Ford Escort RS Cosworth
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| Escort RS Cosworth | |
| Production period: | 1992–1996 (street version) to 1998 (racing version) |
| Class : | race car |
| Body versions : | Station wagon |
| Engines: |
Otto engine : 2.0 liters (167 kW) |
| Length: | 4211 mm |
| Width: | 1738 mm |
| Height: | 1405 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 2552 mm |
| Empty weight : | 1275-1310 kg |
| successor | Ford Focus RS WRC |
The Ford Escort RS Cosworth is a sports derivative of the European Ford Escort . The first 2500 copies were rally homologation models. The car was designed to qualify for Group A of the World Rally Championship, in which Ford competed between 1993 and 1998. From 1992 to 1996 the Escort RS Cosworth was available as a road car in very limited numbers. The smaller turbo vehicles were not recognized by the FIA and only the first 2500 vehicles, which were manufactured before January 1st, 1993, are "homologation special versions". You can recognize them by their large “whale tail” rear spoiler. The Escort RS Cosworth is powered by a four-cylinder in-line Cosworth YBT engine. It has a displacement of 1993 cm 3 and a power output of 227 hp (167 kW).
development
Ford developed the car on the engineering basis of the Ford Sierra Cosworth to accommodate the larger Cosworth engine and transmission, while the body resembled the Ecort Mk V. Led by Rod Mansfield and John Wheeler from Ford's SVO division, the vehicle was designed by Stephen Harper of MGA Developments in Coventry in 1989, a year before the production model was launched. The spoiler was added by Frank Stephenson . The body tool was designed by the body builder Karmann at the plant in Rheine, where the vehicles were manufactured.
The engine management was modified compared to the Sierra and a new turbocharger was installed. The car has permanent four-wheel drive, which distributes 34% of the drive torque to the front wheels and 66% of the drive torque to the rear wheels. The five-speed manual gearbox corresponds to the type used in the Sierra Cosworth. Recaro Holding sports seats are standard equipment. Later production models were available without the oversized rear spoiler, although most customers ordered the rear spoiler. From February 19, 1992 to January 12, 1996, 7,145 vehicles were produced. A small number of vehicles were officially imported into the United States by an importer.
The top speed of the vehicle was 240 km / h, which could compete with lower-priced sports cars including Audi quattro , BMW M3 , Nissan 300ZX and Toyota Supra , outperforming traditional compact sports cars such as the Volkswagen VW Golf GTI . The Escort RS2000 and the earlier Escort RS Turbo only achieved 203 km / h.
Two versions of the Escort RS Cosworth were produced. The first 2,500 units were "homologation specials" that were required to obtain FIA approval in group A. These were equipped with an oversized Garrett T3 / T04B hybrid turbocharger and a water-cooled intercooler. The same engine was installed in the Ford RS200 Group B car. Due to the large exhaust gas turbocharger, the engine's response behavior up to 3500 rpm was relatively poor. From 3500 rpm, the exhaust gas turbocharger was able to build up enough boost pressure. Some homologation specials have been equipped with water injection to improve the filling. Among those first units, a handful were marked as a motorsport version. These lacked certain refinements such as a sunroof and soundproofing.
The original vehicles contained features that made the Cosworth a more effective sports car but made it unsuitable as a road vehicle. As soon as the rules were met, Ford tried to make the car less spirited and easier to drive under normal conditions. The second generation, which went into production at the end of 1994, was equipped with a Garrett T25 turbocharger, a smaller unit that reduced the turbo lag and made the car more suitable for everyday use. With these newer models, Ford offered on request ex works not to install the unusually designed rear spoiler.
engine
The engine of the official street version developed a maximum of 227 hp (167 kW) at 6,250 rpm, the maximum torque was 304 Nm. It must be operated with premium gasoline with an octane number not below 95. With it, the car reached a top speed of 232 km / h. Without the large rear wing, it could even go 237 km / h, while it took 5.7 seconds from 0 to 100. The standard turbocharger Garrett AiResearch T3 / T04B delivered a maximum boost pressure of 0.8 bar, briefly 1.0-1.1 bar ( overboost ). The car weighed 1,275 kg and 1,310 kg in the highest trim level.
The Ford Escort RS Cosworth was the first mass production car to produce 45 Newtons of downforce at 180 km / h with an adjustable front splitter in the middle position and 190 Newtons with its large wing at the rear.
Motorsport
The Escort Cosworth was designed to win the World Rally Championship . It failed to achieve that goal, but won eight races as a Group A car and two more in the 1997-8 World Rally Car category between 1993 and 1996 , before being replaced by the Ford Focus RS WRC .
The Escort Cosworth was developed in 1991 and 1992 by the Ford factory rally team. His first appearances before homologation took place in the Spanish championship, in the hands of Jose Maria Bardolet, and at the 1992 Scottish Rally, where he was driven by Malcom Wilson, who was also the main driver of development. Wilson did not officially attend the event, but his stage times were faster than those of winner Colin McRae . In the second half of the 1992 season, the development of the Sierra Cosworth ended and factory riders François Delecour and Massimo Biasion focused on preparing the Escort for competition.
At the first encounter of the escort at world championship level, the Monte Carlo Rally in 1993, Delecour took the lead with Biasion in second place. The couple carried on the event until last night when Didier Auriol , who drove a Toyota Celica , won a late shootout, leaving the Fords in second and third place. Even so, the new car had demonstrated its potential, which was underscored the following month when Malcolm Wilson briefly led Rally Sweden with a car prepared by his own team before retiring after an accident. The works team returned for the Rally Portugal : Delecour led almost from the start and won the race with Biasion in second place. With that, both the car and the driver were used as serious contenders for this year's World Championship. Delecour won again in Corsica and Biasion in Greece - his first win in three years. They took first and second place in the drivers 'standings and Ford took the lead in the manufacturers' standings. In the second half of the season, Toyota driver Juha Kankkunen won in Argentina, Finland and Australia, but in New Zealand, with the exception of Delecour's runner-up (behind Colin McRae), the Fords 'results were relatively poor, giving Toyota the Manufacturers' title. Both construction escorts retired at the San Remo rally, Delecours after an accident and Biasions engine failure after a radiator hose rupture, but Italian Franco Cunico won the event in a privately immigrated escort Cosworth. It was the first time in several years that a private individual had won at this level. He outperformed the work of the reigning world champion Carlos Sainz's Lancia Delta Integrale and demonstrated the superiority of the escort over the previously dominant Lancia. Nonetheless, the result was a disappointment for Ford, as Delecour won the penultimate round of the season but lost the world title to Kankkunen in Catalonia.
Delecour and Ford were seen as serious contenders for the 1994 World Championship, especially after Delecour's victory in the Monte Carlo Rally. However, Delecour retired from the second round of the championship in Portugal with an engine failure. A few weeks later, he was injured in a traffic accident, forcing him to miss the next four laps. Biasion finished third in Portugal but couldn't keep up with the Toyotas and his results didn't improve after that as his relationship with the team reportedly deteriorated. He went out at the end of 1994 and no longer drove at world championship level. In Delecour's absence, the second escort was driven by a number of temporary drivers, including 1981 World Champion Ari Vatanen , young Belgian Bruno Thiry and Franco Cunico. With the exception of Vatanen’s third place finish in Argentina (followed by a resignation after a serious fall in New Zealand and a challenge for third place), the results have been indifferent and the team has been criticized for being dependent on Delecour. The last guest driver, however, turned out to be more successful: Tommi Mäkinen won the 1994 1000 Lakes Rally on a one-off drive for the team . Delecour returned to the team at the same event but was still not fully fit and finished fourth before being eliminated in the final two rounds. Thiry ended a disappointing season with third place in the UK finals.
The Ford works team was closed at the end of 1994 and the rally program was handed over to the Belgian RAS sports team. Biasion was replaced by Bruno Thiry while Delecour stayed with the team. The season was shortened to eight events and the service was much closer than in previous seasons. Group A cars also had to drive with a smaller turbocharger than before, which was a particular handicap for Ford, as the seven-speed transmission of the Rallye Escort was not well suited for a low-speed engine. Delecour complained heavily in interviews about the rule changes, but took second place in the Monte Carlo. Bruno Thiry then led the Corsica Rally and seemed to win until a wheel bearing failure, which his mechanics could have corrected according to earlier rules, excluded him from the rally. Delecour finished second, but there were no more top 3 finishes that season and Ford ended the Manufacturers Championship.
The experiment, in which RAS was unsuccessful, brought Ford its 1996 World Rally Championship into the house. Thiry stayed as the second driver, but Delecour left the team and was replaced by Carlos Sainz. Sainz finished third in the drivers' championship with a win in Indonesia and second in Sweden and Italy. The Escort, however, was trumped by the Mitsubishi and Tommi Mäkinen who had won the title that year at this point, and towards the end of the season interest shifted towards the following season and the upcoming World Rally Car rules.
Although it required some special regulations, Ford was allowed to convert the Cosworth into a World Rally Car to serve as a stopgap until a purpose-built WRC was developed. The trailing arm rear suspension, judged to be the weak point of the Cosworth, was replaced with MacPherson struts and the body and transmission were modified. The rally cars were to be driven by Malcolm Wilson's team, today's M-Sport . In the 1997 and 1998 seasons, Carlos Sainz scored two more wins. With Thiry, Ari Vatanen (on a one-time podium finish at the Safari rally after Thiry sustained an injury) and four-time rally world champion Juha Kankkunen , who was now behind the wheel of the cars, the name of the escort has been permanently discontinued. Overall rally after a double podium at the 1998 Rally Great Britain .
Outside of the world championship, the escort was very successful, just like its predecessors, on a national and European level. He won many national rally titles. In 1994 the Belgian driver Patrick Snijers won the absolute European championship in a car prepared by RAS Sport. Malcolm Wilson was the British title. It was also a successful participant of the group N . Tuning parts were (and are) readily available, and lower specification escorts became a common feature even in relatively low-level rallies in Europe in the 1990s. They remain that way, although many have been converted, at least in part, to World Rally Car specifications.
The escort also had a foray into Formula 1 , albeit as a safety car. It was actually used during two Grands Prix in the 1992 season to test out this new safety concept that was officially introduced into the sport the following year (using different road cars).
Francois Delecour
Carlos Sainz
Tommi Mäkinen
Carlos Sainz
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WRC victories
| No. | season | rally | driver | Co-driver | vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1993 |
 Rally Portugal
|
 François Delecour
|
Daniel Grataloup
|
Ford Escort RS Cosworth |
| 2 |
Rally Corsica
|
François Delecour
|
Daniel Grataloup
|
||
| 3 |
 Acropolis Rally
|
 Miki biasion
|
Tiziano Siviero
|
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| 4th |
Rally Sanremo
|
Franco Cunico
|
Stefano Evangelisti
|
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| 5 |
 Rally Catalonia
|
François Delecour
|
Daniel Grataloup
|
||
| 6th | 1994 |
 Rally Monte Carlo
|
François Delecour
|
Daniel Grataloup
|
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| 7th |
 1000 lakes rally
|
Tommi Mäkinen
|
Seppo Harjanne
|
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| 8th | 1996 |
 Rally Indonesia
|
Carlos Sainz
|
Luis Moya
|
|
| 9 | 1997 |
Acropolis Rally
|
Carlos Sainz
|
Luis Moya
|
Ford Escort WRC |
| 10 |
Rally Indonesia
|
Carlos Sainz
|
Luis Moya
|
