Lore
The 1997 Midlands Cygnus F2 kit car was developed in response to the tightening regulations in WRC after the decline of Group B and shelved Group S. The first generation of the compact Cygnus hatchback had cemented Midlands as a force to be reckoned with during the late '80s, as well as deepened their sponsor relationship with Martini. The second generation Cygnus, introduced in 1996, put the technological advancements and lessons learned in Group B into the consumer models. The supercharged 2.9 L V6, rear AWD layout was retained and a more aerodynamic liftback body style was added to the lineup. The rear suspension was swapped to a more complex wishbone structure to address the nervousness over bumps the first gen had. Midlands did all of this in anticipation of the homologation process, which they had expected to be similar to what they’d had in Group B.
However, Midlands were caught completely unawares by the much stricter regulations on weight, displacement, and driveline. They had been expecting similar engine restrictions to Group B, but the newer focus on safer racing speeds forced the maximum engine capacity down to 2 liters, naturally aspirated only. Nixing the supercharger was a relatively easy change for them to make, necessitating only a compression recalibration. The capacity limit was much more difficult. Midlands had already spent tons of R&D developing the engine to be 2.9 L, sharing fitments from the much larger Ceres sedan, and they didn’t have the time or the money to develop a bespoke engine. Using one of the i4s in their stable wouldn’t work due to the relatively small space available behind the rear axel, and the ones they had would also need extensive modifications to cam and intake structure to be competitive. So, as stubborn brits are wont to do, they stuck to the original block, valve, and cam structure while sleeving down the internals to be 2000 cc compliant. This produced a high revving, reliable brick of an engine that they could shave weight off of in strategic places due to lower rotating mass. It also allowed them to use a more durable mpfi system than a finicky direct injection set up. They were pleased with making an engine that produced over 110 hp per liter, despite not having the electronic valvetrain assists that they were expecting.
The other half of the equation, the driveline and weight regulations, were a bit harder for Midlands to solve elegantly in the Cygnus. They were using the weight if the AWD system to not only place the majority of the weight super low down in the car, but to also get over the minimum weight requirement. With the regulations mandating 2wd, they lost a whole bunch of front end weight that majorly upset the balance of the car. They weren’t too worried about maintaining good acceleration numbers, since having a rear engined car already put them ahead in that department over the mostly FWD competition, but the weight distribution change was a huge concern. They couldn’t easily change the structure of the car, since any more weight reduction in the rear would start compromising integrity despite the high strength steel construction, and just adding ballast weight at the front would compromise the handling of any road versions of the Cygnus Midlands would have to homologate in this spec. In the end they opted for just including the heavier, road car versions of dash board pieces, telemetry gear, and other amenities like power steering. This shifted the weight to a more reasonable 41/59 and allowed the engineers to sink that extra budget and time into a highly tweakable clutched LSD and CAD assisted aero design. The Cygnus, as it is shown here, is the primary factory team car, donning the iconic Petrol blue with Sebring grey stripes. Both of the team drivers praised the gearing and acceleration, being 4.7 seconds to 60 mph and geared to a top speed of 160, which gave just enough top end for longer rally stages while keeping the pep needed on the shorter ones. Overall, the Cygnus in its F2 kit car guise proved to be a capable successor to the Group B monster that spawned it, despite having an interesting development.
