This is the new Ford Fiesta RS WRC, but unfortunately it’s not a road-going baby brother to the301bhp Focus RS. Unveiled at the 2010 Paris motor show, the new Fiesta RS WRC is instead the Blue Oval’s replacement for the Focus RS WRC, and Ford’s entry into the 2011 World Rally Championship.
A new Ford Fiesta RS? But haven’t we already seen a be-winged and beefed-up Ford Fiesta rally car?
We have, but that was the Ford Fiesta S2000, which competes one rung below the WRC cars. But the new WRC rules are designed to make the sport much cheaper, so the 2011-spec WRC machines are based around the S2000 cars, with many of the parts carried over. There are, of course, external differences, but the biggest changes are under the skin, most notably the new 1.6-litre turbocharged engine in place of the S2000’s naturally aspirated 2.0-litre. New FIA WRC rules call for the new engines: the 1.6 turbos should produce as much power as the current WRC cars’ 2.0-litre turbos (making them quicker than S2000 cars) but be much cheaper to produce, and sell to privateers. They’re in line with the current downsizing and turbocharging trend for road cars too – Ford has a new 1.6-litre Ecoboost engine with which to compete, and both Citroen and Mini will use the BMW-PSA turbo’d 1.6 in their WRC cars.
So far the Fiesta RS WRC has completed 3000km of testing in Britain and France, originally with a current WRC 2.0-litre turbo, and most recently with a prototype-spec forced-induction 1.6. Next week the Fiesta RS will be in Spain, for its first full test in 2011 guise, and it’ll give current drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala their first taste of the new car.
The new Ford Fiesta RS will make its competitive debut at Rally Sweden next February, the opening round of the 2011 Word Rally Championship. And once the Fiesta RS is off and (hopefully) winning rallies, then Ford will release the new Fiesta ST, powered by a 1.6-litre Ecoboost engine.
source : http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/
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