Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2021 i Fast Ford

WHAT'S NEW NEWS NEW FIESTA ST GOES MEAN GREEN See what’s going down in the world of fast Fords… Ford has recently revealed the new Fiesta ST, complete with a fresh exterior design that incorporates a more aggressive fascia appearance with honeycomb upper and lower grilles alongside large lower side vents. The Fiesta ST upper grille and side vents are finished in distinctive Chrystaline Grey, and the aero-optimised lower lip spoiler, side skirts, rear hatch spoiler and rear diffuser are finished in body colour – which now includes the eye-catching Mean Green previously seen on the Puma ST. Standard 17in or optional 18in alloy wheels feature a dark Magnetite finish, while on the inside new Performance Seats replace the previous Recaros; Ford says the new seats have been developed specifically…

WHAT'S NEW FORD STUFF The latest gear on the Blue Oval scene AET MOTORSPORT MK8 FIESTA ST OIL CATCH CAN £199 This new VUDU oil catch can for the Mk8 Fiesta ST is designed to ease the carbon build up that direct-injection engines like Ford’s EcoBoost range has been known to suffer from by collecting oil and moisture through the vacuum system. This VUDU catch can also comes with oil-resistant plastic nylon hoses that directly clip to the OE fitment to create a non-leak, permanent seal. For more details check out the AET website. www.aetmotorsport.com BURTON POWER SIERRA COSWORTH CLUTCH KIT £145 Burton Power has recently announced it can supply standard clutch kits for the 2WD Sierra and Sapphire Cosworth models. The three-piece standard-duty clutch kit contains a clutch cover,…

WHAT'S NEW DRIVEN M260 PUMA ST Jamie jumps behind the wheel of Mountune’s M235-equipped Puma ST, before installing the M260 software and going out for another play Words JAMIE Photos DAVID MOORE Having already got to grips with the Mk8 Fiesta ST very early on, we knew it wouldn’t be long before Mountune started offering similar upgrades for the Fiesta-based Puma ST. And sure enough, as soon as the first deliveries began, a fresh Frozen White example rolled up outside Mountune’s HQ ready for some development work to begin. With the Puma sharing much of its platform with the Mk8 Fiesta, Mountune could quickly get its tried-and-tested software working on the mini-SUV too. We’ve already driven the development Mk8 ST with similar software installed (see our May 2019 issue), but things…

CLUB MEET COSWORTH DRIVERS COSWORTH DRIVERS’ CLUB AT BROOKLANDS The Cosworth Drivers’ Club hosted its first club meet at Brooklands, and it was a real cracker Words JAMIE Photos JASON DODD WHERE BROOKLANDS MUSEUM, SURREY WHEN AUGUST 2021 The Cosworth Drivers’ Club may be one of the newest clubs in the fast Ford scene, but it has already secured a strong, loyal and passionate following of fans from all over the world. Everyone loves a Cossie, we all know that, so it makes sense for a club like CDC to exist. Formed at the start of 2017 by club founder Paul Thatcher, he set out to provide a place for genuine Cosworth owners and enthusiasts to discuss and show off their beloved Blue Ovals. It’s proved an immediate hit, now…

HISTORY ST SPECIAL ST MODEL HISTORY: FOCUS If the ST badge was a slow-grower, it was the Focus that first ignited enthusiasts’ interest – and then catapulted the brand to the forefront of hot-hatch hooliganism ST(225) If one car can epitomise the Sports Technology brand, it’s the second-generation Focus – named simply and bullishly the Focus ST. Yes, we might today refer to it as the ST225 – thanks to its burbling, 225PS/222bhp Volvo-sourced five-cylinder powerplant – but the Focus ST made a massive impact on the hot-hatch market, bristling with attitude and as likely to keep you grinning on the way to work as it was being hammered around a track. The ST225 appeared in September 2005 as a three-or five-door hatchback, beefed up with a funky bodykit, 18in…

LIMITED EDITIONS ST SPECIAL ST SPECIALS As if the ST model wasn’t special enough, Ford gave us a handful of performance-tuned limited editions too FOCUS ST500 2007 Sadly, the digits didn’t refer to bhp. Nor did they mean a Sierra RS500-esque homologation special. Still, it was a limited-run fast Ford worthy of attention. Based on the Focus ST3, the ST500 appeared in late 2007, available to 500 UK customers. All were finished in metallic Panther Black with silver stripes on the bonnet, roof and sides, to emulate the Le Mans-winning GT40. On top of the ST3’s standard kit (including ESP stability control, xenon headlamps, heated windscreen, electric ten-way adjustable leather Recaro front seats and Sony CD changer), the ST500 gained auto-dimming rear-view mirror, rain-sensing wipers and solar-reflect windscreen. The seats…

TUNER’S CHOICE ST SPECIAL TUNER’S CHOICE We ask some of the UK’s leading ST tuners what modifications they would recommend for different budgets when upgrading three of the most popular ST models In the fast-paced modern world where everything seems to be streamed ‘live’ and online across the million different social media platforms we frequent, it’s all too easy for the important and useful information we crave to get lost and tangled up with all the chaff and click-bait we don’t. Performance tuning advice is no different; yes there is some fantastic advice on offer from reputable sources online, but before you can compare one specialist’s suggestions with another, you realise you’ve been side-tracked, too busy looking at which celebrities have got fat or placed an order for some tat…

FUTURE OF THE ST ST SPECIAL THE FUTURE ST After 25 years of evolution, what will the next generation of STs look like? Over the last quarter of a century, we’ve seen plenty of changes to the motoring industry, and Ford’s ST models have evolved and developed to be continuously on the top of their game. The whole saga started with the bigengine sports saloons that echoed the machines we saw competing in saloon car racing during the late-Nineties, and has evolved through highly-tuned naturally-aspirated versions of performance models, to the crop of highly-tuneable turbocharged monsters we enjoy today. Despite this, the ST has always been somewhat in the shadow of its RS-badged big brother. But not any longer. Why? Well, for a start, Ford says it has no plans…

FAST FLEET PAUL COWLAND MUSTANG GT SERVICE WITH STYLE Time for Paul Cowland’s Mustang to get its very first service, despite the paltry mileage. And another mod, of course… The various lockdowns, which all seemed to blur into one, meant strange times for us petrolheads. Many of our toys were not used, sitting there languishing as Boris told us to stay at home. It created a unique phenomenon where many cars just didn’t rack up any miles at all. In the case of the Mustang, which was bought just before it all started, it had covered only 2500 since it was new. Despite this tiny mileage, a service was still required on time rather than distance, meaning a call to my rather excellent local main dealer, Sandicliffe – and the chance…

FORDS IN MOTORSPORT BTCC SEASON’S BEST FOR JAKE HILL Another podium performance from the MB Motorsport Focus BTCC racers Words JAMIE Photos JAKOB EBREY MB Motorsport headed to Thruxton for the second time during the 2021 season full of confidence. After securing three podium positions at the season’s opening rounds back in May, Jake Hill left the Hampshire circuit topping the drivers’ standings. And when he put the Focus on the front row for qualifying at the end of August too, the team were looking to translate that into strong performance on race day. Jake made a great start in race one and held firm to convert his P2 start into a P2 finishing position – his best race result of the season so far. Meanwhile, team mate Ollie Jackson…

BACK INTO THE FORESTS The Escort Cosworth shows it still has what it takes in the forest stages Words and photos PAUL LAWRENCE For a range of reasons, forest rallying has been the last key branch of UK motorsport to get back on track, but in recent weeks the forests have once more echoed to the sound of rally cars. The BTRDA Rally Series is the best supported national rally championship and the head of the action is typically dominated by state-of-the-art WRC and R5 rally cars like the current purpose-built Fiestas being built by M-Sport up in the Lake District. However, Lancastrian Ian Joel is bucking that trend by taking his now venerable Ford Escort Cosworth to some fine results among the newer cars. “This car was built back…

WHAT'S NEW CLUB PROFILE MIDLANDS STOC We catch up with club founder Joe Cooper to find out more about this Midlands-based bunch of Ford fans When was the club first founded? The club first formed in 2014, when around a dozen of us – who were already members of the Fiesta STOC – started meeting up on a regular basis. And, seeing as we were all from the Midlands area, we said we should start a Midlands branch… Two days later, Midlands STOC was born. How many active members does the club currently have? Across our social media platforms we have around 4000 members. Which models does the club cater for? We welcome anything new or old – as long as it’s a Ford you are in. It doesn’t matter if…

ESCORT CABRIOLET THIRD TIME LUCKY After several transformations, this once-humble Cabriolet is now an absolute monster Words BEN BIRCH Photos JASON DODD If you’ve ever stripped a project car and rebuilt it from the ground up, you will know just how stressful, time-consuming and costly an endeavour it is. Now, imagine over the space of ten years doing it not once or twice, but several painstaking times. Alex Charman has done exactly that with his Cabriolet, and we’re very glad he put himself through that pain, because what you see on these pages is arguably the baddest soft-top Escort ever to do a burnout. The story starts way back, with Alex being a Ford fan as soon as he could make car noises, and over the years he enjoyed a…

ST SPECIAL If there’s one thing that Ford is good at, it’s creating a performance brand. The XR range that dominated the Eighties and Nineties are now a bona fide classics, complete with price tags and collector desirability to match, while the models wearing the legendary RS moniker have always ensured fast Fords are hot topics whether at a new car launch or a classic car auction. But what about those performance Blue Ovals that get used every day? The fast road versions built purely for the street and real world? That’s where ST models excel. Yet they are often overshadowed by the headline-grabbing figures associated with their more expensive cousins. In many ways, the ST brand is the spiritual successor to the XR cars of the 20th century; combining…

HISTORY ST SPECIAL ST MODEL HISTORY: FIESTA The ST badge is never better than when applied to Ford’s feisty Fiesta. As each generation proves, the sporty tearaway has become an all-time great hot hatch ST(150) Until the Fiesta ST arrived in winter 2004, you could have been forgiven for thinking the brand stood for Subtly Tuned. But not any more, because the baby ST blasted onto the hot-hatch scene with lively performance, chuckable handling and funky styling – including the option of bold GT40-type stripes over the bonnet and roof. The fiery new Fiesta was TeamRS’s first production car, packing a 150PS/148bhp (earning an ST150 nickname) 2.0-litre Duratec engine with a variable intake and sports exhaust. It might not be much by modern ST standards, but the naturally-aspirated motor produced…

DIESELS ST SPECIAL DIRTY DIESELS Ford’s Sports Technologies brand isn’t just reserved for petrol power – there have been a few sporty oil-burning STs too MONDEO ST TDCi Mixing the ST220’s styling with regular derv-powered Mondeo underpinnings, the ST TDCi’s box-stock 2.2 Duratorq engine produced a puny 153bhp but 265lb.ft torque. The cut-price cabin offered Recaros as an option, and the handling lacked the ST220’s grace. Yet with an easy remap to 180bhp, the ST TDCi stole innumerable sales from its petrol counterpart, firmly predicting the ST brand’s future. Remember, though, it was never called ST220 TDCi… QUICK SPEC YEARS PRODUCED 2002 to 2007 BHP 153bhp 0-60MPH 8.7 seconds TOP SPEED 137mph COST NEW £22,010 FOCUS ST ECOBLUE Despite the recent switch to favour small-capacity petrol engines, the Mk4 Focus…

10 OF THE BEST ST SPECIAL 10 OF THE BEST FEATURED STS Looking for inspiration on how to modify your ST? Take a look at some of our favourite STs ever to appear in the mag… We’ve featured plenty of cool STs over the years, and all of them have been pretty special with a fantastic story to tell. But those stories don’t stop with their five minutes of fame on these hallowed pages; those cars, their owners and the stories they have to tell go on to inspire many more Ford (often future feature car) owners to take their own Blue Ovals to the next level. Each and every car featured in the magazine will have an impact on someone else’s project or future purchase; whether that’s feedback on…

FAST FLEET Check out what’s been going on with our projects this month… DAN FOCUS ST250 Dan’s been busy treating some rusty rear wheelarches, so that now the Focus’s finish is better than ever. Full update on the repair in the next issue. JAMIE FOCUS RS Nothing to report this month from Jamie - the RS was parked up after Ford Fair and hasn’t been touched since. Still, Jamie will need to pull his finger out soon, it’s nearly time for TRAX. DAN SIERRA COSSIE The more Dan looks, the more he finds he wants to do on the Sierra. We’ve got a feeling this ‘quick freshen up’ will evolve into a semi-restoration. ADE SAPPHIRE COSWORTH It wasn’t running. Then it was. And now it isn’t again. Ade gives in…

WRC STRONG RESULTS IN GREECE M-Sport bounced back with an impressive display on the Acropolis rally Words and photos M-SPORT The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team recorded four strong finishes at the end of the Acropolis Rally, finishing the World Rally Championship’s fabled Greek event in the top five overall and with a podium finish in the WRC2 category. In the senior team, rising stars Adrien Fourmaux and Gus Greensmith were set to continue an enjoyable battle for fifth place in their Fiesta WRCs but sadly misfortune struck Fourmaux when an engine issue needed resolving before the opening stage of the day; he fixed the problem but arrived late to the time control so incurred a penalty. This drama allowed Greensmith through into a strong fifth place overall, delivering a…

GENESIS ESCORT INVISIBLE TOUCH Rear-wheel-drive conversions of the Mk3 Escort were built to appease furious rallyists, but they’re now oh-so rare. This Genesis conversion got its saviours in too deep… Words ROB CHEESMUR Photos CHRIS WALLBANK Rally cars, as we know, tend to lead particularly hard lives. The punishment they undergo often leads to the need for a reshell at least once in their careers, so the fact that Paul Brookes’s Escort has survived at all is quite an achievement. But it was certainly no mean feat, because it was at the turning point in life where it could have gone either way. Now, there are a few things we need to get straightened out before we begin. For openers, the car on these pages has Gartrac down the flanks…

FORGOTTEN FORDS FORGOTTEN FORDS This month we look at what could have been one of the mightiest Mustangs Ford ever built THE BLUE OVALS YOU’VE (PROBABLY) NEVER HEARD OF… If you overlook the slightly camp name, the Super Stallion was a concept Mustang that fast Ford fans all over the world would have loved. Based on the SN-94 model of the mid-Nineties, the Super Stallion was built in 1994 as the ultimate, factory-produced, street legal performance Mustang. Created by Special Vehicle Engineering (the American division that later became SVT, not the UK team at Dunton) the Super Stallion had every performance upgrade you could think of. Many of those upgrades are only now becoming mainstream in the fast Ford tuning scene; stuff like the 5.4-litre high-revving V8 could run on…

MK2 FOCUS ST BOX FRESH Is this the perfect fast-road Focus ST? Owner Carl Box makes his case… Words BEN BIRCH Photos ADE BRANNAN What, in your opinion, makes a fun, street-able fast Ford? For most of us a good blend of power, a sporty but comfortable ride, a decent interior and solid reliability would all be high on the list of must-haves. The Mk2 Focus ST offers all these things at an affordable price as standard, but is it possible to turn every area of the car up a few notches while retaining all the everyday usability? Carl Box has reached this sweet spot by applying well thought-out modifications that work together in harmony. As a result, his mint Performance Blue ST is now very fast, great fun to…

WHAT'S NEW NEW: FOCUS ST EDITION Ford said it wouldn’t build a Mk4 Focus RS, but the new ST Edition looks to be every bit as much of a hardcore driver’s car as a Rallye Sport… It’s been repeatedly reported that Ford has no plans to make another RS model. With every manufacturer in the world faced with the challenge of switching to electric power, it’s easy to understand Ford’s current stance – even if we don’t quite believe the rumours for ourselves and would never bet against the Rallye Sport badge making yet another comeback. But what does the lack of hardcore, motorsport-inspired, enthusiastic driver’s car mean for the Ford Performance department? Well, to start with, it doesn’t. It doesn’t mean the lack of hardcore, motorsport-inspired, enthusiastic driver’s car;…

WHAT'S NEW 5 MINUTES WITH ROSS LAIRD OF LAIRD PERFORMANCE Laird Performance may be one of the newest names in the Ford tuning scene, but the team is already making a big impression. We catch up with the main man to find out more… How did Laird Performance come about? “Laird Performance was really born at Crail Raceway; we attended a Ford event with a Fiesta ST180 that I’d built with my dad, and when people saw how well the car was going we were asked what we’d done to it. From there, people started asking us to do bits for their ST180s, and when I was made redundant from my previous full-time job I decided to focus all my energy on the business. I started getting into designing and…

FIESTA ST180 NATURAL EVOLUTION Since buying it brand-new in 2013, Alan Shepherd at Airtec Motorsport has been developing his Fiesta into one of the most hardcore ST180s ever built… Words SIMON HOLMES Photos JASON DODD The process of evolution occurs over time. It’s how the natural development of something becomes better-suited to its environment. And nowhere is it more obvious than the Fiesta ST pictured here. The owner of the car is Alan Shepherd, director of Airtec Motorsport in Essex; he bought this Fiesta ST180 brand-new. It was one of the very first of the new STs in the UK, in fact, having arrived in early 2013. Within days, the modifications began. It’s since served as a rolling test-bed, fast road car and track weapon, having changed parts, appearance and…

HISTORY ST SPECIAL ST MODEL HISTORY: MONDEO The ST brand first appeared on the Mondeo ST24 in 1996, evolving into ever faster and more powerful family-sized super tourers ST24 & ST200 Ford’s first ST arrived during the British Touring Car Championship’s frantic Super Touring series, so it made sense to apply the new badge (then standing for Special Tuning or Sports Touring) to its successful tin-top racer – the Mondeo saloon. Appearing in September 1996, the ST24 was based on the existing Si V6 but with 12-spoke 16in alloys and half-leather sports seats. An unmodified 168bhp, 2544cc, 24-valve powerplant was complemented by lowered suspension with stiffer dampers – providing effortless torque and impressive poise – but it looked much like any old four-door Mondeo minicab. An ST24 hatchback appeared in…

HISTORY ST SPECIAL ST MODEL HISTORY: PUMA As SUVs and crossovers replace regular family cars, the Puma introduces the ST brand to a new generation of Ford enthusiasts PUMA Blue Oval fans were quick to criticise Ford’s svelte crossover for wearing the same badge as its fabulous 1990s’ coupé. But grumblings soon faded away when they realised not just how good the new Puma really is, but that the sporting version – launched in September 2020 and available from ’21 – will lead the ST badge into the future. It’s also already setting standards for other SUVs to follow. Instead of the standard Puma’s mild-hybrid 1.0-litre three-cylinder powerplant, the ST is fitted with the 1.5-litre three-pot from the Fiesta ST, producing the same 197bhp but with torque raised to 236lb.ft…

ENGINES ST SPECIAL ST ENGINES The ST range features some fabulous engines, and like all good fast Fords they’re easy to tune with a selection of performance upgrades 2.5-LITRE DURATEC TURBO FOUND IN MK2 FOCUS ST (225) Although borrowed from Ford’s sister company Volvo, the 2.5-litre turbo motor – now rebadged as a 2.5 Duratec – was one of the most powerful engines ever to find its way under the bonnet of a Blue Oval. The ST’s five-pot formed the foundation for the thundering RS version to follow in 2009, and many of the tuning upgrades are interchangeable between the two. That means we’ve seen STs producing well over 600bhp, and all quite reliably and with minimal fuss too. The very first tuning steps are a remap, air filter and…

OWNER PROFILES ST SPECIAL ST DRIVERS Why are ST Fords so appealing? We asked eight different ST owners for their thoughts on the most popular models JOE COOPER MK4 FOCUS ST How long have you owned the car? “Just shy of 12 months now, and already it’s got just over 10k on the clock.” What have you done to the car since owning it? “Since owning it I have added a Milltek GPFback exhaust system, Airtec induction kit with the full crossover kit, and Dreamscience Stage 1 DS330 remap – all supplied and fitted by Matt Lewis Motorsport.” What do you use the car for? “The car is a daily driver; it gets used taking me to work and back and then even does the big shop on the way…

FAST FLEET ADE SAPPHIRE COSWORTH GUTTED Ade’s Cossie is broken again! QUICK SPEC MSD live map ▝ Wasted spark, closed-loop L8 and grey injectors ▝ Autodynamix loom ▝ T38 turbo ▝ Gizzmo electronic boost controller ▝ Gaz Gold coilovers ▝ MC Fabrication six-degree beam ▝ Fifteen52 Tarmac alloys It’s taken me a while to get round to my latest Cossie update, mainly as it sickens me to my stomach to write it. Yes, it was working. But no, it’s not any more. In one year, I clocked up a grand total of 30 miles, and not a single one of them felt even slightly right. With the engine all built up, the top-end tapping sounded awful, so a set of lifters was then installed. This quietened things down, but then the…

FORDS IN MOTORSPORT MALCOLM WILSON ESCORT COSWORTH LOST & FOUND Malcolm Wilson’s 1993 Swedish rally Escort Cosworth disappeared in the mid-Nineties. Eventually discovered smashed-up, a meticulous restoration has brought it back to its former glory Words ROBB PRITCHARD Photos ROBB PRITCHARD & FORD ARCHIVE In the September 2021 issue of Fast Ford, we featured four of Jiri Jirovec’s ex-McRae Ford Focus WRCs that form part of his vast car collection in the Czech Republic. But those four Focuses are far from his only Fords, so we snapped a few more of the iconic Blue Ovals while we were there. This month, it’s another instantly-recognisable icon. In its long life, this Escort RS Cosworth went from the heights of leading a WRC rally to almost being destroyed in the deserts of…