Rs 200

[ben916]

Erik pequed my curiousity with the RUF appetizer thread so I searched for RUF here in the bloody 'States.

Look what I found!!!

http://www.ecarlist.com/cgi-bin/showroom.cgi?mode=show&id=3183&d_id=947

[Clio16V]

The RS200 is one of my favorites!! Great and brutal car!

[ben916]

Most people don't know about it!

600HP 4 cyl turbo AWD and about 1900 lbs.

In 1985, they were in the range of $100K...

[Z07]

http://www.canepa.com/inventory/pdf/Canepa_Ford%20RS%20200.pdf


This Ford RS 200 EVO is one of only 24 factory EVO’s produced. Two hundred cars were constructed
for homologation requirements and a select number (24) were modifi ed and delivered as a 650 hp, Evolution models “RS 200 EVO”. This model was built to be fast, 0 to 60 in 2+ seconds or 0 to 100 in
5.5 sec. In 1984 Ford gathered together a mix of talented engineers and designers to build a Group B rally
car to compete against the likes of the Porsche 959. The result was a car of shattering performance and brute beauty. The cars were ultimately too expensive and too fast and the Group B program was canceled.

Conceived purely as a Group B rally car, the Ford RS200 was unveiled at the November 1984 Turin Motor
Show. The work of ex-F1 designer Tony Southgate and ex-F1 engineer John Wheeler, its advanced chassis incorporated a central aluminum monocoque cell with detachable subframes fore and aft. Suspended by double wishbones and twin-coil over shock absorbers, each wheel was fed power by a highly sophisticated Ferguson Formula (FF) system. Using a combination of three viscous couplings and a centre diff lock etc, it allowed the torque split between the front and rear wheels to be varied on the move. Thus, a driver could switch from a 37:63 bias to a 50:50 one halfway through a stage! Powered by a mid-mounted turbocharged 1803cc four-cylinder BDT engine, the RS200 carried its fi ve-speed gearbox up front. While, this arrangement necessitated two propshafts, it also contributed to the car’s excellent weight distribution. Clad in Ghia-styled but Reliant-built ‘clamshell’ glassfi bre bodywork (though the cut-down doors and windscreen were Sierra sourced), a delay in production meant that the 200 cars necessary for homologation were not completed until February 1986. Debuting at the Swedish Rally, the RS200 managed a highly credible third place overall.

The original production car produced 380bhp ‘Works’ tune, the Ford was perhaps 50bhp down and 100kg
up on spaceframe racers such as the Peugeot 205 T16 and Lancia Delta S4. Although, this did not stop Stig Blomqvist and Grundel taking it in turns to lead the Acropolis Rally before both succumbing to mechanical maladies, it did encourage the Blue Oval to sanction an Evolution version. Obeying the FIA’s stipulation that any such run should represent at least 10% of total production, rally team manager Stuart Turner duly converted 24 of the original 200 to Evo specifi cation. With their BDT engines bored out to 2.1 liters (the class limit), these modifi ed RS200s claimed an incredible 650bhp. Carrying less weight, better brakes and stronger suspension than the original ‘Works’ cars, they promised to dominate the 1987 season. Sadly, it was never to be as Ford withdrew from Group B rallying following Lancia driver Henri Toivenen’s death on the 1986 Tour de Corse. Denied an international stage, the RS200 Evolution remains one of rallying greatest ‘What Ifs’ (though, they would go onto decimate various lesser formula).