RE: Ford RS200 to return as 'remastered' icon
Discussion
cerb4.5lee said:
s m said:
swisstoni said:
Fair play to Ford for allowing this to happen.
I’ll take mine in 450bhp format - ideal for the local B- roads 
It is high revving for a turbo engine as well. Just awesome I reckon.
Discombobulate said:
Spent a few hours testing a works version on the Ford Motorsport track at Boreham back in the day. An amazing car. Quick yes, but what really impressed was the ride / pliancy over the rough stuff.
PS I was a passenger. My brother-in-law was driving. And, at the end of the session, he left the airfield and drove it home to Somerset. You should have seen the look on the faces of people we passed...
That must have been a brilliant day out and the double takes on the way home to top it off PS I was a passenger. My brother-in-law was driving. And, at the end of the session, he left the airfield and drove it home to Somerset. You should have seen the look on the faces of people we passed...
Turbobanana said:
I was fortunate enough to be around through the Group B rallying era and fondly remember the sights and sounds of these beasts blasting through Clocaenog, Dyfi and, ummm, Weston Park. Too bad the RS200 never really got its chance to shine before Group B was binned. As a consequence I have a lot of love for these cars, the 200 included.
But... based on recent re-imaginings of old, revered cars, I fear the maker won't be able to resist the temptation to double the original power output, put wheels on it 6 inches bigger than the shape was designed for, expand it subtly in every direction to accommodate safety features without which we'd be killed and fill it with electrickery. That's not to say it won't look great, or be a fabulous thing to own, but how much will it actually resemble an RS200 when done?
It could end up like one of those silhouette racers from the seventies, which looked like a Skoda Coupe but was a Formula 5000 car underneath. And thus unusable on anything other than a race track.
I guess we'll have to wait and see, once they give us a render without a car cover on it
Unfortunately it will probably the case here, plus add a full carbon body. They re taking liberties they shouldn't (angel eyes.. is it mandatory on every reborned cars ?).But... based on recent re-imaginings of old, revered cars, I fear the maker won't be able to resist the temptation to double the original power output, put wheels on it 6 inches bigger than the shape was designed for, expand it subtly in every direction to accommodate safety features without which we'd be killed and fill it with electrickery. That's not to say it won't look great, or be a fabulous thing to own, but how much will it actually resemble an RS200 when done?
It could end up like one of those silhouette racers from the seventies, which looked like a Skoda Coupe but was a Formula 5000 car underneath. And thus unusable on anything other than a race track.
I guess we'll have to wait and see, once they give us a render without a car cover on it
I'm not into that re-imagining stuff, 99.9% of the people won't be able to afford it, and I assume that 100% of the sold cars will be garage queens.
swisstoni said:
I remember when Group B got cancelled, Ford were left with quite a few RS 200s hanging about. They had a fair bit of trouble shifting them.
Yes, but they priced them at £50K whereas BL were dumping the 6R4's at ~£15K (Interestingly, a Sierra Cosworth was £15950 at the time)Ok, the RS200's were drivable cars
I really really wanted to buy a 6R4, but even the Chevette HSR I wanted was just out of my price range at £4500.
Oh for those prices now.
RS200 was always a poster car for me growing up. When I passed my test I remember going to Ron Hodgsons garage to look at one he had in for sale (for a long time). My favourite Group B car, so bespoke looking, visually not like anything else in the ford lineup.
Love to see what this will be like, even if unbelievably out of reach financially.
Love to see what this will be like, even if unbelievably out of reach financially.
LotusOmega375D said:
Guy I knew worked on building the original RS200 prototypes at a subcontractor (ART?) in Wollaston, Northamptonshire. Vivid memories included corporate visits by the likes of Jackie Stewart and putting a car on stands in the workshop and holding max revs whilst in top gear. After the development had been concluded, he was charged with dumping all of the tooling, moulds etc. into skips for final scrapping.
The same company made a very high percentage of the components for the Group C Jag cars as well, I dealt with them extensively during my time at TWR. The connection was Tony Southgate, who designed the Jags and the RS200. The Thompsons (ART) were nice people, as was Tony. I hope they are all well.Andy86GT said:
I could never understand why they had to ban group B after all the investment by the manufacturers.
Surely they could have simply imposed a turbo restriction like they do in other formats.
Indeed. Group S was to follow group B requiring manufactures to only make 10 cars but limited to around 300HP.Surely they could have simply imposed a turbo restriction like they do in other formats.
However when an RS200 left the road near Sintra and killed people, both were cancelled in a kneejerk reaction which I suppose is understandable even if it was disappointing.
Its a shame as it wasn't really the cars fault, just the 'madnes's of allowing spectators to stand on the track with no real control and Portugal spectators were the worst, crowds standing in the middle of the road and jumping out of the way just in time to let the cars through.
It was exciting watching 500hp+ rally cars on gravel fly past only a few feet away from you though, especially the 6R4, no turbo to mute the roar of that V6
Epic
Edited by Gary C on Tuesday 25th June 09:42
Edited by Gary C on Tuesday 25th June 09:45
Gary C said:
Indeed. Group S was to follow group B requiring manufactures to only make 10 cars but limited to around 300HP.
However when an RS200 left the road near Sintra and killed people, both were cancelled in a kneejerk reaction which I suppose is understandable even if it was disappointing.
Its a shame as it wasn't really the cars fault, just the 'madnes's of allowing spectators to stand on the track with no real control and Portugal spectators were the worst, crowds standing in the middle of the road and jumping out of the way just in time to let the cars through.
It was exciting watching 500hp+ rally cars on gravel fly past only a few feet away from you though, especially the 6R4, no turbo to mute the roar of that V6
Epic
This story always stuck with me regarding Group B crowds, extracted from Motorsport Magazine for ref below However when an RS200 left the road near Sintra and killed people, both were cancelled in a kneejerk reaction which I suppose is understandable even if it was disappointing.
Its a shame as it wasn't really the cars fault, just the 'madnes's of allowing spectators to stand on the track with no real control and Portugal spectators were the worst, crowds standing in the middle of the road and jumping out of the way just in time to let the cars through.
It was exciting watching 500hp+ rally cars on gravel fly past only a few feet away from you though, especially the 6R4, no turbo to mute the roar of that V6
Epic
Edited by Gary C on Tuesday 25th June 09:42
Edited by Gary C on Tuesday 25th June 09:45
And in many other countries rallying was even more popular: everyone has seen the photographs of Rally Portugal in its heyday, where spectators used to try and touch the cars as they drove past. There’s an urban legend about a Lancia mechanic apparently finding a finger in the air intake of an 037. It might just be true.
Andy86GT said:
I could never understand why they had to ban group B after all the investment by the manufacturers.
Surely they could have simply imposed a turbo restriction like they do in other formats.
AIUI, it wasn't just about speed.Surely they could have simply imposed a turbo restriction like they do in other formats.
The cars were using, basically, jet fuel IINM - a little like F1 cars at the time.
This was combined with some lackadaisical regulations on build safety - Toivonen and his co-driver died because the fuel tank was under the drivers' seats, not protected by a skid plate and exploded on impact with a tree, burning them alive.
Modern cars are, AIUI, just as fast as Group B - confirming that speed wasn't the issue. It was safety.
Ah come on, this is getting silly now.
It will be north of 750k, was unsuccessful, with a best result of 3rd in its only year of competition, a flawed engine design, built by Reliant, lacks any of the drama of the mad engined S4, brutish aggression of the Quattro or 6R4 and svelt appeal of the 037.
Love a fast Fawd but really.
A reimagined Focus WRC perhaps🤔.....noice.
It will be north of 750k, was unsuccessful, with a best result of 3rd in its only year of competition, a flawed engine design, built by Reliant, lacks any of the drama of the mad engined S4, brutish aggression of the Quattro or 6R4 and svelt appeal of the 037.
Love a fast Fawd but really.
A reimagined Focus WRC perhaps🤔.....noice.
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