Tag: Modified Ford

TUNED FORD ESCORT RS2000: RENAISSANCE MAN

Michael Hübner has been racing and refining this tuned Ford Escort RS2000 since the ’80s. And in its updated spec, it’s enjoying a most dramatic rebirth

Feature taken from Fast Car. Words Dan Bevis Photos Ade Brannan

There’s an old saying that goes ‘Race cars never die, they just get faster’. It’s the nature of competition machines — they’re built to be the best they can be within whatever set of regulations they’re racing under, and over the years as the technology evolves, so does the machine. Inevitably racers get bashed and crunched, because the reality of driving on the edge at all times means that the risk of dipping over that edge is always a whisper away. Fortune has her whims, and some classic race cars somehow survive the generations largely unscathed while others limp through the decades like Trigger’s broom; either way, every such machine has a rich and varied past.

The car you’re looking at here had an interesting tale to tell right from the off, as it actually began life as two separate (and genuine) RS2000s. Michael Hübner, now 52 years old, bought this RS2000 shell back in 1986, and at the same time purchased another one with a rotten body but solid mechanicals; the plan from the start was to combine the good parts of the two into a road-legal race car and, with the help of two good friends, that’s exactly what he did. “We originally painted it red, with white wheels,” Michael recalls. “The shade of red was inspired by a BMW M3 from the DTM championship at the time, and from then on I changed things year by year to suit how I was driving it — the interior, the suspension, the wheel size — until the Escort turned into a true race car, and I started taking it to slalom races and track days.”

Fast-forward to 1998, and Michael’s competing in regional slalom championships in the RS2000, the car prepared to German Group F regulations with its standard-issue Pinto running around 180bhp. Man and machine had well and truly gelled over these many years, with the spec sheet constantly developing, and after the turn of the millennium the chassis came in for a significant overhaul which would alter its character exponentially.

“During the winter of 2002-2003 the car got four-link boxes and suspension turrets, and from this time I didn’t use leaf springs on the rear axle,” Michael recalls. “The Escort was then reworked to Group H regs, and I acquired a new engine with around 195bhp, on 48 IDF carbs, a home-made exhaust manifold and a five-speed gearbox.” With the architecture suitably beefed up, Michael began competing in national slaloms across Germany, which all went very well until the engine decided it didn’t want to play anymore in 2006.

“In the first race of that season I suffered a total engine breakdown,” he recalls with a wince, still clearly pained by the experience. “The vernier pulley was cracked, and due to this a valve tore off and damaged the whole engine. This was the end of the season for me, and I started to build up a further RS2000 bodyshell that I’d bought in 2004. This was an interesting shell, because in its early years it was driven by Wilfried Eichen, Juergen Zanetti and Olaf Manthey at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 1986.”

With the old racer on the backburner, Michael threw all his efforts into this unusual endurance-racer shell, building it to Group H regs and painting it the same colour as the other car.

By the time it was done it was boasting 217bhp from its fuel-injected Pinto and only weighed 825kg! The build was complete by the end of 2009, and Michael competed with this car from 2010 onwards, until 2016 when he sold it to a buyer in England.

While all this was going on, the old race car had been waiting in the wings, biding its time, patiently awaiting its time to shine anew. Michael had been steadily working on restoring the RS2000’s body, which began as an intention to simply weld up three or four holes which had presented themselves as requiring attention, but ended up spiralling into a full-blown restoration to make every inch perfect.

“The car’s new spec had to be superior to the old in all respects,” he assures us, “so I knew it would need a new engine, new suspension, 10×15 inch wheels, a weld-in rollcage with FIA certificate… and it should have a new look too. I love a classic design, so I decided to paint it silver with gold BBS E30 wheels.”

The decision on which engine to use was inspired by the race track — where else? “A few years ago I was at the Legend Boucle de Spa in Belgium as a spectator,” Michael explains. “In that year approximately 40 BDA-engined Escorts were on the startline, some of them driven by well-known drivers like Björn Waldegård, François Duval, Patrick Snijers… Due to the amazing sound of the BDAs I decided to put a 16-valve engine into my ‘new’ Escort.”

Due to competition regulations it was necessary to retain the Pinto block, so the choice was made to fit a naturally-aspirated Cosworth head, with a dry sump and throttle bodies. The engine was built up with a new crank, rods and pistons, along with custom cams and bigger valves in the racy head; its first dyno run of 2018 yielded an impressive 275bhp and 177lb.ft, which is a very fitting set of stats for such a dramatic rebirth.

“After the bodywork was done, all of the necessary holes were drilled and the rollcage was welded in,” says Michael. “Wolgang Pletsch from Sebastian Werner GmbH in Siegburg got the Escort for the paint job. Over the last two years I’ve assembled the car and in the middle of 2018 my new-old Escort was finished.”

It certainly looks the part, with those broad Group 2 arches stretched over the 10-inch-wide slicks, the custom droopsnoot nosecone acting as a statement of intent, and the upswept DTM exhausts and substantial rear spoiler presumably being the only parts most rivals will see. Michael’s story with this car stretches way back to the time of Chernobyl, the M25’s opening and Maradona’s Hand of God, and it’s seen countless evolutionary shifts since, but the latest spec is the most aggressive it’s ever been. He’s looking forward to a full slalom championship season to see what the old battler can do. See, race cars never die. They just get faster.

TECH SPEC: FORD ESCORT MK2

styling
Escort RS2000, fibreglass front wings, Group 2 arches and front spoiler, lightweight bonnet with aerocatches, lightweight nosecone with small single lights and carbon fibre inserts, aero mirrors, alloy boot spoiler, bronze-tinted polycarbonate windows

tuning
2-litre Pinto, naturally-aspirated Cosworth 16-valve head prepared by Stefan Glass, dry-sumped, throttle bodies, Megasquirt ECU by Frank Hepekausen, Martelius exhaust manifold and custom home-made exhaust system with Powersprint components, alloy radiator, Quaife five-speed dog ’box, AP Racing 184 mm clutch, Atlas axle with 5.8 CWP and
ZF LSD

chassis
KW Competition 2A two-way front coil-overs, adjustable TCAs and compression struts with anti-roll bar on drop links; six-linked, KW Competition two-way rear coil-overs; Wilwood Midilite four-pot calipers with 285 mm vented discs (f), Fiesta calipers with solid discs (r), Bias pedal box, hydraulic handbrake;10×15 inch BBS E30 wheels, 10.0/21.5 (front) and 10.7/21.5 (rear) Avon slick tyres

interior
Corbeau Revenge race seat, VDO gauges, Stack rev counter, OMP steering wheel with quick-release, weld-in Zelle multi-point rollcage by raceparts.cc, battery and 18-litre alloy race fuel cell in boot

thanks
“To my wife, and also to Stefan Glass, Frank Hepekausen at fh-Motorsport, Wolfgang Pletsch at Sebastian Werner GmbH, Stephan Korbach at www.raceparts.cc, Tosten Schmidt at GRP4 Fabrications http://grp4fabrications.com, KW www.kwsuspensions.net and all others who have supported me with words and deeds”

Source

October 20, 2020
TUNED 1000BHP MK2 FOCUS RS: THE ONLY WAY IS UP

Relentlessly pushing things forwards with his tuned 1000bhp Mk2 Focus RS for the entire time he’s owned it, Steve Johns is now left with a 1000+bhp hyper-hatch that’s single-handedly re-writing the rulebook…

Remember when the Mk1 Focus RS came out back in 2002? Remember how its combination of 212bhp and front-wheel drive was enough for many who reviewed it to confidently state this was the sheer limit of what this kind of car could physically take, introducing a whole new generation to the phrase ‘torque steer’ in the process?

If only they could’ve seen just how times would move on in the seventeen-odd years that would follow, with the introduction of the 300bhp Mk2 RS shortly after that promptly paved the way for some of the most monstrous FWD builds the world has ever seen, each pushing the envelope even further than the last.

And all of this escalation arguably culminates right now with this rather unassuming pearl white Focus here that’s normally found tucked away in its garage in South Wales. Owned by Steve Johns for the past eight-or-so years, it’s gone on one hell of a journey in the time he’s been fettling with it to now officially stand as one of the most powerful Mk2 RSs to grace this entire country, if not the planet…

Those with a particular loyalty to the Ford scene might actually already recognise Steve’s mighty machine, as it was featured in our sister mag Fast Ford, about five years ago. If so, you’ll remember the story of how the Focus was snapped up back in 2011 as Steve was itching to get back into the performance car game following the recent sale of his beloved Subaru Impreza and Renault Clio V6.

With the seal of approval from various pals who all loved the Mk2’s crazy styling even in factory trim, the hot hatch soon took pride of place on the driveway over the other cars that made an appearance on the shortlist such as a BMW M3.

Steve initially promised himself the RS would remain in a nigh-on standard spec as it flawlessly performed its daily duties, but, as so many of us will be able to relate to, things didn’t stay that way for long; the car ultimately ending up in a seriously impressive, 460bhp state of tune (with plenty of interior and exterior styling goodies to match) by the time it last graced the pages of a publication.

But if it’s already had a feature before, why are we putting Steve’s Focus back under the microscope? Well, as it turns out, that initial 460bhp tune really was only the tip of the Frozen White iceberg; the story only getting more and more bonkers as time went on, as Steve best explains. “The car was running around 580bhp soon after its last feature, thanks to an even bigger turbo and some better fuelling bits making an appearance,” he recalls. “I still wasn’t happy though and was looking for someone to take things to the next level when I was recommended to chat to Lee at Devil Developments…”

Known for his world-class knowledge of eking every last drop of safe performance from this boosted five-pot engine, especially when it involves bespoke Syvecs ECU maps, Lee seemed certain that he could help upon his first chat with Steve, prompting the first of many visits to this West Sussex workshop.

This pattern continued as over time, Steve’s Focus became something of a flagship demonstration vehicle for just what Devil Developments could do, to the extent that the car was tuned to ensure it was the most powerful of its kind to attend the Ford Fair show for three years on the trot. Soon boasting a 6466-sized Precision blower that meant 849bhp was rippling through its muscular skin, Steve could be found once again leaving Lee’s premises with his mind already swimming with thoughts on whether it was possible to boldly crack the 1000bhp figure where so few had gone before him…

Before this wild idea materialised into anything solid, however, Steve’s life was tragically flipped on its head as his business partner and best mate became seriously ill, with Steve’s time suddenly drawn between juggling the entire business alone and providing a support network to his best friend at such a devastating time.

“He unfortunately passed away not long after, which kind of spurred me on to get my hands stuck in with my car once more,” Steve emotionally explains. “Hitting 1000bhp is what he would’ve wanted.” With that in mind, it brings us to the start of 2018, with Lee and the Devil Developments team looking towards that year’s Ford Fair and giving Steve’s block and head a full tear-down and re-build in anticipation of what was to come next.

With oversized Wiseco pistons and con rods making an appearance, as well as a new factory crankshaft (which seems to take remarkably well to big-power applications as long as you’re not too brutal in your driving style) and a fully ported and flowed big-valve head, the five-banger now has a frankly massive Precision PT6870 turbo tucked away behind it on a Nortec tubular manifold, with Devil’s bespoke twin Nissan GT-R fuel pump upgrade and whopping 2000cc injectors also featuring.

With the gearbox also re-built and housing a much sturdier clutch, Lee soon got down to business mapping that Syvecs ECU to perform its very best when potent E80 race fuel was added into the equation. And the end result of all this hard work? 1036bhp and 788.2lb/ft of torque at 2.6bar of boost – figures that would seem absurdly impressive from any car, especially a FWD Focus!

Despite the fact it’s also wearing huge K-Sport stoppers, a raft of suspension upgrades and the stickiest of rubber to help matters, we know exactly what you’re thinking: how on earth do the front wheels cope with 1000bhp? “A lot of people wonder what the point of it all is, but the traction control on the Syvecs system is so clever and limits the torque in the lower gears, meaning it’s actually a lot easier to drive than you might imagine,” a proud Steve explains. “It’s crazy fast and makes insane noises from that screamer pipe too… it’s absolutely nuts!”

What makes the whole story that little bit more impressive is the way that Steve has unconventionally resisted the temptation to go for the functional stripped-‘n’-caged look that so many other big-power cars run these days, instead keeping that comfortable, plush and usable vibe that he started out with in the early days of ownership. As a result, it’s a machine he uses a whole lot more than you might think, and you certainly can’t argue with that, can you?

By keeping a level head and ensuring the usability and drivability aspects were never put in jeopardy, Steve’s story is the perfect illustration of how chasing huge power figures can indeed be done properly and enjoyably. We’d just love to see the faces of those who thought 200bhp was too much for the front wheels when they saw this brute.

TECH SPEC: TUNED 1000BHP MK2 FOCUS RS

ENGINE
2521cc 20v turbocharged 5-cylinder Duratec RS engine, Devil Developments fully forged and rebuilt block (featuring 9.1:1 Wiseco oversized pistons and con rods with factory crankshaft), Devil Developments ported and flowed big-valve head (featuring enlarged valves and stage 3 camshafts), Precision PT6870 Gen II ball-bearing turbocharger, Nortec tubular turbo manifold, custom screamer pipe, custom Anembo inlet manifold, custom 80mm throttle body, custom enlarged alloy boost pipe kit, Airtec intercooler, WRC oil breather, Airtec oil cooler and radiator, custom 4in exhaust system with twin 4.5in tailpipes, 2000cc fuel injectors, custom Devil Developments twin Nissan GT-R in-tank fuel pump conversion, uprated fuel lines, 90mm Syvecs crossover pipe, Cosworth Group A filter, Spec-R water tank and power steering rack, full black silicone hose kit, Syvecs ECU conversion with bespoke Devil Developments mapping (running E80 fuelling)

POWER
1036bhp and 788.2b/ft of torque @ 2.6bar of boost

TRANSMISSION
Devil Developments fully re-built factory six-speed manual gearbox with LSD, Xtreme twin carbon rigid blade clutch, Elevate torque link

SUSPENSION
BC Racing coilovers with custom springs, Whiteline anti-roll bars, JWR front strut brace, Powerflex bushes

BRAKES
K-Sport 8-pot calipers and 356mm discs (front), K-Sport 4-pot calipers and 330mm discs (rear), EBC Ultimax pads

WHEELS & TYRES
9.5x19in (front) and 10.5x19in (rear) MMR GF7 alloy wheels with custom diamond-cut spokes, 235/35×19 (front) and 265/30×19 (rear) Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres

EXTERIOR
Full custom pearl white re-spray with gloss black roof, rolled wheel arches, Maxton Designs front, side and rear splitters, rear spoiler splitter, custom Monkey Wrench headlights and fog lights, Pro LED rear lights, de-badged and relocated bonnet pull, gloss black plastics and vents, FA57 FRS (‘FAST FRS’) number plate

INTERIOR
Custom black-and-white leather interior, re-trimmed diamond-stitched heated front seats with carbon-dipped backs and side covers, custom rear centre drinks holder, armrest with stitched ‘RS’ logo and build number, custom floor mats, blue LED light kit, MOMO snap-off steering wheel, carbon fibre kick plates,

Audio
ICE install comprising of full sound deadening and Huets custom boot build, Kenwood touchscreen headunit, Audison Voce 5.1k amplifier, Audison Voce AV due amplifier, twin Audison Voce AV10 sub woofers, Audison Voce AV 6in speakers, Audison Voce AV 6.5in speakers, Pro Series 3600-watt amplifier wiring

Thanks
“Lee at Devil Developments, Dayne at Touch of Class, Andrew at AWL Body Repair, Alan at Auto Specialists – www.autospecialists.co.uk, and Jason at JW Racing”

Words Sam Preston Photography AS Design. Don’t forget to subscribe to Fast Car magazine!

Source

September 15, 2020
BEAUTY & THE BEAST: TUNED MK2 FORD FIESTA

Liam Stolton’s hardcore Mk2 Fiesta is so clean you could eat your dinner off it. But he didn’t build it to win show trophies – this thing is a manic out-and-out track beast…

The creative tension between form and function has sat at the core of project car builds from the very beginning of modifying itself. Ever since Karl Benz looked at his Patent-Motorwagen back in 1885 and thought, “You know what, I might stick another wheel on that” [facts may vary, consult a historian], there’s been a quagmire of internal wrangling: do I make it go faster, or look better?

Of course, if you’re doing it properly, it’s entirely possible to achieve both at once. Behold the Mk2 Fiesta hillclimber you see before you. Staggeringly attractive, isn’t it? It looks like the sort of thing Darth Vader would tear about in when he grows weary of annihilating planets and pops off for half an hour to obliterate some hydrocarbons instead. And yet, despite the impeccable finish and glorious attention to detail, the form entirely follows the function – this hasn’t been built simply to look good; it’s been put together to be eye-wateringly quick in a competitive context. The fact that it looks so cool is simply a happy by-product of its focus, and proof positive that its owner, Liam Stolton, knows exactly what he’s doing.

“I’ve always been into my old Fords, from a young age,” he tells us, “and following in my brother’s footsteps is where it all began. I was always working on them with him before I could even drive. It all started for me driving a white stripped-out and rollcaged Mk2 Fiesta with an 1800 Zetec, which was a laugh until it got written off when it was parked up outside work. There was something about old Fiestas that I loved so much, and I just had to get another one…”

With his line in the sand firmly drawn, Liam came across the car you see here advertised online – although it’s safe to say that it was a pretty different car back then. A completely original, rust-free, two-owner example with only 35,000 miles on the clock, this 950cc 1984 Fiesta Bonus was the sort of thing that some purists might have preferred to mothball in a static collection, to remind future generations of the frugal simplicity of early-eighties proletarian motoring. But not Liam. He saw past the wheezy motor and tightwad spec to the true potential: namely, an extremely solid shell.

“I didn’t really have anything specific planned on what to do with it, but still I went and had a look,” he recalls. “I remember the previous owner saying to me that it wouldn’t stay that original for long and it would be ruined after I bought it! Fair point… next thing you know I’d slammed it, chucked a set of black steels on and fitted an ST170 on ZX9 bike carbs, leaving it in full sleeper spec. I drove that around for a year or so, but eventually started getting bored and decided to do something different – and that’s when the supercharged build started.”

Yep, this is a guy who certainly doesn’t do things by halves, and he’s also incredibly keen to get stuck in and do everything himself – fabricating, welding, painting, you name it. It took three years of solid graft to transform the Fiesta into what you see today, and what’s emerged from the workshop is something really quite splendid. The supercharged element of the build involved bolting the Eaton M45 blower from a Mercedes SLK230 to the ST170 engine, and, of course, there are quite a few knock-on mods that had to be carried out to suit. Liam’s fitted an air-to-water chargecooler, and there’s also a Crazycage inlet manifold, a Sierra RS Cosworth alloy radiator, a 2.5-inch stainless exhaust system that exits to the side, and it’s all governed by an ME221 ECU. The upshot of these monkeyshines is a safe 198bhp on the freshly rebuilt engine, which is running 5-6psi of boost with its stock internals. A strong and usable power level, with easy potential for more as the project evolves.

Naturally there’s an LSD to help deploy all of this – a Quaife ATB, which works hand-in-hand with a Mk6 Escort IB5 gearbox, and a hydraulic clutch conversion with a AP Racing 4-paddle clutch. Intriguingly, the car’s running the spindly little driveshafts from a 1.1 Fiesta. “They’re like matchsticks, but they’re holding on strong!” Liam laughs.

A huge amount of engineering ingenuity informed the running gear, and that’s before we’ve even considered the chassis and aero upgrades. “A lot of work went into it, all carried out by myself,” he assures us. “The only thing on the whole build that I didn’t do was the aluminium welding, but I still made all the parts and got a good friend Leroy to weld them. Everything that I could replace for new I did, all the suspension and running gear was powder coated, and I did a full shell respray too.”

The aesthetics are what draw most people in, as it really is an aggressive-looking car. The Mk2 is such a familiar shape that there’s something deliciously naughty about doing this kind of thing to it: the one-off front splitter with its jutting canards is first to grab your attention, unless you’re approaching from the rear, in which case your brain will be ambushed by the colossal diffuser. It all just looks so damned serious. The rear window louvre is there for fun, although it does neatly tie into the aero vibe, and if you’re scratching your head in puzzlement at the reprofiled arches, they’re actually a set of Mk1 Golf items that have been welded into place to shroud those fat 7×13-inch steels with their sticky square-sidewall rubber.

It’s just as serious inside too: everything superfluous is stripped – Liam simply straps himself into the bare-bones minimalist Kirkey seat and hangs on. The doors and inner rear quarter skins have been gutted, and everything he doesn’t need has gone in the bin. In addition, all of the fuel and brake lines now run inside the car to save them being damaged. There’s also a full suite of high-quality gauges to keep an eye on that supercharged ST170, and, of course, there’s a rollcage in there as well.

“The car isn’t road-legal, and I don’t plan it to be – although it could be very easily,” says Liam. “It’s only used on track and at shows. It surprises a lot of people out on track thanks to its power delivery from the supercharger, and I get asked quite often what’s under the bonnet as the ’charger whine can be heard from miles away! One thing I get told a lot is how clean it is, which some people don’t expect as it still gets hammered around the track!”

With a solid chassis CV comprising modified Mk1 Golf coilovers, a custom adjustable rear beam and all manner of polybushing, it’s certainly been built to be shown a hard time, and that’s exactly what Liam uses it for. Sure, its gleaming finish and flawless construction mean that it’s every inch the static show darling when it needs to be, but this perky little Fiesta was primarily constructed for function. It just so happens that, as with all the best builds, the form has naturally followed.

TECH SPEC: MK2 FORD FIESTA

Styling:
XR2 bumpers and spoiler, Perspex windows, fully cut out and lightened door- and rear quarter inner skins, welded-on Mk1 Golf arches, removable bonnet with 4x aerocatches, cold air intakes made from old headlights, one-off front splitter with side canards, boot floor cut out for massive rear diffuser, rear window louvres

Tuning:
ST170 2.0-litre Zetec, ME221 ECU and loom, Eaton M45 supercharger (from Mercedes SLK230 – currently running 5-6 psi boost), stock internals, custom billet crank overdrive, Crazycage inlet manifold and engine mount, Vibra-Technics engine mounts, air-to-water chargecooler, 2.5in stainless side-exit exhaust system, Kubota lightweight alternator, FPE baffled sump plates, Sierra RS Cosworth alloy radiator, baffled aluminium fuel tank, Torques fuel filters, Sytec fuel pump and regulator, Mk6 Escort IB5 gearbox, Quaife ATB limited slip differential, converted to hydraulic clutch with Wilwood pull slave, Fiesta turbo flywheel, AP Racing 4-paddle clutch, rebuilt stock 1.1 driveshafts

Chassis:
7x13in ET0 JBW pepperpot steels, 175/50 Yokohama A048-R tyres, modified Mk1 Golf coilovers, fully polybushed, custom adjustable rear beam, XR2 brakes with EBC YellowStuff pads, Matt Lewis Racing braided hoses, adjustable bias pedal box with remote reservoirs, hydraulic handbrake

Interior:
Kirkey lightweight aluminium seat, Luke harness, flocked XR2 dash, Stack boost gauge, Stack oil pressure gauge, AEM wideband gauge, OMP deep-dish steering wheel, fuel lines and brake lines run inside car, full multipoint rollcage

Thanks:
“Big thanks the my brother Martin, Leroy at Atomic Welding, and Phil at Miniature Manufacturing.”

Words Daniel Bevis Photography Chris Frosin

Source

September 8, 2020