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Written by Ollie Kew
At the 2017 Monte Carlo rally, we spoke to four-time World Rally Champion, ex-Mitsubishi stalwart and new Toyota Gazoo rally team boss Tommi M kinen. There are fewer people more qualified to express an opinion on 2017"s new rally rules, and its wild new carsTommi M kinen on his reaction to the new rally regulations"It"s looking good. We could hear the cars far away, they give more sound and that is very positive, and they look spectacular. I was like bloody hell, this is really exciting"."On having more freedom to set up the cars"The new regulations concept is similar to the past, but there is a bit more power because the restrictor is 3mm bigger so we have 60bhp more, plus the new aero, some difference in the suspension, wider tracks, a bit different transmission too."Of course for the team who used to run the previous cars it"s not such a big difference, they"re analysing and using the their data, but we have to pay more attention to our test programme. We started from scratch so we have nothing, no data. Now I"m pretty sure we"re getting somewhere because we"re analysing all areas and listening to driver feedback. We should be able to get stronger and stronger."We have far higher tyre wear because of more power and more downforce putting more load through the tyres. This is going to be critical. "Bringing back the centre diff gives so much opportunity for setting the car up. Even if you had a car with the best ever parts, just a little bit of setting up will change the performance from okay" to best ever". That will take time it"s part transmission, part suspension, part powertrain, part aero. There are so many different options, so many different areas. That makes it quite tricky.""If you start playing with that mid-way through the rally, you"re not going to win. If the car feels like it"s going to win the rally, you don"t touch it, you just keep driving."On driving the new Toyota Yaris WRC himself"Yes I"ve driven it quite a lot in testing. You know, I have driven rally cars before and I have, er, some experience so [laughs]. I wanted to feel the car, and feel the differences when we make changes. Then we can have easier discussions with the drivers, and I understand exactly what they need. It"s far easier to discuss, that way."Compared to my time, in my time, we were always saying that a certain car was suitable for one type of condition, and another was suitable for a different kind of condition. I would say that"s the improvement with the latest technology: all the cars are very fast, and they all behave very well in every kind of condition. They use such massive suspension travel, they"re so strong you don"t need to worry about anything.
Date written: 26 Jan 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 6554
At the 2017 Monte Carlo rally, we spoke to four-time World Rally Champion, ex-Mitsubishi stalwart and new Toyota Gazoo rally team boss Tommi M kinen. There are fewer people more qualified to express an opinion on 2017"s new rally rules, and its wild new carsTommi M kinen on his reaction to the new rally regulations"It"s looking good. We could hear the cars far away, they give more sound and that is very positive, and they look spectacular. I was like bloody hell, this is really exciting"."On having more freedom to set up the cars"The new regulations concept is similar to the past, but there is a bit more power because the restrictor is 3mm bigger so we have 60bhp more, plus the new aero, some difference in the suspension, wider tracks, a bit different transmission too."Of course for the team who used to run the previous cars it"s not such a big difference, they"re analysing and using the their data, but we have to pay more attention to our test programme. We started from scratch so we have nothing, no data. Now I"m pretty sure we"re getting somewhere because we"re analysing all areas and listening to driver feedback. We should be able to get stronger and stronger."We have far higher tyre wear because of more power and more downforce putting more load through the tyres. This is going to be critical. "Bringing back the centre diff gives so much opportunity for setting the car up. Even if you had a car with the best ever parts, just a little bit of setting up will change the performance from okay" to best ever". That will take time it"s part transmission, part suspension, part powertrain, part aero. There are so many different options, so many different areas. That makes it quite tricky.""If you start playing with that mid-way through the rally, you"re not going to win. If the car feels like it"s going to win the rally, you don"t touch it, you just keep driving."On driving the new Toyota Yaris WRC himself"Yes I"ve driven it quite a lot in testing. You know, I have driven rally cars before and I have, er, some experience so [laughs]. I wanted to feel the car, and feel the differences when we make changes. Then we can have easier discussions with the drivers, and I understand exactly what they need. It"s far easier to discuss, that way."Compared to my time, in my time, we were always saying that a certain car was suitable for one type of condition, and another was suitable for a different kind of condition. I would say that"s the improvement with the latest technology: all the cars are very fast, and they all behave very well in every kind of condition. They use such massive suspension travel, they"re so strong you don"t need to worry about anything.
Date written: 26 Jan 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 6554
