It was truly amazing to see how many manufactures were planning to enter in this years (1984) Group A, even more incredible, that they were all willing to turn over one of their production versions to us so we can in all good faith, spend the better part of a month wrecking each and every one of them in a series of tests to weed out the best of the pack from the rest. We spent the last weak teasing the fine readers with our Pint Sized reviews covering the basics on a few of the cars which stood out in one way or the other from the rest, but finally we have our top five for you and why you should consider adding one of them to your stable.
Now our opinions may differ from others, but it is important to bring up a few things. While every gear head dreams of having a race car as a daily driver, it is not very practical to climb in and out of a fully rollcaged vehicle, or have such a radical cam profile that your choice for idle speed is lumpy or Formula-1, for the better part of a month we spent day and night driving these cars back and forth for work, and pleasure. With out wasting any more space we give you the top 5 Group A Homologation cars of 1984.
From across the river in the land of the rising sun, we have Suzume Motors who sent us their up-scaled Kyoto model which they added an additional suffix to, the GS-RX. We haven't the foggiest what the RX part means, but we can only guess it is something along the lines of 'Grand Sport – Racing Experimental'. What we do know however is that the Japanese were not shy on this displacement and went nearly to the limit of class with a 2798cc V8 producing a 197 HP which delivers it the second best acceleration results of the top 5.
Then to the north, Canuck of Canada had sent us the CAH84, a compact car with that in our opinion received a few too many hits with the ugly stick. As far as we could tell the hood scoop was non functional, and the spool-up time for the turbos are simply unacceptable, despite having eight cylinders and two turbo chargers it leaves you waiting and wanting as you climb up the RPM range to reach 182hp. We fear that Canuck may have focused too heavily on the race side of the coin with this car, we can tell that there were several additions to the vehicle simply to bring the weight up for the class. The interior is filled with leather, the instrument cluster and dash uses real mohogany, from the outside in, it appears the CAH84 is in two different worlds separated only by which side of the body paneling you are on.
At first glance of the Ponni Olympus, we had thought they hired some one from Volvo to come and design them a car, very boxie with excellent visability from the inside, which only compounded how plain the interior was. Now this is a sports car, so it doesn't need to be fancy on the inside. But bench seats in the front, squishie brakes and a shift throw that lasts miles are detractors from the experience. It is a surprise to see an american provider updating their powerplant designs though, the Ponni features a DOHC I6 which brings with it 180hp.
The second of the compacts, the Astana Defiant, which came to us from the Netherlands. Normally we dread the words compact car, when used in the same sentence, surprisingly it is not because of performance reasons. It is that typically when a compact is designed, outward appearance is an afterthought. Astana was able to liberate us from that, the Defiant has the aggressive stance of a sports car, and the only 4 cylinder to make it through to the review while still delivering a healthy 175hp.
Last, but not least is the Decker Vivo II SW, a full blown wagon of a car which takes the honors of having top in class horse power, developing 216hp and laying down the best acceleration times. Whether by accident or by design, Decker built a car with a perfect weight balance. Perhaps the best part is that much like the Kyoto, the Vivo looks non threatening. Which is a popular market among the more mature sports car owner.
The first test we subjected the cars to was the offroad coarse which was a combination of our paved test track, as well as the gravel and bumpy bits formed by yard equipment over the years. After all, these cars will all be subjected to much worse in race trim, we have to make sure the production version is not too far removed from its designed purpose.
Unfortunately, the Ponni ranked worst on our off road segment. While the car features All Terrain tires, being nose heavy didn't help the drive wheels much in the mud sections, compounding the issue was the low ride height of the vehicle. If the throttle was used too heavily in the slower parts of the course, it was very easy for the 2.8L engine to rip the tires from the loose dirt which resulted in many times the car wound up facing the wrong way on our track. With the cars natural oversteer, it seams the Olympus was clearly meant for on road driving.
The Decker Vivo however, fared better the 50/50 weight distribution helped keep the car neutral, and the suspension layout actually caused understeer in most situations. Though since Decker opted to ship the car with on-road sports tires, and thus we tested it as such, we are certain that the Vivo was clearly intended to be taken off the pavement to enjoy as much as it was on the pavement.
Suzumes Kyoto came skinned with a set of road fairing tires as well, but this was the only car to make it this far with a body on frame design, ample ground clearance, and a Limited Slip which was up to the task of keeping both wheels applying the power to the ground. We would have liked to see Suzumi send out the Kyoto with a set of All Terrains, but again it is clear that they were confidant the car would perform even with on road tires.
The Netherlands is a funny place, Astana sent us there Defiant skinned with full blown street sports tires, a geared LSD and it still managed to handle the dirt like the Kyoto, the Defiant has plenty of ground clearance, and its second blessing was that it was down on power compared to the others so it was much more manageable on the dirt, we still got stuck in the mud thanks to the dedicated road tire selection, but overall the car handled the dry dirt sections like a champ.
That leaves us with the Canuck CAH84, which was the best handling of the bunch when it came to the dirt. Equipped with a positraction unit the CAH84 delivers power to both wheels with out disrupting the ability to turn. Canuck also provided ample ground clearance with their design, and a hydrolic suspension to better handle the range of motion required. Giant swaybars prevent body roll which would have normally made the ride much rougher was countered by the extravagant interior they used which makes the whole ordeal feel like riding on a pillow, a pillow that wishes to smother you.
The five cars have similar acceleration, with the Vivo giving the quickest ¼ mile time of 14.58 seconds, which is followed by the Kyoto at 15.18, the CAH84 and Defiant tie at 15.42, and the Olympus trails in behind them all taking 15.72 seconds to cross the ¼ mile mark, they all also have similar braking performance with only 4 meters between the lot when coming from 100kmh to nothing.
When it comes to on the road behavior the Suzume Kyoto shines above the others, having the tamest handling of the bunch, every input to the steering results in a smooth, predictable, motion. While on the other end the Decker Vivo goes in another direction, despite its near perfect weight distribution, the Vivo will plow and plow as you go into a corner, right up to the point you start to give it throttle again. Taking the Vivo quick requires that you do all of your slowing before you even enter the corner, you need to remain neutral on the throttle, or be into it to keep the Vivo agile, but when you do you are rewarded with just enough oversteer to whip around any bend. The Astana, Canuck, and Ponni all fell between these two styles but weren't unique enough to to leave a strong impression, which may speak more positively than you might think, being that they left no negative impressions.
But wait, these are production cars after all are they not? How do they handle the hustle and bustle of day to day life.
With in regards to practical use, Decker made an excellent choice by using a wagon body, and the fold-away seats were a real nice touch, if you need to get supplies for a work site, or enough groceries for a few familys the Vivo will supply you with plenty of cargo space, even with the rear sets up, there is plenty of space for the family as well as all the camping gear. The Kyoto was nearly as roomie as the Vivo despite being a sedan, and the Olympus had a decent sized trunk. The Defiant and CAH84 however had sacrificed almost all of the cargo space an their vehicles, which makes them suitable for day trip only vehicles.
What surprised us however was that the Kyoto actually had a tow option available on the for export model, thanks to the use of a body on frame, you could buy two Kyotos, have one be your daily driver, convert the second to a dedicated race car and tow it to the event using the street car. Well done Suzume.
Getting down to the cost of ownership side of things, the lot presented here are all fairly reliable vehicles, if you live in a snow prone area be sure you garage your Astana which still uses a painted steel frame, the other manufacturers opting to use treated steel, so you shouldn't need to worry about rust.
The CAH84 gave us the best return on fuel achieving 27.7mpg (US) in day to day driving likely due to Canucks implementation of mechanical fuel injection. The Olympus, Kyoto, and Defiant all follow with 26.7, 26.4, and 26.1mpg respectively while being carbureted, and the Vivo falls behind the lot only returning 21.9mpg.
The CAH84 has the highest projected cost to the owner year to year, with the Vivo, Defiant, and Suzume following in order. The Olympus come away from this as the least expensive to own.
So it is our opinion that the 5th place car on our list, is the Decker Vivo II SW. It is an excellent car which handles well, it immensely useful as a family car, but due to its poorer fuel economy and less controllable quirks when being driven hard, it does not place higher. However it is very quick and not to be dismissed.
Up next is the Canuck CAH84, while costing several thousands more then its competitors and being considerably more comfortable, we had a hard time getting past its bland outward appearance. All of the specs pointed to an aggressive machine, which it is. But as a road car the turbo lag makes it far too little, far too late. Having no power below 3700rpm made cruising around in this car difficult.
The Astana Defiant Deluxe was one of the more fun cars that we had the pleasure to drive, it was an elegant machine. Sadly though it had some problems with the waste gate getting stuck open after hard driving, and the doors required nearly being slammed to be closed, but the interior rivaled the Canuck in comfort.
In a surprise twist the Suzume Kyoto GX-RX is our pick for second place, likely due to just how tame the vehicle is. It has the power and performance to hang with the others, but it goes about it in a much more civil way. The car was so predictable and utilitarian on top of being a fine sports machine, it earned it a spot for 2nd place.
As for our winner, the Ponni Olympus Mk II HS, it may have performed slightly worse overall than the other four, but it did so while costing so much less, and almost costing nothing to maintain. Yes the Olympus was a little slower than its rivals, but when looking at the big picture it wasn't slow enough to lose to them. Ponni came out and won by making a sports car affordable as possible, still practical, and very reliable. Had this been a race for the first place, the Olympus would still have done well, but not this well.
Results.
1st Ponni Olympus 1.260
2nd Suzume Kyoto 1.232
3rd Astana Defiant 1.182
4th Canuck CAH84 1.101
5th Decker Vivo II 1.098
Thanks to everyone who submitted, I learned alot and have more in store for you after the next game update.
Fri Jun 12, 2015 4:42 pm 
