Ford Europe is celebrating the 3 cylinder, 1.0 liter version of their EcoBoost engine winning Engine of the Year by putting it into a Formula Ford race car. The tuned version of the EcoBoost going into the car makes 205 horsepower while achieving 57 mpg at a constant 75mph. Ford added new livery to the car and made it street legal with a full set of lights. After they were done, the car turned in a 7:22 at the Nurburgring Nordschleife which ties the Dodge Viper ACR and is faster than the Nissan GT-R.
The Ford World Rally Team released this recap of their results from Rally Germany that took place this past weekend. If you haven’t watched the SPEED channel coverage off of your DVR, then this will contain spoilers for you. The first tarmac rally of this season puts the Ford boys to the test chasing Sebastien Loeb.
You’re going to want to set aside a solid 45 minutes to watch these videos. We continue to reap the benefits of YouTube paying good money to car magazines for original content to rival traditional TV shows. Motor Trend’s latest installment is their 2012 Best Driver’s Car compilation. I like the way they do this annual comparison because a lot of people tend to misuse the term “driver’s car,” but Motor Trend has got it right and they stick to their guns. What makes a good driver’s car goes way beyond the numbers of the performance statistics. The 0-60 time doesn’t say anything about the car’s balance, feedback, fun or driver engagement. Those things are much harder to describe, but thankfully we have Johnny Lieberman, Carlos Lagos and Randy Pobst here working together to convey the driving experiences of this dream car lineup. This year they rounded up the Jaguar XKR-S, Subaru BRZ, Lamborghini Aventador, Porsche 911 Carrera S, Ford Shelby GT500, Nissan GT-R Black Edition, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series and McLaren MP4-12C. The boys start out by doing winding road introductions of each car and then they turn them over to Randy for hot laps around Laguna Seca. They finish up by choosing a top 3 and then driving them some more to pick an overall winner.
The CEO and Lead Designer of ICON, Jonathan Ward, stopped by Jay Leno’s garage with their latest creation, the resto-mod Ford Bronco. ICON searches the country for clean Bronco shells and then completely overhauls and upgrades them. The truck now has the 5.0 liter Coyote V8 from the new Mustang under the hood along with a Aisin-Warner transmission, Atlas transfer case, modern solid axles from Dynatrac and Stoptech brakes. All of the lighting has been replaced with LED’s and ICON even worked with the designer that created the Ford GT to re-imagine some of the details and interior trim that were parts bin sourced or overlooked on the original Bronco. It really is modernizing a classic chassis taken to the extreme and it’s a testament to the fact that there is still maniacal attention to detail and high caliber craftsmanship in the modern world.
I’ve always thought of the Ford Escort MK2 as the European version of the Toyota AE86. Both cars are small, light and rwd with a solid axle and a rev-happy four cylinder engine. The MK2 and AE86 have both achieved cult following due to their successful formula for a fun, basic car that you can drive totally sideways. This is the story of former rally driver, Dave Jenkins, and his new business venture converting road going MK2 Escorts into top class historic rally cars.
Ford Europe is celebrating the 3 cylinder, 1.0 liter version of their EcoBoost engine winning Engine of the Year by putting it into a Formula Ford race car. The tuned version of the EcoBoost going into the car makes 205 horsepower while achieving 57 mpg at a constant 75mph. Ford added new livery to the car and made it street legal with a full set of lights. After they were done, the car turned in a 7:22 at the Nurburgring Nordschleife which ties the Dodge Viper ACR and is faster than the Nissan GT-R.