Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i Fast Ford

F ord has recently announced it plans to bolster its range of electric vehicles to include nine different models by 2024. We already know about the Mustang Mach-E and the five Transit models, and there’s a fully electric Puma due soon too, but what about the other two? For now, Ford’s official releases simply refers to them as ‘Mediumsize Crossover’ and ‘Sport Crossover’, but we also know that the company has been working closely with VW and that these cars will be based on the same MEB platform as VW’s ID.4 and ID.5 models. A Ford spokesperson has been quoted saying the new cars will look and drive like Fords. We’re expecting a further announcement soon, and we’ll keep you updated as soon as we hear more.…

“I still remember it like it was yesterday,” says Adam Faver as he tells us where his Escort Cosworth obsession began. “I was 12 years old, walking in a local village, and all of a sudden the loudest and fastest car I’d ever seen came blasting past me. It literally stopped me in my tracks, and my mind was completely blown.” Inspired, young Adam found out that the car in question was called an Escort Cosworth, an Imperial Blue one to be precise, and from that moment on he embarked on a single-minded mission to own his very own. He says, “From that day onwards I started buying all the car mags religiously, and honestly my whole life has been geared towards achieving that boyhood dream. Young kids go through…

QUICK SPEC Mountune m400R ■ Velgen Classic5 alloys ■ H&R lowering springs ■ 3M wrap ■ Mountune axle-back and sports cat ■ H&R anti-roll bars ■ Tarox brakes ■ Mishimoto intercooler, intake kit, and oil cooler kits ■ Quaife ATB Flicking through the various Facebook groups and clubs that I’m a member of, I couldn’t help but notice a common thread among disgruntled owners citing examples of the poor service they had been subjected to when taking their beloved Blue Ovals in for regular service updates or routine maintenance. Thankfully, this is not something I’ve experienced personally, as I’m fortunate to have a circle of specialists that I trust and use. And, for me, that T-word is the key – trust. Ford fans are lucky enough to enjoy an outstanding…

The latest racing updates from Blue Ovals competing all over the globe Photos Words JAMIE & M-SPORT As the start of the 2022 BTCC season draws ever closer, Motorbase Performance has recently revealed a partnership with Apec Racing With Beavis Morgan for the Focus STs that will be driven by Ollie Jackson and Sam Osborne. At a recent BTCC test event (we will bring you full details and the drivers’ feedback in the next issue) the Motorbase squad unveiled the car’s new livery just before getting into the serious business of testing and preparing for what is sure to be a hotly contested season of racing. The striking new red-and-black livery certainly stands out, and links nicely to Motorbase’s heritage in touring-and saloon-car racing. The names on the side of…

Photos Built by Eggenberger Motorsport to compete in the European Touring Car Championship in the iconic Texaco colours, this legendary RS500 then went on to win the gruelling Spa 24-hour race 1989. But its incredible achievements on track only tell half the story of this car; the tale since it was retired from official works Group A duties is just as interesting (and, at times, just as bizarre) as any that retell its time from the paddocks in the late Eighties. To help us untangle the tale we called on the help of RS500 guru and friend of the mag, Paul Linfoot. Paul’s the go-to man when it comes to anything RS500, and even more so when it comes this particular car… Because he now owns it. But how and…

WHY YOU WANT ONE… ■ Every fiery Fiesta can trace its roots back to the Mk1 XR2, so its heritage as a piece of iconic Ford history is set in stone. ■ XR values have taken their time to reach RS levels, but they’re now not far behind – and the rarer models (such as Mk1 XR2) are becoming important cars for fast Ford collectors. ■ Just look at it. The sense of fun brought on by driving a 40-year-old roller-skate is equalled only by the cheeky little smile of a Mk1 XR2 poking its nose out of your garage. WHY YOU DON’T… ■ Never the quickest hot hatchback even when new, the Mk1 XR2 is positively pedestrian by today’s standards, and will be left standing by an MPV packed…

Photos T he external appearance of the current Mustang Mach 1 sets the tone for the rest of the car. We recently ran a new-model Mach 1 for a week to find out how well its ‘just enough, but not too much’ approach fits with a British winter. Now, assuming we include the anniversary, pace, race, commemorative, local/territorial, dealer, tuner and third-party variants, there have been 686 special editions of the Ford Mustang up until this latest limited-run model. This newest iteration of the Mach 1 derivative is the fifth body shape to carry this famous Mustang sub-brand. Just as on the original 1969 version, the 2022 Mach 1 can be specified with or without the external identification stripes pack, but it’s beyond the immediate appearance that the Mach 1…

QUICK SPEC YBB with 205 block and Stage 3 chip ■ RS500 intercooler ■ T34.48 turbo ■ Gaz GHA coilovers ■ Powerflex bushes ■ Hose Technik brake hoses ■ RS500-type splitter ■ Compomotive MO5 7.5x17in rims ■ Momo rear wheel spacers Cosworths deliver fun and frustration in equal measures. If you’ve ever owned one, you’ll know they can choose to break down in less time than it takes you to say ‘misfiring YB’. One moment it will be running beautifully; the next it will be stalled at the side of the road with oil trickling from some random cavity or bits of drivetrain scattered across the tarmac. Sometimes they just stop working for no reason other than to laugh at their owners. Admittedly, it had been a few years since…

Words and photos Armed with the latest customer version of the four-wheel-drive Fiesta rally car, Stephen Petch put a marker down for 2022 when the BTRDA Rally Series opened in the forests of the Lake District in mid-March. On the Malcolm Wilson Rally, former champion Petch had his first competitive run in the latest Fiesta Rally2 built by the team of experts at Wilson’s nearby base. Typically, challenging conditions and a bumper entry got the BTRDA season off to a great start and Petch used all experience to good effect to take victory. Not so fortunate was young Elliot Payne, who was expected to set the pace, but whacked a front corner off his similar Fiesta Rally2 on an unforgiving Lake District rock. Instead, second of the Fiesta pack in…

Photos Known as the mini-Nürburgring, Cadwell Park presents an incredible challenge for drivers. It’s extremely narrow and offers a fantastic combination of blind crests, big elevation changes and some really rewarding cambers. As a racetrack it’s better suited for bikes (it really is that narrow), but for a pure driving experience it’s unrivalled, making it a great track-day venue. 1 -COPPICE The first turn is Coppice; a fast left-hander that climbs uphill steeply. You need to carry as much speed as you can through the corner. There’s a cut-through for a shorter version of the circuit to the driver’s right on approach – you want to use that as a marker for turning in. Try to be soft and smooth with your steering inputs to help keep the momentum high…

Photos Over the years, we’ve learnt not to judge a book by its cover; after all, there are so many understated sleepers around, hiding virtually every engine combination. But of all the unsuspecting builds we’ve come across, we don’t think anyone would guess what’s hiding beneath the surface of Robert Thompson’s humble-looking Mk4 Escort. To guess it might be hiding turbo power wouldn’t be unusual, but making well over 300bhp and putting it down through the rear wheels with complete Mazda MX-5 underpinnings is certainly a new one for us. With that in mind, it will be of no surprise to learn that this Escort has been built with a single purpose in mind: to have fun. Its owner Rob says, “It’s no show car and gets driven hard. I…

W hen modifying a car, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking bigger is better. You might start off by upgrading a few parts here and there and feel you have things under control, but attend a few shows with like-minded petrolheads and you soon get caught in a cycle of unending oneupmanship, where no spoiler or eye-popping graphics are quite wild enough. And while there’s nothing wrong with this overtly attention-seeking approach, it’s certainly not the only way to make your car stand out from the crowd. Dan Freeman, the 39 year-old owner of this immaculate Electric Orange Focus ST admits. “I’ve modified every car I’ve ever had. In fact, the ST was originally bought as a daily driver while I restored an S550 Mustang that…

S ilverstone Auctions recently had the privilege of dropping the hammer on one of the most sought-after Fords of all time. The M-Sport Focus WRC that Colin McRae took to victory in Acropolis Rally in 2001 was the star of the company’s latest auction sale at new venue, RAF Museum London. The car was freshly built for the Acropolis Rally in 2001, but is equally as famous for being the car in which McRae spectacularly crashed out of the Network Q Rally of Great Britain in the final round of the championship that year, handing the title to Richard Burns in his Subaru in the process. As such it generated huge interest from collectors and rally fans in the weeks leading up to the sale, and went on to break all…

AUTO FINESSE EXTRA LARGE 2.5-LITRE SIZES From £19 For a fast Ford fan, cleaning your car isn’t something you do just once. In fact, during the summer months it becomes a weekly ritual, and that means that you need a lot of products to keep your precious paintwork looking its best. Auto Finesse realises that, and has released its most popular wash products in extra-large 2.5-litre sizes to bridge the gap between previous 1-litre consumer and 5-litre trade bottles. Dynamite Traffic Film Remover (£19), Avalanche Snow Foam (£23), and Lather Car Shampoo (£23) still offer the same great features as ever, but are now available in bigger sizes so you won’t have to restock quite so often. For more details head to the website. www.autofinesse.com HP TUNERS REMOTE TUNING DEVICE…

Photos The modern world always seems to be pushing the idea that we should recycle and reuse where we can, and it’s a concept that can be applied just about everywhere, including modified cars. Nick Osborne’s Focus ST diesel is a prime example. Having been purchased as a sensible daily driver, over the years it’s evolved to become something very different. With 370lb.ft of torque on tap, a plated LSD, pumped-up arches and a track suspension setup, the mean and menacing Focus now surprises people on road and track. Nick confirms, “I initially chose a diesel for the fuel consumption, due to commuting at the time. But now I use it for nothing other than track days and car shows.” When Nick bought the car five years ago, he never…

Words and photos He cut his motorsport teeth as a youngster in Formula Ford racing and later marked himself as a highly competitive rally driver in a Puma, but after a long sabbatical David Henderson is now showing his class in a Fiesta R5 rally car. Through February and March, the 47-yearold father of four from Durham scored a hat-trick of asphalt rally wins: two on the racetracks of Snetterton and Donington Park and one on the closed public roads of the first running of the East Riding Stages Rally in Yorkshire. Gearbox problems on the North West Stages brought the winning run to an end. “I had nearly a 20-year break from the sport,” said Henderson after making a racing comeback in 2019. But rallying had always been a passion…

Photos The Mk7 Fiesta ST will go down in history as one of the most tuneable hot hatches ever. As standard it isn’t shy; even a factory example gives us more grunt (200PS/197bhp on overboost) than the quoted 180bhp that earns the car its ST180 nickname. Yet, ample as 200bhp in a fiery front-wheel-drive hatchback is, the Mk7 Fiesta’s excellent chassis means it’s just plain rude not exploit it by extracting more power; more than double the factory power is within relatively easy reach, and we’ve recently seen cars producing over 500bhp! Furthermore, the 1.6-litre EcoBoost has proven to be incredibly robust, and even at nearly double the factory power outputs the engine remains reliable, and compliant enough for everyday use. Of course, the gem of an engine is only…

J-CAR The original GT40 may be one of the best-known Fords of all time, but a very closely related cousin – which in many respects was better – is almost unheard of. We’re talking about the J-Car. That codename came from the fact it was designed and built to comply with the FIA’s Appendix J regulations introduced in 1966. The J-Car was a development of the Le Manswinning GT40 racer; it retained the 7.0-litre V8 engine but featured a radically new chassis construction: using honeycomb aluminium bonded together to form a tub. The J-Car was a full 140kg less than the Le Mans-winning GT40 Mk2. The first J-car was finished by March 1966, and despite setting the fastest time at the Le Mans trials earlier in the year, Ford decided…