how much does a rally car cost guide on prices

The Price Of Speed: How Much Does A Rally Car Cost?

WRC car price is an exorbitant amount. Yes, even more than you can imagine, and no – not as inconceivable as you might think. The actual cost of WRC rally car is a puzzle worthy of a real spy, but we can calculate it based on facts.

The Price of Speed: Rally car vs Its Road version

Before we begin calculating, why rally cars being similar to road cars at first glance, are so different in terms of price? Right, that is the price for the speed. In fact, the common features are what it just seems, because their interior is the other.

The road version and the WRC version have only the design in common, and the similarities are only on the paper.  Just, look at Toyota Yaris WRC and Toyota Yaris GRMN, these are completely different cars. Consider for example Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC and Hyundai i20 Coupe.

However, the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC is the previous generation of rally cars. We used these cars until the Rally 1 Hybrid era, introduced in 2022. So the current Hybrid Rally1 cars are even more powerful and upgraded. Compare the Hyundai i20 N and its rallying presenter Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid on the image we took from Hyundai Motorsport’s official website.

rally cars and road cars difference
Hyundai Motorsport

Hyundai i20 N and i20 N Rally1 Hybrid cars are quite different vehicles. The i20 N Rally1 is four-wheel drive, and accelerates faster for two seconds, while due to its turbocharged engine, it is two times more powerful than the i20 N road car: 380 HP plus an extra 134 HP Hybrid power!

To find an Original price:

In 2019, Citroen announced that it would withdraw from the World Rally Championship. The Citroen C3 WRC were available to private individuals. Although the rally cars were not auctioned, there is no indication of a price.

Therefore, the introduction of the new Hybrid era has changed the cost of rally car, as the tag went up many times. It’s better to understand the types of rally cars as the price varies very high.

FIA Rally Car Pyramid
FIA Official Brochure

Today we have five groups of rally cars racing in the FIA World Rally Championship: Rally1, Rally2, Rally3, Rally4, and Rally5. Groups are differed by car wheel drive and power, whereas the Rally1 is the elite car with hybrid engine.

Therefore the price of a rally car fully depends on its class and the group.

The cheapest in this classification are the rally cars of RC5, RC4, and RC3 classes, including groups R1, R2, R3, Group A, Rally5, Rally4, and Rally3.

Exploring The Cost Of Rally Car Through The Classes

To buy a rally car has nothing similar to a trip to the shop because it is WRC cars are only available through private auctions and closed sales. Another option is to look at the special offers on specialized websites.

Renault rally5 car price how much does a rally car cost
2023 Bohemia Rally Mladá Boleslav – Lacika” by Miloslav Rejha is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Rally5 cars

With R1 Group, Rally5 cars relate to the RC5 sporting class, the less powerful, but more available to drivers start rally career.

These are petrol-powered, two-wheel drive cars with a minimal weight of 980kg and aspirated up to 1400cc. The most popular representations of the class are the Citroen DS3 R1, Renault Twingo R1, and Ford Fiesta R1.

The average cost of Rally5 WRC cars starts from $30 000 and reaches $70 000 for charged Renault Clio V Rally5.

Suzuki rally car price rally car price explained
34º Edición del Rally Islas Canarias ‘ Trofeo El Corte Ingles’” by El Coleccionista de Instantes, license CC BY-SA 2.0

Rally4 cars

With Groups R2, R3, and the cars of Group A with engines less than 2,0, Rally4 is the RC4 class, which is also available to rookie rally drivers.

With a minimum weight of 1030kg, 1600cc to 2000cc naturally aspirated, or 1067cc to 1333cc turbocharged engines, these cars are two-wheel drive petrol-powered and can compete in WRC-3 rallies or less.

The most popular cars in the class are Ford Fiesta R2, Skoda Fabia R2, Peugeot 208 R2, Suzuki Swift R2, and Citroen C2R2. The price of Rally4 WRC cars starts from $ 40,000.

Renault rally3 car price
2023 Bohemia Rally Mladá Boleslav – Kohn” by Miloslav Rejha, license CC BY 4.0

Rally3 cars

The Rally3 is the independent, in some terms, group of rally cars which represents the RC3 sporting class. This class is for advanced professional rally drivers.

These cars are four-wheel-drive, and with a 1.3-litre, 16-valve turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the car can produce 260 horsepower.

Renault Clio Rally3 and Ford Fiesta Rally3 are the most popular cars in the class. The price for the Rally3 car starts from $ 120,000, excluding VAT and registration costs.

Hyundai I20 R5 rally car price
Manuel Castro Hyundai I20 R5” by Harpagornis, license CC BY-SA 4.0

Rally2 cars

With R4 and R5 groups, Rally2 is the RC2 sporting class, that is available for only professional rally drivers.

With a minimum weight of 1230kg, Rally2 cars are four-wheel drive, 1.6-litre direct injection turbocharged 4-cylinder engines with a power output of around 285bhp (212kW).

Skoda Fabia R5 EVO, Hyundai I20 R5 Evo, Citroen C3 Rally2 Skoda Fabia Rally2, Ford Fiesta R5, Peugeot 208 T16 R5, Toyota Yaris GR N5 and Citroen DS3 R5 are the most popular in the class, especially Skoda.

The average cost for Rally2 cars starts from $180 000 and $210 000 for Skoda Fabia, depending on the different variations.

Rally1 cars

The Rally1 rally car is RC1 sporting class and includes the WRC cars. However, since 2022 these cars have different specifications and regulations, including hybrid engines.

So WRC cars that you can find on the auctions are based on 2019 regulations. With a minimal weight is 1190kg, these cars are four-wheel drive, powered by a four-cylinder, 1.6 litre turbocharged engine with direct injection limited to 380 HP (280kW).

The most representative of WRC cars are the Toyota Yaris WRC, Hyundai i20 WRC, Citroen C3 WRC, Skoda Fabia WRC, and Ford Fiesta WRC. Their starting price is approximately $ 600,000.

The new generation of WRC cars which are the Rally 1 cars got more than 100hp to the current 1.6L turbo engine that produces 380hp, it can instantaneously emit more than 500hp. With a minimum weight of 1200 kg, the Rally1 car reaches 201 kph speed.

Currently, there are three manufacturers to develop Hybrid Rally1 cars: M-Sport Ford, Hyundai Motorsport, and Toyota. Moreover, Skoda is also taking steps in this direction.

Rally1 cars aren’t presented on public auctions and can be found in private sales only. Therefore the cost of Rally1 cars is the case of assumptions, but most likely it starts from $1 million dollars due to its electronic elements and hybrid components.


rally Portugal jumps
2018 Rally de Portugal – Thierry Neuville.jpg” by Bastien Baudin, license CC BY-SA 4.0

The origin of the rally’s car price.

As you can see, the cost of a rally car depends on many settings. However, it is its road version plus…. millions of dollars for exclusive spare parts, hours of work on settings, days of testing, and exclusive developments of leading experts in the world.

The price of a rally car varies depending on the types of cars and their classes, whereas the origins of that are the result of working with the highest technologies. And here is why it is the price of the speed. However, only professional engineers or rally drivers can understand how much the price is reasonable because that’s their job.