Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2019 från Fast Ford

INTRO WELCOME TO THE SPRING ISSUE! It's the Spring issue, and that can only mean one thing; the dark and dreary winter months are finally behind us, and the summer show season is well and truly on its way. The warmer weather and longer days are just around the corner, and the diary is starting to fill up with must-attend events and meets over the course of the coming weeks, but the die-hard Ford fans don't need to wait for summer to officially arrive before they get behind the wheel. They need little excuse to get out and enjoy the empty (but very cold) B-roads for a good old fashioned drive. We've got two perfect examples of the breed in this very issue too. The first of which is Jay…

ESCORT COSWORTH LIVING THE DREAM Owning the car of your dreams isn’t something many of us get to do – but does the reality live up to the fantasy? As Jay Putinas’ story demonstrates, it can be a bit of a rollercoaster… Words DAN BEVIS Photos MATT RICHARDSON We all had a dream car when we were young. Some of us had posters of the Ferrari F40 or Porsche 959 or Lamborghini Countach blu-tacked to our walls; others hankered after the cars we saw in movies and on TV – Knight Rider, or Starsky’s Gran Torino, or the Bullitt Mustang. These were stellar, otherworldly creations, the stuff of fantasy, and not something we ever realistically saw ourselves owning. Jay Putinas, however, had other ideas. He had a very clear notion…

DREAM GARAGE Hannah Ward has been hooning around in Fords since she was 11 years old. Now 29, she’s collected an incredible selection of Fords to fill her very own dream garage… Words DAN BEVIS Photos MATT RICHARDSON A lot of people have a long list of cars they’d like to own, and it’s natural to chop-and-change a little. Hannah Ward, however, has a different approach: she works extremely hard to fund her hobby, ensuring that she doesn’t need to operate a one-in-one-out system – when she buys a fresh Ford project, it gets to sit in the garage with all the others! “I can’t remember a time when I haven’t been really into cars, it’s a lifelong passion,” she explains. “I was 11 when my parents gave me their…

THE A-Z OF TUNING E EXHAUSTS A well-designed exhaust system is vital part of any car. In fact, considering there’s (usually) no moving parts, and it’s essentially a load of metal pipe welded together, it’s surprising what a difference a good exhaust system can make. Of course, we all know that your exhaust is there to let waste gas escape but, in performance terms at least, how effectively these are allowed to escape changes the potential power your engine can produce. Engine tuning is all about flowing gas efficiently and a performance exhaust is designed to help gases escape as quickly as possible. Not only will a well-designed exhaust give genuine performance gains, it will make your Ford sound much more exciting to drive too! BORE SIZE The bore size…

H HEAT MANAGEMENT Keeping things cool under the bonnet has numerous advantages. And it’s not just about protecting the surrounding components from super-hot turbos and exhausts, but remember that warmer gasses move faster, so it stands to reason that an exhaust system will work much more effectively when the gasses retain their heat. In performance terms, it’s common practice to use a product like heat wrap or a ceramic coating to keep the heat within the exhaust as much as possible. Heat wrap is an inexpensive thermal bandage. A good basic mod that’s easy to fit and produces real results. The same principal can also be applied to products such as turbo blankets too, which are effectively thermal blankets that fit over the exhaust housing of the turbocharger. Ceramic coating…

N NITROUS OXIDE Nitrous oxide is a compound of nitrogen and oxygen; two parts nitrogen and one part oxygen. When injected into an engine the heat causes it to break down and release the oxygen into the cylinder where it can be used to burn more fuel and release more power. The reason gains can be so huge is because of the higher percentage of oxygen it offers than just intake air alone. No other tuning method can deliver anything like the same volume of oxygen. WET AND DRY KITS There are two different types of nitrous system with regards to fuel delivery. Wet nitrous kits also deliver their own additional fuel to the engine to match the increased oxygen supply from the nitrous kit. Dry nitrous kits do not…

Q QUICK SHIFTERS If there’s one thing you do every time you drive your car, it’s change gear. It doesn’t matter if you’re just popping to the shops, cruising around enjoying the weekend sunshine, or blasting around a track at full throttle, no matter what you’re doing in your car, you will change gear. There’s no way around it. Many kits are direct replacements for OE components, and as such are simple and easy enough to fit at home on a DIY basis with minimal tools. Some even have different settings for how much you want to reduce the throw. More recently, as well as quick shifters that replace shifter arms on the gearbox, we are starting to see a trend in people replacing the entire gearstick assembly with a…

THE A-Z OF TUNING T TURBOS Turbochargers have been around since the 1920s, but many people are still unsure of how they work and what they do. Whilst there are some very complicated issues which are intrinsically linked with turbocharging an engine, such as the sensors needed and the mapping process, the turbo itself is actually quite a simple bit of kit. The easiest way to think of a turbo is as a big air pump. The exhaust gases exiting the cylinder are directed to the turbine wheel, spinning it as they leave the engine. This turbine wheel is then directly connected to a compressor wheel, which also spins. As the compressor wheel spins, it compresses (hence the name) the air coming in to the turbo and forces it into…

W WHEELS & TYRES As we all know, the right wheels can make a car. Likewise, fit the wrong ones and you will undo all the previous hard work that’s gone into making the car look and perform better. But with the right rims in place you will not only improve the overall appearance of your fast Ford, but you also make significant improvements to the way it handles, accelerates, and brakes too! Wheel design has much more of an impact on performance than many people give them credit for; everything from the car’s unsprung weight, to the cooling efficiency of your brakes, to the geometry of your suspension set up, is affected by the wheels you fit. DIAMETER Diameter is fairly self-explanatory and refers to the outside diameter of…

THE A-Z OF TUNING Z ZETEC TURBOS Ford never officially built a turbocharged Zetec engine; the 2.0-litre powerplant found in the Mk1 Focus RS was officially branded as ‘Duratec RS’ – although, we all know it’s really a Zetec under that fancy cam cover, of course. But Ford fans had been bolting turbochargers to the Zetec engine long before the FRS came along in 2002. Initially, tuners used the Zetec’s stronger and larger capacity block as a replacement for the CVH in cars like RS Turbos (it is the same size and shape, and with minor fettling can be mated to the CVH head with relative ease), but it wasn’t long before things progressed and tuners fully exploited the benefits of a full, 16-valve Zetec boosted by a turbocharger. Things…

NO.11 MONDEO WITH MAZDA V6 FORDS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN… After the RS500 was banned from Touring Car racing, Ford turned to Mondeos with Mazda engines for their next Championship success, and almost built a road-going version too… Words GRAHAM ROBSON Photos FORD ARCHIVE Since the 1960s, Ford had always been prominent, and often dominant, in saloon car racing. During the 1980s the Sierra RS500 Cosworth was unstoppable and made mincemeat of all its rivals. When the authorities changed the rules to re-set the RS500’s dominance, by imposing a new formula for normally-aspired 2-litre cars (which would have to be rev-limited to 8,500rpm) Ford then dropped out for the next two seasons. Even so, when they decided to return in 1993, the decision caused controversy both inside and outside the…

FOCUS RS GREY’S ANATOMY The tasteful Nardo Grey exterior of this RS may project an image of subtlety and serenity, but it’s a different story under the skin. This brutal Focus is honed and refined to deliver relentless body blows… Words DAN BEVIS Photos ADE BRANNAN The trouble with being respected and revered is that there’s an enormous weight of pressure to remain consistently impressive. Look at Charlton Heston – a solid career of Hollywood success, disconcertingly devalued by turning into a militant gun nut. Or the Star Wars franchise – three iconic movies, a sixteen year wait, and then Jar Jar Binks arrived. Elon Musk? He co-founded PayPal, and Tesla, and SpaceX, doing things that no-one ever considered possible… but his endless Twitter meltdowns suggest he might be some…

WHAT'S NEW NEWS See what’s going down in the world of fast Fords... SHELBY GT500 MIXES BRAWN WITH BRAINS The new Mustang Shelby GT500 is set for greatness. Not only is it billed as the most powerful ever street-legal car in Ford’s history, but it’s also hugely technologically advanced. Forget your outdated stereotypes around muscle cars being all about dumb horsepower and straight lines, this GT500 looks like a game-changer. First of all, let’s address the power: the model has a supercharged 5.2-litre V8, producing in excess of 700bhp – the 2.65-litre Roots-type blower is inverted with an air-to-liquid intercooler tucked inside the valley of the V8. The aluminium-alloy block features wire-arc cylinder liners to save weight, along with forged conrods, high-flow aluminium heads, and a structural oilpan with innovative…

THE A-Z OF TUNING From air filters to Zetec turbos, here’s our full handy A-Z guide of tuning fast Fords… There are some things that are just meant to go together; tea and biscuits, bacon and sandwiches, and, of course, tuning and fast Fords. Since the very first Model T rolled off the production line in 1908, there’s been a bloke hidden away in the corner, covered in oil, twirling a spanner in his hands, and with a glint in his eye as he thinks up ways he can make that machine even faster. And that relationship between fast Fords and tuning has continued to get stronger and stronger since, culminating in the simply massive performance and tuning enthusiast scene we enjoy today. But with so many things to cover,…

THE A-Z OF TUNING C CAMSHAFTS A camshaft’s job is to control the amount of air/fuel mixture that enters the cylinder and the amount of exhaust gases that exit the cylinder, and the speed at which they enter/exit the cylinder too. As such, the camshaft has a massive effect on an engine’s characteristics. The type of camshaft used dictates characteristics such as power, torque, emissions, idle conditions and drivability. Although, with the introduction of more and more forced-induction engines, this kind of mechanical bolt-on tuning isn’t as common as it once was, with the correct tweaks a camshaft swap can seriously improve performance on any engine. From the factory, cams are generally very mild, and are usually made as a compromise for economy, reliability, and, most of all, drivability. This…

F FORGED INTERNALS If you want a powerful, high revving engine that’s going to stay in one piece you need to do something about the internal components. As with many standard production parts, engine internals are designed and built to do their specific job and not much more. Therefore, if we start increasing the power outputs and rev limits of our engine, we are asking a lot of the standard components, which can, and often does, lead to catastrophic failure. To keep a performance engine in one piece we need internal components that are designed and built to cope with these increased stresses. CON RODS Most standard con rods are produced using a casting process. This is a relatively simple process ideal for producing large quantities of the same product,…

I INTERCOOLER Turbos and superchargers both heat up the air entering the engine. You need some method of reducing that heat, otherwise you end up with a host of problems. Intercoolers are air-to-air coolers, meaning they simply rely on air passing through them to draw heat away from the air inside. There are two main types of core used in air-to-air intercoolers; bar-and-plate and tube-and-fin. Both have their advantages; tube and fin is significantly lighter than bar-and-plate (which is good when you consider where it’s mounted – right out at the front of the car where you really don’t want any excess weight), and they are usually cheaper to produce. However, bar-and-plate cores are said to offer better cooling properties and are generally more robust due to their heavier construction. So,…

CLUB MEET FORD THORNE PERFORMANCE WEEKEND WITH WELSH FORD We head to South Wales for a Sunday morning of fast Fords and strong coffee… Words & Photos DAVY LEWIS WHERE Cardiff, Wales WHEN November 2018 Sunday mornings may be a great time to see the weird and wonderful in any city – the leftovers from a Saturday night’s antics never fail to amuse – but they’re also perfect for car meets too, which is why we headed off to the Cardiff-based Fordthorne dealership. As an official Performance Centre, Fordthorne Cardiff can sell you the latest ST or RS models and also supply and fit a full range of Ford-approved mountune upgrades to make them even better. But they’re also Blue Oval enthusiasts at heart too, which is why today they’ve…

JAMIE FOCUS RS UNLOCK THE TOYS Jamie upgrades to the latest m400R software, and has fun with extras such as full-throttle shifting, permanent launch control, and more… QUICK SPEC mountune m400R • Velgen Classic5 alloys • Toyo R888R tyres • Pumaspeed lowering springs • 3M wrap by VWC in Leeds• mountune axle-back and sports cat • Maxton splitters • H&R anti-roll bars • TAROX brakes • Mishimoto intercooler, intake kit, and oil cooler kits • Quaife ATB A couple of weeks ago mountune announced they had developed further updates to their already-impressive m400 performance packages for the Focus RS. As you know, I was already running the m400 software, so naturally I was keen to see what the m400R was all about. Basically the m400R is the latest version of…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT MATTY BRADLEY MK2 FOCUS ST3 Blue flames are for winners, any Lamborghini owner will tell you that. And that’s precisely the sort of mayhem you see roaring out the back of Matty Bradley’s orange ST3, thanks to the Dreamscience Mod XRS mapping with its bangs and flames! The KMS Section 18 exhaust is amusingly antisocial too, but Matty hasn’t just built this for attention – the combination of Alcon 6-pot brakes with floating AP discs, Quaife diff and Hardrace ARB show he means business, while the Dreamscience intercooler, RS injectors, K&N intake and upgraded torque mount take care of the belt-and-braces. Sits pretty on those RS wheels and 25mm hubcentric spacers too, doesn’t it? QUICK SPEC Dreamscience Mod XRS, KMS Section 18 exhaust, Alcon 6-pots, Quaife ATB…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT MIKE TAYLOR FUSION We love to be surprised by unexpected builds and out-of-the-ordinary projects, and this one’s a corker. The 2006 Fusion may be finished in a colour that Mike describes as ‘pisscake’, but that all helps its amazing sleeper credentials. Hidden inside this dull-looking snotter is an ST150 engine with Cosworth cams, mountune induction, Piper manifold and a custom exhaust, all adding up to a handy 185bhp. There’s plenty of other ST150 bits in there too, including the gearbox (complete with Quaife LSD), steering rack, rear beam, wishbones, ARBs, steering wheel, pedals, plus H&R coilovers and a thorough polybushing. So if you see Mike out on track in this thing, don’t expect an easy victory – it may look unexciting, but it’s an absolute weapon. QUICK…

EVENT REPORT AUTOSPORT INTERNATIONAL 2019 AUTO SPORT INTERNATIONAL 2019 We head to the NEC to see what’s new for the world of fast Fords at Autosport International 2019… Words JAMIE Photos VARIOUS WHERE NEC, Birmingham WHEN January 2019 Autosport International is, and has been for years, the very first big event of the year. It’s the curtain-raiser show, offering the latest news, gossip, products, and developments for the year ahead. As such, it’s always been an event that race teams, specialist parts manufacturers, and basically anyone associated with motorsport uses to announce their plans ahead of the upcoming race season. That means the show has always had a huge motorsportbias, and while the fact that many of these upgrades and developments frequently filter their way down to the fast road…

FIESTA ST LESS IS MORE In a world of ever-increasing eye-popping exterior wraps and more and more extravagant styling cues, sometimes the best way to stand out is do less, as Michael Good’s stunning-yet-subtle ST proves… Words & Photos JON CASS There’s little doubt that the Mk7 Fiesta ST is currently the car of choice to modify, especially amongst our younger generation of Ford fans. A recent visit to AET Motorsport’s open day cemented this theory as the increasingly popular Fiesta ST not only dominated the rolling road sessions, but also the car park and adjoining streets too! It seems Ford got this car just right, and that combination of aggressive looks, plenty of power, and a sublime mix of perfect ride and precise handling means there’s not a lot…

SIERRA COSWORTH LEARNING TO LOVE AGAIN Following a nasty accident that saw him temporarily losing part of his memory, the reminder that his Sierra Cosworth project was waiting back at home helped keep Alex Bull going through the tougher times in life… Words SAM PRESTON Photos AS DESIGN It might be a difficult concept for non-car folk to get their heads around, but there’s no denying just how much our four-wheeled companions can mean to those of us who hold such a passion for this particular way of life. But no matter how significant your faithful machine is to you, it’s probably fair to say that Alex’s relationship with his stunning Sierra Cossie here takes things to a whole new level entirely – his beloved retro three-door helping him get…

THE A-Z OF TUNING A AIR FILTERS Air filters are one of the easiest and most rewarding upgrades you can make when looking to improve a car’s performance. While the air filter may often get overshadowed by more exotic modifications, it is a crucial component to any fast Ford; without one an engine would simply destroy itself as it inhales surrounding dirt and debris, effectively shot-blasting itself to bits from the inside out. A good performance air filter allows more air to enter the engine more quickly. As well as physically being able to flow more air, many modern air filters come as complete air intake kits, which increases the rate of flow and reduces temperatures of the intake air too – and cooler intake air basically means more power…

D DYNO A dyno is a device used to measure torque. It does this by using various types of braking force to put an engine under the same load it would see while being driven hard on the road/track, but in a static vehicle or attached to a test bench. The amount of force produced by the engine attempting to turn the braked dyno is measured, and then converted by the dyno’s computer system into the traditional power and torque figures that we associate with tuned cars. CHASSIS DYNO Better known as a ‘rolling road’, the chassis dyno is the most common and flexible type of dyno available. They are operated by placing the car’s driven wheels either on top of (on a single-roller design), or in between (on a…

M METHANOL/WATER INJECTION Adding water to a petrol engine may sound like a recipe for disaster, but it’s a practice that’s been going on for over 50 years. The principal behind it is to remove unwanted heat from the combustion process, and therefore aid engine cooling. This is where injecting small amounts of methanol and water can help. Usually the mix is around 50/50, and both elements play their own part; the water provides the main cooling effect, while the methanol helps raise the octane rating of the air/fuel mixture and decreases the risk of detonation. The mixture should really also include small traces of water-soluble oil, to prevent corrosion of the systems. The introduction of meth/ water injection can cool the air/ fuel mixture quite significantly. As the water…

S SUSPENSION One of the most complex subjects in tuning, suspension is a vital part of any car. The ‘suspension’ system makes up a huge amount of the parts underneath the body; pretty much every single part that somehow connects your wheels to your car counts as suspension. While parts such as anti-roll bars, control arms, bushes and the like are all vitally important to how a car handles, the two biggest components of the suspension system that have the most profound effects are the springs and dampers. SPRINGS These are the main suspension components that stops your car’s chassis from just sitting on top of the wheels. Aside from doing that, they have two other main jobs; to cushion the car over bumps or pot holes, and to help…

V VERNIER PULLEYS Vernier pulleys are far from a decorative piece of engine bling, in fact they play a crucial part in the well-being of a tuned engine. Put simply their job is to allow finite adjustments to the cam timing, to allow for optimum performance. As we know, the relationship between the crank position and camshaft position is vital to an engine’s performance. On a standard engine there isn’t any scope for making fine adjustments to this relationship, and even if you tried it would all be guesswork. However, a vernier pulley does allow you to make slight alterations. They work by basically allowing the outside of the pulley (connected directly to the crank pulley via the cam belt/timing chain) to rotate around the inside of the pulley (connected…

FAST FLEET Check out what’s been going on with our projects this month… DAN FOCUS ST With the weather taking a turn for the worse, Dan's glad the ST is wearing winter tyres. But he's worn them out with his driving antics so might need some more soon. PAUL RS500 RACE CAR The racecar build is progressing along nicely, but if nothing else Paul's regular updates show just how much work is involved with building a racer. This month, the engine mounts go in... JAMIE FOCUS RS Jamie's been upgrading the RS's software again, this time to the new m400R version from mountune, complete with all the added extra features it brings. MARK ESCORT COSWORTH After breaking the diff at Brands Hatch recently, Mark's been on the case uprating things…

MOTORBASE FOCUS BTCC COOL RUNNINGS The Motorbase team are busy working on final preparations before a frantic pre-season testing schedule and the start of the 2019 BTCC season… It’s been a busy few weeks for us, and the season hasn’t even started yet! For starters, we recently had both Team Shredded Wheat cars on display at the Autosport International show at the NEC in January (see page 24 for the full report), with Tom Chilton’s car on the Kwik-Fit BTCC stand and newcomer, Ollie Jackson’s car on Corbeau’s stand nearby. Both cars may have looked ready for action in their 2019 livery, but if we’re honest neither car was anywhere near race-ready. And since the show, that’s what we have been busy working on. First up, we called on the…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT MARK SLATCHER MK2 FOCUS ST We’re suckers for a clever badge here at Fast Ford, and we love the smart ‘Focus ST Turbo’ decal on Mark’s boot, cleverly aping the style of the Series 2 RS Turbo. It’s not the only nifty touch on the car either; the Frozen White daily driver has received a West Yorkshire Tuning map to give it a certified 299.8bhp – helped along by the Mongoose cat-back, AS Gen2 induction kit and plenum, R-Sport Stage 1 intercooler and custom decat. Mark’s a long-time subscriber and owner of many Fords over the years – we’re pleased to bring another of his motors to this part of the mag! QUICK SPEC West Yorkshire Tuning map, Mongoose cat-back, Keltec Performance decat, R-Sport intercooler, AS plenum…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT NEIL BREALEY FIESTA TDCi Underestimate Neil’s more-door diesel at your peril, because there’s something very clever going on beneath that unassuming bonnet. The TDCi motor now runs a compound turbo setup of Neil’s own design. What’s a compound turbo? Well, it’s a special kind of twin-turbo setup whereby you have a big low-pressure turbo and a small high-pressure one; atmospheric air flows through the big one and into the little one, then on to the intake – this compounds pressure and almost completely eliminates lag. Clever, huh? So this daily-driver five-door is now pushing out over 200bhp and 300lb.ft QUICK SPEC Custom compound turbo setup, K&N induction, blacked-out colour-coding…