Rally cars are purposely built racing cars which are derived from regular cars to drive a rally, which is is done on sections of closed public roads. Rally cars must be built to comply with all FIA regulations to be eligible to enter the competitions.

Rally cars use special racing tires, which are different based on condition and driving surface (tarmac, gravel, snow).

Rally cars are sorted into classes / groups, based on their engine capacity, ranging from 1067cc (R3D) to 2000cc (RGT, Group N). The WRC cars are restricted to using 1600cc engines. Cars may be naturally aspirated or turbocharged, ran by petrol fuel, with exception of class R3D, which is for diesel supercharged engines.

It’s hard to provide a straightforward answer to this question, as it’s always subjective, for some the best cars were beasts from Group B, for some current WRC generation, while others prefer the middle like Peugeot 206 WRC or Ford Focus. But if we consider cars based on WRC wins, the best cars are Subaru Impreza and Lancia Delta Group A.

Rally cars do not drift in the proper meaning of the word, drivers tend to use the handbrake on hairpin turns as it’s easier to turn and less time consuming, while drifting as you see on gravel roads (like in Finland) is just to achieve faster speeds through corners.