A lot of talk has been going around the web lately of the possibility of Volkswagen axing their twincharged 1.4 TSI powerplant. This is a mass production engine used in models like the Mark 6 Golf that is both supercharged and turbocharged. It is a very interesting powerplant that probably had, as one of its inspirations, the car featured here.
In the heydays of Group B rallying, cars were being produced that had engines with 400-500 hp outputs from four to six cylinders. Lancia was a dominant manufacturer in the World Rally Championship then and to retain their edge, they came up with the Lancia Delta S4. This car was a tube-framed mid-engine all wheel drive monster that had both a Volumex Supercharger and a KKK turbo. Fed by a Weber Marelli injection system, the official output of this twin-cam 16-valve 1.8-liter engine was 250 bhp. However, if you factor in the acknowledged 0-100 km/h time of less than 2 seconds, the actual calculated output of the engine should be much higher.
See a Lancia Delta S4 tribute
The Group B category was banned soon after the Delta S4s and some other Group B cars were involved in a couple of accidents that killed drivers and spectators alike. The FIA deemed that these cars were too powerful to be controlled by even the best drivers. It was replaced by the Group A category which now limits engine outputs to 300 hp.
See more info on the Lancia Delta S4 here.
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