The 2000 season was SEAT's last on the World Rally Championship. Midway through the year, the SEAT Cordoba WRC reached its highest level of development with the arrival of the Evo 3 version, which allowed the brand to repeat the fifth position in the constructors' standings… (read more)
Date 1st homologation: 1 August 2000
Debut: 2000 Rally Finland
Last event: 2000 Rally of Great Britain
Number built: 20 (total Cordoba WRC)
Petrol, 4 cylinders in-line
Position: At front, transversal
Bore x stroke: 83.0 x 92.2 mm
Capacity: 1995 cc (3392 cc x1.7 coefficient for turbocharged engines)
Valve gear: DOHC, 16 valves
Fuel system: Multipoint electronic injection Magneti Marelli, Garrett turbocharger, 34 mm inlet restrictor (as per regulations)
Max power: 300 HP at 5300 rpm
Max torque: 539 Nm at 3500 rpm
Repsol lubricants
Drive: 4-wheel drive, with active central and front differentials, and mechanical or active rear
Gearbox: Hewland 6-speed sequential, joystick-operated
Clutch: AP 3-plate carbon
Front suspension:
McPherson struts, lower wishbone. Coil springs and Öhlins gas shock absorbers
Rear suspension:
Rear suspension: McPherson struts, lower wishbone. Coil springs and Öhlins gas shock absorbers
Steering: Rack and pinion, power-assisted
Front: 378 mm ventilated discs (304 mm on gravel). Water-cooled AP 8-piston brake callipers (on tarmac)
Rear: 304 mm ventilated discs (same on gravel). AP 4-piston brake callipers
Tyres: Pirelli
18” OZ all-alloy wheels on tarmac and 15” on gravel
Body: 3-door steel monocoque reinforced with integral Matter roll cage
Length/width/height: 4170/1770/1400 mm
Wheelbase: 2443 mm
Tracks: 1520 mm
Peso: 1230 kg (minimum as per regulations)
The 2000 season was SEAT's last on the World Rally Championship. Midway through the year, the SEAT Cordoba WRC reached its highest level of development with the arrival of the Evo 3 version, which allowed the brand to repeat the fifth position in the constructors' standings.
Aesthetically, the Cordoba WRC E3 was hardly different from its predecessor, the E2. Only the front bumper was slightly revised, with a shape optimized for improved airflow through the engine bay. The biggest changes were in what you didn't see. The engine had been improved and delivered more torque (power, however, had to be kept nominally at 300 HP, as per regulations), and weight distribution had been optimized for better road performance.
In the cockpit there were also changes, with a new electrical wiring system and a new dashboard layout, as well as a joystick gearshift system. This electronic gearshift control was a modification requested by former world champion Didier Auriol, who was more comfortable with this system. The last difference was in the transmission, where the rear differential could now be active or mechanical, again according to the driving preferences of lead driver Didier Auriol.
The best result of the new Cordoba WRC E3 came in the penultimate championship event, Rally Australia, where Toni Gardemeister finished sixth and Auriol, eighth. These points were decisive for SEAT to repeat fifth place in the World Constructors' Championship, as in 1999.
SEAT and the Cordoba WRC E3 bid farewell to the World Rally Championship at the 2000 Rally of Great Britain, in which the brand run no less than four cars, with Harri Rovanperä back in the team alongside Auriol, Gardemeister and Gwyndaf Evans.
SEAT HISTÓRICOS keeps a unit of the Cordoba WRC E3 with the specifications used in the Rally de France. Being a full tarmac event, this Cordoba WRC E3 "Tour de Corse" has a lower suspension setting and is fitted with a spectacular light pod consisting of four extra lights attached to the bonnet, which give it a very aggressive look.
After two full years in the top category of the World Rally Championship, with three podiums (New Zealand and Great Britain 1999, Safari 2000) and two fifth positions in the World Brand Championship, SEAT Sport began a new era. The brand's competition arm was to develop and produce high-performance CUPRA models, in collaboration with SEAT's Technical Center in Martorell. These would be the Ibiza and Leon CUPRA R - but this is another story...
