Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i Fast Ford

INTRO WELCOME TO THE MARCH ISSUE! - Jamie King - Editor Happy New Year fellow Ford fans! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas break, and are all fully refreshed and ready to take on the challenges that 2020 will throw at us. I know that by the time you read this the fun and festivities of 2019 will feel like a distant memory, and the summer show season and brighter weather in which to enjoy your cherished Blue Ovals might still feel like an age away. It can be a frustrating time of year for us car fans, eagerly watching the days tick by until the first signs of spring appear to signal that car-based fun is on the horizon. But you, dear readers, need not wait until…

WHOOP, WHOOP! IT'S THE SOUND OF DA POLICE! Ford of Britain has always had an interesting relationship with the police force when it comes to supplying patrol cars. Our favourite from the history books would probably be the jam-sandwich RS200 (although we wouldn’t say no to a Sapphire or Escort Cosworth either), and today things are set to get a whole lot more raucous. Currently being tested before rolling out to police forces across the UK is a fleet of Ranger Raptor pick-up trucks, resplendent in reflective highway patrol livery. They’re all equipped with FOX shocks and Baja racer-spec suspension, which means they can chase bad guys at well over 100mph across sand, mud and gravel, so there really is no escape. And for those high-octane motorway pursuits, we can…

WHAT'S NEW NEW STUFF The latest gear on the Blue Oval scene COBRA SPORT EXHAUSTS MK3 FOCUS ST ESTATE CAT-BACK From £777.77 It’s a source of great joy that Ford made the choice to offer the Focus ST in estate form, as it adds all the more entertainment when people aren’t expecting such a car to be so fast and raucous – particularly if it’s packing Cobra’s Venom exhaust system. The official disclaimer reads ‘This product is designed without a rear box and will be extremely loud’, which is a sequence of words that should appeal to a huge number of readers! After sound-testing with the standard OE front parts, the Cobra Sport Venom system registered a +22% increase in sound levels – so you get plenty of bark to…

FEBRUARY 21-23 COMING UP SOON… RACE RETRO SHOW WHEN Friday to Sunday, February 21st to 23rd WHERE Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, CV8 2LZ If you're a fan of 1980s and 1990s fast Fords - in particular the homologation specials that dominated on track and proved so successful on the rally stages, then Race Retro is definitely worth a visit! It's not strictly a Ford-only event, but with the Blue Oval being such a key player in all forms of motorsport during the era, it'll come as no surprise to learn that Ford fans will certainly be in for a treat at this show. With some truly fantastic Fords on show at an indoors event, it's a brilliant way to whet your appetite ahead of the motorsport and show…

SAPPHIRE COSWORTH SEALED FATE One tube of sealant, one dead engine, and a born-again Cossie Words BEN BIRCH Photos ADE BRANNAN Most of us Ford owners have suffered an ‘on the way to a car show’ nightmare somewhere along the line. It’s usually due to that little issue we’ve been meaning to fix for a while, but before we know it our favourite show is upon us and we end up bodging something temporary to make the journey. The whole trip is fraught with stress, listening for every little noise and scanning the temperature gauges constantly for warning signs, hoping for a miracle but knowing the inevitable breakdown is coming! I’ve been there so many times that the RAC revoked my membership (true story), but for Dan Williams, an “oh…

DAN FOCUS ST3 KEEPIN’ COOL Dan’s got an eye on more power for the Focus, so is laying the groundwork with sensible hardware upgrades first, starting with a new intercooler… QUICK SPEC Peron / AET Motorsport stage one remap • Steeda cold air inlet system • H&R 25mm lowering springs • Steeda short-shifter and bracket • Powerflex Handling Kit • H&R 20mm wheel spacers • Focus RS Brembo callipers • EBC USR discs • EBC Bluestuff front pads/Yellowstuff rear pads • EBC braided brake lines Ever since I had the Focus remapped to Stage 1 I’ve been tempted to upgrade to Stage 2 spec. But that meant looking for suitable hardware upgrades for the intercooler and replacing the restrictive OE cat with a sports version, and I’ve been far too…

CLUB MEET ESSEX FORDS AT DUNTON WHERE FORD HQ, DUNTON, ESSEX WHEN NOVEMBER 2019 Blue Oval owners from all over headed to the spiritual home at Ford’s long-established Technical Centre – and new HQ – at Dunton… Words & Photos MATT RICHARDSON It wasn’t very long ago that the Essex Ford Meet was little more than half a dozen cars meeting up in a pub car park, but things have come a long way since 2014 for this ever-growing group of Ford fans. Take this recent meet, for example, held on a cold November evening but with more than 220 cars gathered outside Ford’s recently re-located headquarters at the famous Dunton site. The impressive attendance was undoubtedly assisted by Ford themselves officially backing the event; they invited owners…

FF TECH MUSTANG HANDLING UPGRADES Thought the Mustang was only good in a straight line? Think again! The latest generation S550 models can be a genuine rival to the German elite through the corners too, especially once you’ve made a few suspension tweaks in the right places… Words JAMIE Photos VARIOUS Mustangs are only good in straight lines, aren’t they? That’s how the saying goes, isn’t it? While that may have had an element of truth for many of the earlier models, the current S550 model doesn’t fall over itself at the first sight of a bend. And add a few upgrades in the right places and the S550 will carve through corners as well – if not better – than some of its more established German rivals. You see,…

PUMA RACING IN RALLYING Because the Racing Puma was always seen as Ford’s ‘baby brother’ to the Escort WRC and Focus WRC programmes, it was never the subject of full-blooded World Rally development itself. While Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport organisation took over the World Rally programmes when the Group A era moved on to WRC regs, the Puma effort was always run from Boreham – where many of the experienced mechanics from previous motorsport ventures had already left, and where other priorities also got in the way. The original 1.7-litre Puma was homologated in March 1997 for the F2/’kit car’ formula, which allowed the team to have the engine reduced to 1,596cc and run in the 1.6-litre category in 1998. A lot of chassis and driveline development work went into that…

ESCORT COSWORTH POWER STRUGGLE Finding a reliable 520bhp from this Escort Cossie wasn’t easy. But now he’s achieved that, Adrian Beales has a dependable and usable RS he can enjoy with the family every single day… Words DAN BEVIS Photos 27MOTIVE.COM Cast your mind back to 1995. Goldeneye was a fresh arrival to cinema screens across the land, wowing a generation of car-mad teenagers with the sleek lines of the Ferrari F355, thrashed with panache by the ludicrously-named Xenia Onatopp. There was something about that Italian stallion which seemed unstoppable, even if it couldn’t seem to outrun Bond’s creaky old 1960s Aston. And yet… when we remind ourselves of the specs, the F355’s 375bhp doesn’t sound amazing in a modern context, does it? Sure, it’s good, but today that’s the…

WHAT'S NEW NEWS See what’s going down in the world of fast Fords... BUZZING PERFORMANCE! The annual SEMA extravaganza in Las Vegas is the ideal arena for customisers and tuners to set the cat among the pigeons in terms of wacky and outlandish modifying concepts. The vast industry show is always awash with unexpected engine swaps and suchlike, although more than a few eyebrows were raised when this collaborative project between Ford and Webasto was unveiled – and it takes something truly unexpected to stop people in their tracks at SEMA! The Lithium Mustang is an all-electric conversion for the iconic muscle car, which is a pretty ballsy move in the spiritual home of the V8. And as PR stunts go, it’s a massively effective one, given that Ford is…

STEEDA&SKY INSURANCE Steeda UK have recently announced a partnership with modified and performance car insurance specialists, Sky Insurance. With Sky providing the cover for many of Steeda UK’s own vehicles over the years, this collaboration means that Steeda customers can enjoy the same level of cover, whether that’s for a first-car Fiesta, or a supercharged 1000bhp Mustang. More than that though, this partnership means that once you have insured your fast Ford with Sky, you are then eligible for exclusive discounts on the Steeda website too! Saving you money, and improving your car all at the same time. For more details check out www.steeda.co.uk/ blogs/news…

PRODUCT FOCUS REMAPPING REVOLUTIONISED ECU tuning is nothing new, but US artisans HP Tuners have landed here in the UK with a solution that’s got more features, control and adjustment than anything you’ve seen before… Although a relatively new brand over here, HP Tuners have been a huge part of ECU tuning in the USA since 2003, becoming really rather a big deal across the pond. Anyone who has visited SEMA or the Autosport International Show for the last couple of years will be fully aware of the ECU tweaking specialists. From the relatively humble beginnings of a group of binary- and hexadecimal-savvy chaps clubbing together to remap their own vehicles when applications weren’t available, HP Tuners has grown exponentially to become one of the USA’s largest tuning and diagnostic…

DRIVEN TRANSIT CUSTOM SPORT A van as a family car? Why a Transit Custom Sport makes more sense than ever for both work and play… Words and photos DAN TRENT Iwouldn’t mind betting that at some point over the festive period, you loaded the car up with kids and pressies and headed off to visit family somewhere else in the country. It’s part and parcel of what Christmas is all about. But mid-struggle of playing real-life Tetris with gifts, children, and left-over Christmas dinner as I loaded the car, I thought to myself ‘we need a Transit van’... At that point I realise I had become my dad – when I was little he used to talk wistfully of a Ford Transit as his dream family car. My only experience…

FIESTA ST200 THE PERFECT STORM M-Sport styling plus Storm Grey paint plus big power, equals one of the best Fiestas in the UK Words BEN BIRCH Photos LIAM HART & DAVE VARLEY An obsession with cars is ingrained in many of us from an early age, and stays with us throughout our entire adult lives. Some of us even have a loyalty to a favourite marque, usually passed down as a family tradition much like a football team or political party. Other people see cars merely as A to B transport, and much prefer going down the pub! Unbelievably the owner of this highly modified ST200 was for most of his life, one of the latter. “I work at Ford but I was never a car guy at all,” explains…

JASON MUSTANG V8 ROCK’ AND ROLL Jason puts the recent suspension updates and new wheels and tyres through their paces at last ever trackday at Rockingham Motor Speedway… Photo ROB OVERY QUICK SPEC 5.0-litre Mustang GT • Steeda axle-back exhaust • Steeda induction kit • RTR diffuser • Steeda H-pipe• MAP remap • Steeda IRS bushes • Carbon fibre deck lid • Steeda lowering springs• Steeda engine brace and K-brace • Velgen VF5 alloys• Steeda discs and Hawk pads After having the Steeda suspension upgrades fitted at Perfect Touch recently, followed by some updated Hawk performance brake pads, lightweight Velgen alloy wheels, and grippy Yokohoma tyres, I was invited to take part in what would be the very last trackday event to be held at Rockingham Motor Speedway, so I…

#PRINTMYFORD See your very own fast Ford in full printed glory! Ever wanted to see your car appear in all its glory in the printed pages of a Ford tuning magazine? Well, if so, all you need to do is ask! Simply email us, or post a picture of your car on our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages and add the hashtag ‘#printmyford’, and each month we’ll choose our favourites and print them in this aptly named feature! Alternatively, drop us an email with a couple of pics, a full spec list of any mods and upgrades, and a few details about your time with the car to fastford.ed@kelsey.co.uk with the subject heading ‘print my ford’ and we’ll pick our favourites for a slightly more detailed review each month too!…

STEEDA RECOMMENDS With so many products on the market from so many respected tuners, deciphering which upgrades you really need, which you can afford, and prioritising in which order you should fit them can be a bit of a minefield. To help, we grabbed Robbie Kazandjian from Steeda UK to ask what he and Steeda would recommend for three different budgets. Here’s what he had to say: UNDER-£500 “The first thing any S550 owner should be fitting is the Steeda IRS Base Pack. The kit costs £200 and is needed to sort the rear subframe alignment – we’ve seen some of these are considerably ‘off’ from the factory, so it really is the only starting point when looking to improve the handling on these Mustangs. We would also suggest adding…

DREAM GARAGE THREE KINGS One sleeper, two RS icons, and an old-school enthusiast whose passion knows no bounds. This is a dream-garage collection of Ford royalty which keeps evolving with unexpected twists… Words DAN BEVIS Photos ADE BRANNAN It’s a question that rears its head time and time again: just why do retro car enthusiasts do what they do? What’s the appeal of these old motors which soak up so much of their time, money, blood, sweat and love? Wouldn’t it make more sense to spend your dough on the newest car you can – something with airbags, ISOFIX and ABS, something that’ll always start in the morning, something that doesn’t leave your hair smelling of fuel and the niggling voice in the back of your head chattering away about…

FROM THE ARCHIVES We delve through the image archives to bring you some of the most memorable moments in Ford’s history… When do you think was the first time Ford started preparing cars especially for racing in the UK? The 1960s with cars like the Lotus Cortina? Zephyrs in the ’50s? Or the first Anglias of the 1940s? Nope, way before that. In fact, pretty much as soon as the first cars arrived in the UK, people have been preparing them to race one another. Here is a warehouse full of Model Ts, which were first assembled in the UK in 1911, many of which were soon race-spec like the stripped-down red example here……

SIERRA COSWORTH TRIBUTE AT SILVERSTONE CLASSIC The Silverstone Classic is always an impressive spectacle, and with so many fast Fords dominating motorsport throughout the years, the Blue Oval has always been a firm favourite at the show. And with 2020 marking the event’s 30th anniversary, and also 30 years since Robb Gravett won the BTCC in his Sierra Cosworth RS500, organisers are planning a special tribute for this iconic fast Ford. A special 30th Anniversary Celebration package offers all owners of pre-1990 classic cars the opportunity to purchase two adult weekend tickets, a vehicle display pass granting access to a dedicated anniversary infield display area, and a special anniversary track parade on Friday on the hallowed Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. For more details head to www.silverstoneclassic.com…

NEWS IN BRIEF FIESTA IS UK’S TOP-SELLING VEHICLE… AGAIN! The mighty little Fiesta has held on to its crown as the ‘UK’s top-selling vehicle’, for an 11th year! Ford have sold 1,233,485 Fiestas in the UK since 2009. TRANSIT CUSTOM IS THIRD BESTSELLER IN UK Alongside the Fiesta at the top spot, the Transit Custom is the UK’s third best-selling vehicle. Ford shifted 57,494 in 2019, making Ford the No.1 brand in both passenger and commercial vehicles. SAFETY FIRST The new-look Puma crossover is one of 8 Fords with a 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating. ELECTRIFYING Ford have announced they will launch 14 new electrified vehicles in 2020, including various hybrids as well as full-electric vehicles like the Mustang Mach-E.…

SHOW DATES 2020 See what fantastic Ford shows and events are coming up in 2020… FEBRUARY FEBRUARY 21-23 RACE RETRO Stoneleigh Park, Coventry www.raceretro.com APRIL APRIL 5TH SQUIRES FORDMEET Squires Café, North Yorkshire www.facebook.com/groups/fordmeet APRIL 25TH PURE FORD Castle Combe, Wiltshire www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk/shows/ pure-ford MAY MAY 3RD SIMPLY FORD Beaulieu National Motor Museum www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/simply-ford MAY 10TH FIESTA IN THE PARK Woodgreen Animal Shelter, Cambridge www.facebook.com/groups/49805557115 MAY 16-17TH IOW TAKEOVER Royal County Showground, IOW www.iowtakeover.co.uk MAY 17TH SCOTTISH FORD LIVE Knockhill, Scotland www.knockhill.com/events/ford-live-2020 JUNE JUNE 7TH CLASSIC FORD SHOW Mallory Park, Leicestershire www.classicsworld.co.uk/classic-ford-show JUNE 20TH RALLY DAY Castle Combe, Wiltshire www.rallyday.com JUNE 28TH FORD NATIONALS British Motor Museum, Gaydon www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk JULY JULY 5TH THE FORD SHOW Santa Pod Raceway, Northants www.fordshow.co.uk JULY 11TH RS COMBE Castle Combe, Wiltshire www.rscombe.com JULY 19TH TRAX…

CHAT SHOW It only takes a chat or two with some like-minded enthusiasts online for your daily driver to become a pristine show car. Just ask Paul Byrne about what happened to his Mondeo ST220… Words DAN BEVIS Photos CHRIS FROSIN MONDEO ST220 It’s easy to sideline the cultural impact of the ST-model Mondeos, but in the timeline of fast Fords these really are important cars. When the first-gen Mondeo appeared back in 1993 it represented a massive step forward from the Sierra that it replaced; sure, some people decried the platform shift from rear- to front-wheel drive, although these were the same folk who got their knickers in a twist about the Mk3 Escort a decade or so before, and we can probably all agree that everything turned out…

FAST FLEET Check out what’s been going on with our projects this month… DAN SIERRA COSSIE The front wings have been repaired and repainted, now it's time to freshen up the engine bay ahead of the rebuild. MOTORBASE FOCUS BTCC CARS The Motorbase crew are busy working towards their planned assault on the BTCC for 2020... big news update coming soon...! PAUL RS500 RACE CAR With the dates for the 2020 Historic race season now announced, Paul has a new deadline to get everything ready for... DAN FOCUS ST250 A shiny new intercooler from Direnza has arrived, and will form part of the planned Stage 2 upgrade. ADE SAPPHIRE COSWORTH Ade has a head for the YB build and MJ Racing have started putting it all back together. Full update…

PAUL SWIFT MK2 ESCORT RALLY CAR CHRISTMAS WINNER! Just before the festive break, Paul entered the Mk2 into the Christmas Stages Rally Croft… and won the two-wheel-drive category, finishing 5th overall! Photos ANDY ELLIS QUICK SPEC • 2.5-litre Millington engine (circa 300-350bhp) • Tractive Six-speed sequential gearbox with paddle shift • Full Group 4 specs • Bilstein suspension • Watts linkage • Plated rear diff • Fly-off hydraulic handbrake • Full cage • Intercom system • Tarmac arches • 15in alloys After the little ‘mishap’ last time out on the Jim Clark Rally, I was keen to put on a good showing for the next event – the Christmas Stages at Croft on 15th December. If not for me, then definitely for the hard-working crew that spent their time to…

FF TECH TECH BASICS SYVECS ECU Flick through the spec list of any big-power Mk2 Focus RS/ST and you’ll almost certainly spot the name, Syvecs. Here’s why… Words SIMON HOLMES Photos VARIOUS Most readers will have noticed that nearly every big power Mk2 Focus is running a Syvecs ECU conversion, and there’s a good reason for that. The Mk2 ST and RS models are very tuneable and reliable too, but the standard management simply isn’t up to the job once you tune beyond the 500-550bhp mark. The reason for this is mainly due to the factory MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor, which is located inside the crossover pipe just after the air filter. This sensor measures the amount of air passing across it and therefore going into the engine –…

FORD’S RACING PUMA THE STORY OF… FORD’S RACING PUMA Ford’s limited-edition, pumped-up Puma may have only been around for one year, but it left a lasting impact. With the Racing Puma celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, we look at the full story behind this capable coupé… Words GRAHAM ROBSON Photos VARIOUS No-one every queries the style of the Racing Puma, but many were disappointed by its lack of success in motorsport. The problem was that Ford neglected it; management was completely committed to the Focus WRC programme instead, and Boreham’s Philip Dunabin never got the support he needed with the Puma project. So how did the Racing take root? First of all, Boreham started looking at ways of integrating the Escort RS Cosworth’s four-wheel-drive system with the Puma!…

TECH SPEC SIERRA SAPPHIRE RS COSWORTH ENGINE 2.0-litre Cosworth YB turbo – Stage 3, T34 turbo, RS500-style intercooler, ported head, 3-bar MAP sensor, -34 actuator, Group A cone filter, full stainless exhaust system, uprated breather kit, Group A coil POWER 330bhp TRANSMISSION Stock gearbox, uprated clutch SUSPENSION Koni adjustables, -60mm springs, polybushed throughout, front strut brace BRAKES Drilled and grooved discs, Green Stuff pads, braided lines WHEELS & TYRES 7.5x17in Rondell 122 wheels, 205/40 tyres EXTERIOR Stock, with original Ford headlight covers and mudflaps INTERIOR Standard original Raven leather interior, early 2WD steering wheel…