Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2020 i Fast Ford

INTRO WELCOME TO THE APRIL ISSUE! - Jamie King - Editor There's always one particular car that helps shape your motoring persuasions. You may not even realise it at the time, but certain cars have a habit of triggering something deep in the back of your brain that will unknowingly affect your future feelings towards cars, and ultimately have a huge influence over which car you drive. For me, it was my dad's mate's Sierra RS500 Cosworth. I saw it as a kid and it clearly triggered something that attracted me towards the Blue Oval. Although, it was probably a Sapphire Cosworth that really hammered things home. By rights I should have fallen into the Impreza/Evo/Skyline crowds that were doing the rounds while the nation was gripped by Fast &…

NEWS See what’s going down in the world of fast Fords... STEEDA NEEDS YOU TO DESIGN ITS PROJECT FIESTA’S LIVERY! Steeda is a name that’s been closely associated with Ford tuning for over thirty years, and we’ve been keeping a close eye on their latest project – because a tweaked ST180 is right up our street! And now Steeda has announced a competition where you can design a fresh new wrap for the demo car. The build already has a very strong base, with the Fiesta having been fitted with a choice selection of street mods: Eibach springs, OZ Racing Sparco Trofeo wheels, Custom Performance Engineering intake and cat-back exhaust system… and of course a whole host of Steeda parts, including the rear strut tower brace, rear engine mount and…

RACING PUMAS JEKYLL AND HYDE story asmartly- , - Puma, and its super-aggressive race car alter ego Words BEN BIRCH Photos ADE BRANNAN Ford Pumas. In the early 2000s they were everywhere, usually with a young lady at the wheel and rust already beginning to form on the rear arches. Just like Vauxhall’s competitor, the Tigra, the novelty of a cute, tiny coupé quickly wore off and they devalued like crazy on the second-hand market. As a result, many were poorly maintained and it’s now really difficult to find a good example of either car. So when we heard of Philipp Federau and his son Patrick not only owning a mint road-going Puma but an ultra-rare race car version too, we had to find out more. “Our love for Pumas…

ESCORT COSWORTH TIME TRAVEL You don’t need a DeLorean to travel through the swirling mists of time. Dean Long is doing exactly that with his vivid purple Cossie... Words DAN BEVIS Photos MITCHELL BROWN You probably have a few mental snapshots filed away from your youth, of cool cars you used to see driving around your hometown. Most of us do. These often go some way to forming your fledgling automotive affections; a quick straw poll around the office unearths snatched glimpses of V8-swapped Cortinas, an unforgettable seafront cruise with an XR2, and the little old lady who inexplicably used to drive a heavily-modded S2 RS Turbo around Whitstable in the late-1990s (there really was no explaining that one, but it truly sparked a fire for slammed RSTs, if not…

FAST FLEET Check out what’s been going on with our projects this month… DAN SIERRA COSSIE The Cossie is still waiting for the restoration to continue, but Dan has promised work will resume on the Sierra soon. MOTORBASE FOCUS BTCC CARS More big news this month! The team announce their third driver in the 2020 line-up and show us the all new car... PAUL RS500 RACE CAR New race wheels have arrived, and Paul's been busy working on other finishing touches getting the Caltex car race ready. DAN FOCUS ST250 Dan went to Direnza for some post-fitting checks on the new MVT intercooler... and came away with yet another ST170! ADE SAPPHIRE COSWORTH The YB was running... And now it's not. More checks to the block and cylinder head are…

PAUL SIERRA COSWORTH RS500 RACE CAR WHEELIE CLOSE The rebirth from track toy to Group A racer draws closer to completion as the new race wheels arrive… It’s been a couple of issues since you last heard from me and the Caltex car, but things have been ticking along in the background – even if not quite as fast as perhaps I would have liked. Other projects, including race prep for the Benson & Hedges race car, and recommissions for other RS500 race cars, as well as show stands at events have all been keeping me busy, and finding time to continue work on the Caltex car has proved tricky – especially as this one isn’t a paying job but instead actually costs me money! That said, the finish line…

#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!…

FRANÇOIS DELECOUR THE STORY OF… FRANÇOIS DELECOUR One of the fastest men behind the wheel of a fast Ford on the rally stages in the 1990s, here’s the full story of François Delecour’s Blue Oval motorsport antics… Words GRAHAM ROBSON Photos FORD ARCHIVES “Never has any other Ford rally driver – not even the legendary Colin McRae – made such an immediate impact on the World Rally Championship” It was the 1990s when I got to know François Delecour. One of the first things I really learned was the truly Gallic way he frequently shrugged his shoulders, which roughly translated to mean ‘Sod it, but we can’t do any more than this, right?’ It was an approach that certainly made a difference to the way he was treated at…

MK3 FOCUS RS SPOIL SPORT The Mk3 RS is the car that elevated the Focus above the hot hatch world and into the realm of the pure-blood sports car. So has Gareth Ironside spoiled his by putting this precision machine on air-ride? Nah, of course he hasn’t… Words DAN BEVIS Photos OLLIEE WILDSMITH Ruined. It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot in the modified car scene. We often find enthusiasts split into two disparate camps: those who are keen to modify and alter their machines, to personalise them in order to create something unique; and those who want to maintain and preserve, to trap their cars in amber and leave them as a legacy for the ages. Both approaches have boundless merit, of course. The trouble is,…

WHAT'S NEW NEW STUFF The latest gear on the Blue Oval scene DIRENZA FIESTA MK7 ST ENGINE MOUNTS £129.99 (nearside), £139.99 (offside) Direnza has put a lot of research and development time into these new engine mounts for the Mk7 Fiesta ST, describing them as ‘a revolution’. CAD-designed and fastidiously refined, these units are made from aircraft-grade aluminium with super-stiff red polybushings, dramatically increasing the strength of the connection between engine and chassis, and significantly reducing the motor’s movement under load and during hard cornering. The result is improved response to both throttle input and turn-in. And as well as fitting the ST180 and ST200, these will also work with 1.0 and 1.6 EcoBoost models. www.direnza.co.uk AUTOGLYM RAPID DETAILER £11.30 Autoglym’s Rapid Detailer is a product which has a pretty…

DRIVEN MK4 FOCUS ST… ON TRACK! We’ve already enjoyed it in sunny southern France, but what’s the new Focus ST like when pushing the limits in the rain on M-Sport’s new Cumbrian test track…? Words DAN TRENT Photos FORD If there’s a perfect place to put a new Ford Performance product through its paces, this is it. I’m at M-Sport’s HQ and within sight of the factory where WRC Fiestas are built. The on-site test track I’m about to drive is a brand-new facility, its tarmac slick with a fresh dousing of Cumbrian rain. The intimidation factor is high, likewise the pressure not to be the one to christen that fresh Armco bordering the circuit. Although built to FIA standards, this is a proving ground and not a racetrack. As…

FAST FLEET ADE SAPPHIRE COSWORTH FAILURE TO LAUNCH Ade’s Cossie was running, then it wasn’t... Uh, oh! It was all looking good in Cossie-world for a bit. Scott at MJ Racing had finished off a lovely job of porting the replacement YB head for my engine. Ports were enlarged to match the inlet manifold, all up. Everything was timed-up correctly, everything properly connected, but it just wasn’t happy. Plus, nothing had been significantly changed enough to make the map incorrect for a cold start. With some persistence the YB eventually came to life, but not without protest. The problem of pressurisation soon reared its head. The very problem that put it off the road over two years ago! How could this be happening? A different head that checked out to…

MOTORBASE FOCUS BTCC NEW CAR FOR 2020 The Motorbase crew unveil their new Mk4 Focus ST and announce the third driver for the 2020 campaign… We’ve got big news this month. Last issue we told you that we were building a new car for 2020 and teased you with a CAD drawing of the new Mk4 Focus ST with its BTCC-spec bodykit. And now the new car is finished… well, almost. Over the winter months we have been busy at our Kent HQ and also calling on the services and skills of our trusted partners, this year including the guys at Custom Cages in Daventry, building three new Mk4 Focus STs ready for the 2020 BTCC season. There are a number of reason behind the switch, but we won’t go…

BTCC MK4 FOCUS ST BUILDING THE NEW BTCC MK4 FOCUS ST The Motorbase Performance team have built a new car for 2020; the first Mk4 Focus to compete in the BTCC. We catch up with team manager, Oly Collins, as the first car gets ready to head out on track for the very first time to find out more about that decision and how the build progressed… Words JAMIE Photos DAVID MOORE, GARY HAWKINS, MOTORBASE & JAMIE So, a completely new car for 2020 then? What prompted that decision? We had a decision to make at the end of 2019. After such a strong showing in 2018 with the Mk3 Focus RS, we went into last season with high expectations for a good year. That didn’t materialise unfortunately, and we…

BUYER’S GUIDE FOCUS RS MK The latest Rallye Sport Ford is now four years old, and with prices having taken the full hit of new car depreciation, they’re actually a bit of a bargain right now… Words DAN WILLIAMSON “You don’t have to be a fast Ford fan to appreciate the RS Mk3’s exceptional handling or ability to hit 60mph in less than five seconds” The time has come. Whether you’re addicted to the buzz of a boosted Fiesta ST or dedicated to an old-school Cossie cause, it’s impossible to ignore the Focus RS Mk3 – and the possibility of putting one in your garage. Not just because it’s the only up-to-date RS money can buy. And not only because it’s the best hot hatch ever to wear a Blue…

MUSTANG CRAZY HORSE We check out a tyre-shredding, ground-shaking, rev limiter-smashing Mustang that’s taking on the Jap boys in the UK drift scene Words BEN BIRCH Photos JASON DODD What comes to mind when someone says ‘Mustang’? For many, it’s hard to shake the image of leaf springs, boat anchor V8s and driving dynamics that would make a wardrobe seem sharp. But the fact is that modern Mustangs – especially those from 2015 onwards – are seriously capable cars both on the road and on the track, and one chap who is pushing the platform to its absolute limit (and beyond) is Jonathan Nielsen. “Mustangs do get a bad reputation and many of them get crashed,” he agrees, “but I firmly believe it’s a driver issue rather than the car…

WHAT'S NEW SHOW DATES 2020 See what fantastic Ford shows and events are coming up in 2020… 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 3RD FULL ON FORD Crail Raceway, Crail, Scotland www.crailraceway.co.uk/wp/events 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 14TH CORTINA DAY & WYE FORDS Monmouthshire Showground, Monmouth www.tfc.org.uk 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…

SIERRA ESTATE THE GRAND TOUR When Ford glued the GT badge to the Sierra estate in the 1990s, it was arguably little more than a cynical spec level. But Callum Hynd’s developed the GT into the grand tourer it always deserved to be Words DANIEL BEVIS Photos ADRIAN BRANNAN Some cars shout loudly about their performance credentials, battering you with a relentless assault of spoilers, graphics and canards, along with aggressive offsets and engorged arches. Other cars prefer to speak softly while carrying their big stick, and this is more the case with Callum Hynd’s late-model Sierra GT estate. Approaching it from behind, the car eases you in gently, its relatively stock appearance augmented simply by a 3in outward-rolled tailpipe and a markedly lower stance. Moving round to the side,…

JAMIE FOCUS RS CAUGHT ON CAMERA Jamie adds a dash cam to the RS for added peace of mind and protection against careless road users… I’ll admit this month isn’t the most exciting update in terms of adding power or increasing performance, but it is perhaps one of the most important I’ve made in recent times. Given the large number of scammers, uninsured drivers, or just plain idiotic drivers out there, having a dash cam to capture any goings on makes a lot of sense. Our family/dog wagon has a rather fancy (and expensive!) Nextbase front and rear dash cam, and it really does add peace of mind to any journey, especially when driving through busy towns and city centres. However, I don’t need something anywhere near as complicated for…

WHO IS OLY COLLINS? Oly Collins is the Motorbase Performance Team Manager. He’s the man on the other end of the radio set, pulling the strings in the pit garage on race day, driving developments and improvements to the car between races, and making sure the team operates smoothly throughout the season. Oly has been working in the BTCC for over 20 years, joining West Surrey Racing as a junior in 1998, before making his mark in the Championship in the 2000s enjoying success at teams such as Team Dynamics. Oly joined Motorbase in 2009, and combines his duties as BTCC Team Manager with working alongside his dad running a classic Jaguar restoration specialist. Having been involved with every step of the build of the new cars. Oly has been…

TECH SPEC FOCUS RS MK3 ENGINE 2261cc turbocharged four-cylinder 16-valve DOHC EcoBoost with alloy block and head, 9.4:1 compression ratio, cast iron crankshaft, twin-independent variable cam timing (Ti-VCT), timing chain drive, Honeywell twin-scroll turbocharger, high-pressure direct fuel injection, redesigned intake, Bosch MEDG17-14 engine management, large-bore exhaust system with twin tailpipes TRANSMISSION Four-wheel drive with Getrag Ford Durashift MMT6 six-speed manual gearbox, electronically-controlled AWD system incorporating Twinster rear drive unit, and Dynamic Torque Vectoring SUSPENSION Front: MacPherson struts, uprated coil springs (33 per cent stiffer) and anti-roll bar, electronic shock absorbers with two modes (normal/track 40 per cent firmer), revised knuckles, uprated bushes; rear: independent control blade multi-link system, reinforced subframe and connecting rods, electronic dampers, uprated coil springs (38 per cent stiffer) and anti-roll bar; electronic stability Control (ESC), torque…

FROM THE ARCHIVES We delve through the image archives to bring you some of the most memorable moments in Ford’s history… Wel know that rallying greats such as Malcolm Wilson and François Delecour successfully campaigned the Sapphire Cosworth 4x4 in World Rallying before the Escort Cosworth took over. We also know that a few years before that, legends such as Jimmy McRae and Russell Brookes took the iconic three-door Sierra rallying too. But what about the 2wd Sapphire? Did that ever compete? Yes. Yes it did. And with some great drivers behind the wheel too, but it was short-lived. Here is a certain Colin McRae on his way to victory in the Cartel rally in February 1990……