The Ford Escort RS Cosworth - Part 5

Ford put a lot of effort in the chassis design of the Escort RS Cosworth. The bodyshell is extremely rigid as it takes a torque of 6000 N/m  to induce a body torsion of 1 degree! The car's aerodynamics are also exceptional considering the additional drag produced by the cooling drag and spoilers. The car's Cx index is "only" 0.38 when a normal Escort has a Cx index of 0.34. Additionally the Escort RS Cosworth is the only production car that generates a positive downforce (which is the least one can say considering the huge spoilers fitted). The front spoiler and splitter will generate a 45 Newton down force at 180 Km/h while the rear generates a 190 Newton downforce at the same speed. Note that the splitter installed beneath the front spoiler is adjustable in three positions and that the downforce stated above is produced with the splitter in its middle position. The Escort RS Cosworth testifies of its racing heritage in another field too, accessibility to all mechanical parts. The gearbox, suspension, engine and differentials are all very easily and individually accessible for servicing purposes. This is not often the case in previous and other current production cars.

The commercial version of the Escort RS Cosworth, in its standard spec, is not a very pleasant car to drive. The driver feels the lack of development in the chassis and engine. To Ford, the car was a simple homologation special and as such the company did not (would not) take the time to develop a coherent ensemble. The car is characterized by a front drivetrain which is a bit too sharp due to the very direct and overly assisted steering, the absence of lower wishbones and the huge grip of its enormous Pirelli PZero tires. The engine is too harsh and the turbo lag reminiscent of much older times (read Renault 5 Turbo). The chassis' stiffness increases the driver's sensation of the suspension's and engine's shortcomings. These problems nourish the aftermarket parts business and it is quite rare to find an Escort RS Cosworth in its standard spec. Most cars are modified to different extents by the successive owners in order to render them closer to what they should have been in the first place...From a development perspective the Escort RS Cosworth is much less accomplished than other homologation special cars.
The standard Escort RS Cosworth exhibits a more track oriented handling character than a gravel or open road one. The car has a pronounced understeering trait during the turn-in phase which, accompanied by the important turbo lag of the T35 turbo charger, forces its driver to use very clean trajectories more usual on a track than an on open road or a slippery surface. The initial understeer is followed by a pronounced and sudden oversteering at the corner's exit and requires quite a bit of concentration and getting used to in order to achieve efficiency. Of course such techniques are not applicable to gravel or, generally speaking, slippery conditions where cars are driven more based on inertia and momentum than perfect trajectories. That's the reason why the Escort was far more performing in tarmac rallies rather than gravel or snow-covered events.

The competition the Escort RS Cosworth managed to score a total of 8 WRC wins in its GroupA outfit and 2 in its WRC class version. The car would have deserved a far better score if it wasn't for Ford's inconsistent management, the lack of budget and François Delecour's terrible accident which kept him away from competition for over a year at a very crucial moment in the car's career.

All the impressive specs, features and performance are now gone. The Escort RS Cosworth is dead due, in part, to new noise emission regulations applied in the European Union in 1995. Ford were unable to meet the new standards and the last car was produced in early 1996.

Nowadays cars are created from scratch in computers and are supposed to handle great even in prototype versions. I still have to see a single one handling as well as a Ford Escort RS Cosworth or a Lancia Integrale. This breed of car is gone, drown in a world where all cars look the same, drive the same and are engineered in the same way. Features such as the number of airbags or electronic control systems are now   more important, it seems, than driveability and driver satisfaction. Maybe that's what some people call progress. Anyway, enough complaining,  if you want to know how the 4wd rally cars handle click here.

In early 1997 David Richards (Subaru Prodrive Team manager) convinced the FIA to modify the WRC rules and have a new kind of rally car homologated, the WRC cars which dominate the rallying world today (although the 1998 and WRC champion was still a GroupA car, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V). One of the problems of the new regulations is that WRC cars have no longer production counterparts. Ordinary people like you and I can no longer hope driving one of those.

Ford replied to Richards with a modified Escort Cosworth, designed by an ex-Mitsubishi (Ralliart) engineer, which was a hybrid WRC car. By hybrid I mean the car was not designed from scratch, as was the Subaru Impreza WRC, but is rather an evolution of the old group A car. The main changes include an new turbo provider (IHI, this choice proved catastrophic later but there was no turning back), a new engine management system (Ford/Pectel), a new engine parts provider and tuner (Mountune) and new suspension layouts and parts.

During the 1998 season  Bruno Thiry and Juha Kankkunen were driving for the Ford WRC team. Note that Juha Kankkunen, 4 times World Champion and probably the best driver in the WRC history, accepted to drive the Escort for free during the 1997 season. It's a tough world!!!

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