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Originally Posted by
Vector
Well, RNN14 technically. And the "pinnacle" was pretty low, but that probably had more to do with Nissan Japan's relatively low interest and the friction between then and Nissan Motorsport Europe (and the damn Dunlop tires...)
....and the relative lack of power compared to other Group A cars didn't help things. The top mount intercooler was notoriously inefficient, and they were down about 60 hp from the other cars in class.
Their response was to come up with a custom 'brew' of racing fuel that was apparently so toxic the crew members who fueled the cars wore hazmat gloves and respirators. Not long after this the FIA started regulating fuels...no surprise! But the fuel alone made up nearly all the car's power deficit. I'm guessing benzene, toluene and maybe a bit of nitromethane may have been involved!
As well, the Nissan's AWD system was pretty crude even by the standards of the day making the car a devout understeerer. I have heard that if it weren't for the talent of the drivers the car would have never placed at all.
The naturally aspirated FWD Pulsar GTI's were far more successful in the British Rally Championship compared to the GTIR's in the world championship.