Read more →Mazda RX-7 Group BRotary power and a podium on the 1985 Acropolis: Mazda Rally Team Europe’s RX-7.Read more →Ferrari 308 GTB (rally)Charles Pozzi’s privately entered Ferrari 308 GTB, second in Corsica in 1982.Read more →Other Group B carsŠkoda 130 LR, Lada VFTS, Talbot Samba, Alméras Porsches and the other Group B cars of the World Championship, with links to the Nissan, Citroën, Mazda and Ferrari pages.Read more →

Compare the cars

Pick three cars and compare power, weight, weight per horsepower and engine capacity. Figures are indicative for the rally version in the period stated: factory claims were often conservative, teams sometimes exaggerated, and power changed from rally to rally with the boost setting.

Technical table (sortable)

Three schools of engineering

Four-wheel drive with a front engine. The Audi Quattro was based on a production coupé, with its five-cylinder ahead of the front axle. That gave traction, but also a heavy nose. The Sport Quattro tried to fix this with a shorter wheelbase.

Rear-wheel drive with the engine in the middle (or the back). The Lancia 037, the Renault 5 Turbo and the rear-engined Porsche 911 SC RS were light and agile, but no match for four-wheel drive on loose surfaces.

Mid-engine with four-wheel drive. In 1984 Peugeot set the template with the 205 T16: transverse engine behind the seats, tubular structure, light and compact. Lancia (Delta S4), Ford (RS200) and Austin Rover (Metro 6R4) followed, each with its own solution, while Citroën (BX 4TC) kept its engine up front.

Also worth exploring

  • Statistics: which car won the most world rallies?

More from Group B

The drivers of Group BChampions, prodigies and co-drivers: the people who tamed the fastest rally cars ever built. With profiles, results and a sortable record of every world rally win.Read more →Teams and team managersAudi Sport, Lancia Martini, Peugeot Talbot Sport, Ford, Austin Rover, Toyota Team Europe, Opel, Rothmans Porsche/Prodrive and the private teams: who ran them, where were they based and what did they win?Read more →Iconic rallies and momentsThe Col de Turini, Mouton in Sanremo, Vatanen in Argentina, Bettega and Toivonen in Corsica, the tragedy of Portugal 1986 and the Sanremo title that was taken back.Read more →European and national championshipsThe European Rally Championship and the national championships where Group B cars raced most: how they worked, who won them and links to every championship page.Read more →World Championship rallies 1982–1986All 61 world championship rallies of the Group B era, each with its own page — searchable and filterable by season, surface and winning make.Read more →The seasons 1982–1986Five world championships, 61 world rallies and five different champions. For every season: the winners, the standings and the stories.Read more →

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (EN), Group B — Cars — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_B
  2. Wikipedia (EN), individual model articles (see each car page) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_Delta_S4
  3. eWRC-results, results by season — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1986/

All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.

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