druddle

Jawa you girl, never wheelspinned the Scoob then ???

[Edited by druddle - 4/2/2003 5:58:31 PM]

S600HBY

Focus cosworth on test in this weeks auto express, two bonnet vents and exhausts both sides of the bumper the rest looks like focus RS. Defo 4 wheel drive as the tester wheel spun it out of the garage forecourt. Insiders say a six speed gearbox and a four cylinder turbocharger offering at least 300bhp. Looks like the scooby could be going.

Mark

chrisp

2005/2006 is along way away and you can buy a 300bhp STi now . The game will have moved on by the time the FC arrives. Good to see another challenger out there though and opens a few more options.

S600HBY

True chrisp with the new impreza due out the same time but ford engines have always seemed easier to tune. Its taken subaru ages to get near power levels of the old cosworth which is nearly 15 yrs old. The zetec hasnt been around as long as the subaru boxer engine and i am sure in america there pushing 600bhp+. Not knocking scoobys i have one there great but IMHO ford seem to have the edge, go back to fiesta RS, Escort RS and so on

ScoobyJawa

Erm, wouldn't 4WD mean it would be very hard to wheel spin........ I hardly ever managed it in my scoob.......

S600HBY

It was in sweden and wet maybe even ice on the road.

Tommy 2000

Sounds interesting...can't believe they have waited so long to release it though!

Dark Blue Mark

At least Subaru did a proper job, might have taken a while over the Ford

MB

J1nxy

From what I was told a while ago the Focus Cosworth engine was going to be based on a Mazda block rather the Zetec block. They were struggling with reliabilty and lifespan as it was blowing itself to bits quite frequently.

Steve

Carlos The Jackel

There is quite a few guys with zetec turbo conversions running up to 300bhp quite happily so im sure Ford can manage it.

jonmorris

The AutoExpress article is drivel. The pictures MIGHT be genuine but the text is a rehash of various rumours, quickly made up to accompany the pictures.

It makes no mention of 4WD (which the Cosworth would definitely be) and speculates as to the performance and price. £28k? With the Evo coming down in price and Imprezas starting at under £20k, there is NO WAY Ford would price it that high in 2004/5.

The text also puts the Cosworth against the WRX and Evo VIII when, to be fair, the STi is more of a competitor to the Evo and any Focus Cosworth that may be released.

Anything about the interior is guesswork and with the interior changing on the next generation Focus, they can say what they like (and use the disclaimer "Nothing is set in stone" to finish).

The other thing that strikes me as odd is why the car has the Mk1 headlamps (it must be a seriously old prototype!). Now as the original Focus platform can't take 4WD, it IS possible that because the expense of modding it would be so high, it was indeed based on an old shell. Possible but unlikely in my opinion.

Twin exhausts have already been done (a guy in Switzerland has already modded his FRS to 260hp with twin exhausts), so it initially came over to me as a Mk1 Focus with body kit, that some photographer thought "I wonder if that's the Focus Cosworth"!

I'm not saying a Focus Cosworth test mule (or two) doesn't exist but I'm not convinced the picture in AutoExpress is it! They're great at talking nonsense (like the overboosting problem for the FRS) and I'm sure Impreza owners on here can think of similar situations were crap has been spouted out about their cars...

S600HBY

jon no mention of 4 wheel drive how do you spin all four wheels then. As with the escort cosworth they were testing this when the sierra saf cosworth had just come out in around 88-89 only to come out on a K 92. There not going to use the next generation focus as they are only testing drivetrain and engine if to be believed.

jonmorris

I'm not saying it wasn't real underneath but I'm just not totally convinced. I know there are cars in testing and this may be one of them - but the body shell is probably NOTHING remotely like the finished article (hence the Mk1 design). So, with irrelevant text and photos that aren't anything like the finished car, the whole news story was a bit pointless and no different than the silly Photoshop images that people create from time to time.

Ford experimented with a V6 engine (one of the original rumours about the Cosworth.. 3.2ltr, twin turbo etc) and that was ruled out because it's basically a death trap. The engine was too big and heavy and in crash testing, ended up crushing the occupants.

The writer could therefore safely presume it would be a normal 2ltr, 4 cylinder turbo. That's about the only thing that wasn't vague. The bit about "not being set in stone" was a classic 'get out clause'. As for the Escort Cosworth text, well that's what we journos call "padding" or 'how to write 1000 words when you only know two facts' - something we all learn in school!

[Edited by jonmorris - 4/3/2003 1:54:45 AM]

dingy

Chris - Where is there a 300bhp scoob out now.....

This i find hard to believe of a car which needs decent fuel to live from the factory at just a pip over 200bhp

LOL @ Romours tho.....the new focus RS is as fast as the new scoob and its FWD

S600HBY

Jon i think it mentions that the cosworth will be based on the new wrc car so your correct in saying that the picture isnt the cossy.As with the engine i would of thought they would use a four cylinder as with the zetec cosworth in the wrc. Maybe we will have to wait and see.

chrisp

STI8 PPP 305PS

2003 STI 2.5 USM version 300bhp

dingy

305ps....so not bhp then......

MattW

er.....STi7\8 with PPP = 305PS

dingy

PMSL its not standard then is it.

Its like buying a stage 1 cossie from ford......

SO its 300bhp standard, stage 1 usually gives 60bhp

So 360 from factory.....

MattW

Mmmm..ok..it's a little grey, but after all it is warranted and can be purchased at the time of vehicle purchase. So in practice you could buy a 300brake scoob from a dealer, new!.

I don't think you'll see 300 brake from a cossie anyway, the emissions legislation will rule it out. IMO they'll do something similar to Subaru and Mitsi(rumoured to be) with the aftermarket performance packs.

chrisp

LOL tried to sneak the PPP bit in without anyone noticing . I do hope the FC is a good one and I will be down my dealers having a go in one.

dingy

LOL

If it ever comes out.....

ScoobyJawa

Only really in sideways moments mate Straight line very rare.....

markrchilds

with so much unsurity, has anyone actually thought it might be an april fools joke. just an idea as some of you think its a fake

S600HBY

I would be the fool posting it on the 2nd april

jonmorris

It isn't a joke - I'm certain the car will be released. Ford are keen to relaunch Cosworth as much as they were with the RS brand.

The new platform is shared with the Volvo, Mazda and Jag range and engines will be shared too. So, for all we know it may end up with the Volvo AWD system (same as the VAG 4motion system I believe) and a Mazda engine. It may be nothing like what's being rumoured at the moment.

The article suggests it will have the WRC Cosworth engine but I'm not 100% sure. Ford will relaunch the Cosworth NAME, which doesn't mean the engine will have anything to do with Cosworth. Of course, I'd love to be proved wrong!

pbee

erm isnt the focus replaced before this comes out in the auto express list of new cars it is listed as a new model in 2004, which will make the true focus cosworth completely out of date in 2006.

I bet they never launch it. IMHO

markrchilds

i was talking about the article not your post. it may be true but it sound like they have made alt up too.

jonmorris

I bet they DO launch a Cosworth car, although it could be the Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo or Capri (a lot of rumours are saying it will be the latter, but I'm not sure that car is definitely going into production).

Ford didn't work hard to get the name only to do nothing with it. When the new Focus arrives in 2004/5, the FRS will be quite old and needing a successor.

I don't think anyone knows the exact specs yet but since when has that stopped ANY magazine making things up for us to discuss on the forums?

S600HBY

Yes john i heard of a mondeo RS aswell as a fiesta RS, i just hope they do the focus cosworth. I had a escort cosworth which i loved but it was getting old and ford didnt offer anything near as quick so i opted for the scoob. I was tempted with the ST220 mondeo but it didnt do it for me.