Fast Ford August 2019

INTRO WELCOME TO THE AUGUST ISSUE! - Jamie King - Editor Cast your mind back 10 years, do you remember the launch of the Mk2 Focus RS? Much was made of the 300bhp and lack of 4x4 transmission to distribute that power to the ground. Haters and so-called 'experts' professed that 300bhp was 'too much' for a FWD car, and the Mk2 RS would be all but undriveable. Hmmm, not quite... We quickly started to see tuners and eager owners enter something of an arms race to see who could coax the most power from the formidable five-cylinder. I remember the first batch of cars to crack the 500bhp target, but this quickly lead to 600, 700, and before too long even 800bhp! But even then, I have to admit…

FORD MUSTANG EURO - VISION Owning a Mustang no longer requires you to regularly attend rodeos and listen to Bruce Springsteen, as Ben Dunn’s surprisingly sophisticated example so effectively proves. German sports cars: you have been warned… Words SAM PRESTON If we asked you to paint a picture of a group of American muscle car owners, what would be the first image to pop into your head? Rightly or wrongly, there’s often a predetermined set of connotations that we associate with those who run vehicles of specific marques and styles, which in this particular case are likely to revolve around huge, unrefined burnouts, plenty of drag racing and proudly pitching stars and stripes-adorned flags into the ground next to club stands. And it’s exactly these naïve preloaded assumptions that made…

DRIVER SPEC BEN DUNN AGE 30 FIRST FORD Escort (first car) WHAT’S NEXT The car’s going Stage 3 next... big things on the horizon! 3 FORDS IN YOUR DREAM GARAGE? Tough one… Escort Cossie, my car and a Fiesta ST as a daily driver FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOUR FORD? The power! FAVOURITE FORD SHOW OR EVENT? Ford Fest TRACK DAY OR SHOW & SHINE? Track day SIERRA RS500 OR FOCUS RS500? Sierra WRC OR BTCC? BTCC LESSONS LEARNT FROM THIS PROJECT? Ford should have called the new Mustang something new THANKS Motorsport And Performance (www. motorsportandperformance.com), Dyno D, Josh Scott, Teddy (MAP team), Robbie Kazandjian (Steeda EU), Rob McIntyre (HP Tuners EU)…

TECH SPEC FORD MUSTANG ENGINE 5.0-litre V8 ‘Coyote’ engine (featuring Modular Motorsports Racing GEN X billet chain guides and arms, billet secondary tensioner bracket, billet primary tensioners, billet oil pump gear, billet crank gear and billet secondary chain guides), Whipple 2.9-litre twin-screw supercharger, Whipple 132mm billet elliptical throttle body, Whipple 3.625in supercharger pulley, Fuel Injector Clinic 1000cc fuel injectors, VMP Performance fuel pump booster, Mishimoto engine hose kit, Mishimoto 52mm 3-row radiator, Steeda coolant expansion tank, KOOKS long-tube exhaust manifolds with de-cats, full KOOKS 3in cat-back exhaust system with H-pipe, custom Motorsport and Performance ECU re-map POWER 846bhp and 701lb/ft torque TRANSMISSION Factory 6-speed manual gearbox, Steeda Tri-Ax short shifter set, Steeda adjustable differential bushing system, Steeda MT-82 transmission mount bushing insert SUSPENSION Full Steeda chassis upgrade system (featuring IRS…

WHAT'S NEW NEWS See what’s going down in the world of fast Fords... SUNINEN TAKES CAREER-BEST SECOND PLACE IN ITALY Thrilling news for Ford rally fans from June’s Rally Italia Sardegna, as Teemu Suninen took overall second place in a career-best for the young Finn. Along with new co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen, the EcoBoost M-Sport Fiesta’s consistent pace proved the perfect enabler for the pairing’s debut drive; this was Suninen’s second WRC podium, and impressively it was Lehtinen’s 70th! The dynamic duo clocked up the three fastest times on the Friday, and went on to set the second- or third-fastest times on every one of the Saturday’s stages. “I am really pleased with our performance this weekend,” said Suninen. “We had good speed with some fastest times on Friday, and then…

NEWS IN BRIEF GT500 POWER! The new Mustang GT500 is, simply put, the most-powerful street-legal production Ford, ever. On top of that, it also boasts the most power- and torque-dense supercharged production V8 engine in the world. So, what are the numbers then? Well, an ample 760 horsepower and more-than-moderate 625lb. ft! All that from a production car you can buy direct from the dealer! ESTATES CARS ARE SALES SUPERSTARS The relentless march of the SUV/MPV sector continues, but the good old estate car is growing in popularity too. The latest figures show that the UK’s fastest-selling used car is the 2012-model Ford Focus estate – petrol/ manual examples take an average of just 18 days to leave the forecourt. As Auto Trader’s Director of Commercial Products, Karolina Edwards-Smajda, points…