Guide: New Breed - a Historical and Technical Appraisal of the Ford Focus RS Mk1 (C170)
BACKGROUND
After a 34 year production run that had seen several million cars built across six different generations, Ford elected to kill off its eponymous Escort in favour of an all-new model: the Focus.
Launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1998, the Focus was very well received by both the motoring press and public alike. In its first full year of production (1999) Ford sold nearly half a million units and the Focus was voted European Car of the Year.
The arrival of the Focus also enabled Ford to compete with a latest generation challenger in the World Rally Championship. Resplendent in Martini colours, the new car was immediately on the pace, but poor reliability cost Ford any chance of victory in the Driver and Manufacturer championships during 1999 and 2000.
Back in February 1999, Ford had unveiled a taster of the first really hot Focus when the wraps came off what was dubbed the Cosworth Concept at the Chicago Motor Show. Inspired by the firm’s World Rally Championship contender, reaction was sufficiently positive that work soon began on a production version.
The resultant Focus RS appeared in prototype form at the Birmingham Motor Show in October 2000, after which the production-ready machine made its salon debut at Geneva in March 2001. However, this latest iteration of the Rallye Sport theme was clearly not quite as production-ready as initially hoped as the first customer cars did not begin to emerge until October 2002.
Offered throughout Europe as a front-wheel drive three-door Hatchback in a limited run of 4500 units, the Focus RS was screwed together on its own dedication production line at Ford’s Saarlouis plant in Germany with some additional specialist off-line assembly carried out at the ACU facility 10km south in Uberherrn.
Ford claimed 70% of the components used by the RS were either new or re-engineered; the bodyshell, suspension, brakes, wheels and tyres, the engine, transmission, exterior and interior were all substantially modified to make this easily the most potent offering from its European range.
CHASSIS
Like every Focus, the RS was based around a galvanised steel monocoque bodyshell with a 2615mm wheelbase. For the RS, the rear engine mount and crossmember were upgraded to cope with higher shock and torque loads.
A 55-litre fuel tank from the regular Focus was fitted under the rear seats.
The power-assisted steering system fitted to the RS comprised the ST170’s quick rack with a custom pump for enhanced control.
Suspension was fully independent with a MacPherson arrangement at the front, a multi-link axle at the rear, coil springs and dampers all round and an anti-roll bar at either end.
For the RS, thicker anti-roll bars were fitted along with shorter, stiffer Sachs dampers and matched springs which resulted in a 25mm lower ride height.
A wider track was adopted up front (essentially to WRC tarmac specification), kinematics and rebound was improved and the geometry was revised with static negative camber. The back end was stiffened up, given increased negative camber, higher load capacity bearings and redesigned spindles.
Compared to the otherwise range-topping ST170, the Focus RS got enlarged vented front discs (increased in diameter from 300mm to 325mm) and four-piston Brembo calipers. The soilid 280mm rear discs with single-piston calipers were imported without change.
ABS was fitted as standard.
Five-spoke OZ Racing alloy wheels were unique to the RS and came shod with specially developed Michelin Sport Pilot 225/45 R18 tyres. At 8 x 18-inches, they were an inch wider and an inch taller than the wheels found on the ST170.
ENGINE / TRANSMISSION
Transversely mounted in the engine bay was a turbocharged Duratec RS version of Ford’s two-litre Zetec inline ‘four’ with iron block, aluminium alloy DOHC head, four valves per cylinder and wet-sump lubrication.
Displacement was the familiar 1988cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 84.8mm and 88mm respectively.
For this application, Ford installed a modified oil return system, WRC-type forged aluminium pistons, forged connecting rods, hardened valve seats, sodium-filled exhaust valves and higher-grade spark plugs to cope with the greater heat range.
There was also a new Garrett GT2560 LS turbocharger for which the temperature of the charge air that entered the custom throttle body was controlled by a unique WRC-derived water-air intercooler.
A new exhaust manifold was optimised for low down torque.
Re-mapped Ford EEC V engine management controlled fuel delivery through higher flow rate injectors, a high-flow pump and custom pressure regulator valve.
The high-flow big bore stainless steel exhaust system came with an RS-specific three-way catalytic converter.
Other trick RS parts included a water pump with 50 per cent more flow, a high efficiency oil cooler, additional ‘run on’ cooling fans and more generous heat shielding for the engine bay fashioned from higher grade materials.
With a compression ratio of 8.0:1, peak output was 212bhp at 5500rpm and 229lb-ft at 3500rpm.
For comparison, the normally aspirated ST170 developed 170bhp at 7000rpm and 145lb-ft at 5500rpm.
Transmission was through an uprated MTX-75 five-speed manual gearbox with custom ratios and short-throw shifter, an AP Racing clutch and a Quaife automatic torque biasing differential.
BODYWORK
Aside from its hood, doors, roof panel and head / tail light assemblies, the Focus RS featured entirely new body panels inspired by Ford’s WRC project.
The deeper, more aggressive front bumper assembly was tweaked for improved aero balance and increased cooling. Inboard of new stacked spot lights was a substantially enlarged grille, air flow from which was directed to the water-air intercooler system and out through twin vertical slots in front of each wheel.
Down each flank, Ford added new flared fenders which were connected by deeper skirts.
At the back was a tailgate with integrated roof spoiler and a new rear bumper assembly with deeper, ribbed apron.
As a result of these RS-specific panels, high speed stability was much improved.
The drag co-efficient was 0.365 compared to 0.337 for the narrow-bodied ST170.
The bumper assemblies, side skirts and rear spoiler were fashioned from reinforced polypropylene. The exterior mirror housings were plastic composite and pretty much everything else was steel.
INTERIOR
Inside, the RS came with an array of special features not seen on any other iterations of the Focus.
High-backed Sparco-branded seats trimmed in two-tone black and blue leather came with integrated harness slots and RS-embossed squabs. The Sparco-branded rear bench seat was trimmed to match as were the door panels, rear cockpit sidewalls and steering wheel with its distinctive 12 o’clock marker.
Sparco also supplied the aluminium short-throw gear knob, aluminium handbrake lever, aluminium pedals with rubber inserts and electro-plated door handles.
Instrumentation was customised by way of backlit blue bands for the dials (which also came with a new typeface), RS-branding and a change up light. Directly ahead of the four-spoke steering wheel were large read outs for road and engine speed flanked by smaller read outs for fuel level and turbo boost (the latter of which replaced the normal water temperature gauge).
Mounted on the carbonfibre-effect centre console was a green start button and an individually numbered aluminium knob.
The list of standard equipment included air-conditioning, electric windows, electric mirrors, a six-disc CD player and a full complement of airbags.
OPTIONS
No optional extras were offered and the Focus RS only came in one colour scheme: Imperial Blue with Black and Blue two-tone upholstery.
WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE
At 1278kg the Focus RS weighed in at 5kg less than the ST170.
Top speed went from 134mph to 144mph.
The 0-62mph time was cut from 7.9 to 6.3 seconds.
PRODUCTION CHANGES
Throughout its eleven month production run, only a couple of minor changes were made to the specification. During 2003 an extra row of stitching was added across the front seat squab to stop the cushion from sagging, the ECU was re-mapped to solve a cold start misfire issue, a new trumpet-style grommet for the throttle cable reduced pedal vibration and plastic covers were added to the rear seat hinges.
END OF PRODUCTION
Focus RS production ran from October 2nd 2002 until November 11th 2003 during which time 4501 cars were built, 2147 of which were right-hand drive for the UK market.
Following the introduction of a second generation C308/C170 Focus in late 2004, Ford unveiled a Mk2 RS at the London Motor Show in July 2008.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ford - https://www.ford.com
