Ford escort rs cosworth
There’s plenty you can do to turn this star of 2017 into a road-going monster. Here’s how to do it
The Escort RS Cosworth has grabbed plenty of headlines over the past few months, breaking an auction record at the NEC show’s classic car auction (p60), and being chosen by Mike Brewer and Ant Anstead as their first
Wheeler Dealers project together. If you’re lucky enough to own one, then there’s plenty of scope for upgrades.
All were fitted with a 2.0-litre Pintobased engine, but once the initial 2500 (for Group A homologation rules) had been built in 1994, Ford fitted a smaller (T25) turbocharger to reduce the lag from earlier T34 blower. The two engines have different management systems and there are small differences in the blocks and heads, but are interchangeable.
While the later car is less highly strung, it’s also not as easy to tune, although there’s still plenty you can do. Few Cosworth engines are still completely standard and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what’s been done and by whom. Chipping isn’t unusual but the EEC IV ECU fitted to these cars isn’t as tunable as you might think, so any work done might have ended up being a downgrade rather than an improvement.
When it comes to boosting power, the most popular route is a Stage 1 conversion, which yields an extra 30-40bhp. This involves a remap, new actuator and uprated injectors; expect to pay £700 for the complete package. If you want to increase power closer to 300bhp, you need to fit a higher capacity fuel pump in conjunction with more efficient air filters, a sports exhaust and a remap. It’s technically possible to squeeze more than
600bhp out of the engine, but once you’ve breached the 400bhp barrier you’ll need to fit a stronger gearbox to cope with the power.
And finally, a caveat – as Escort RS Cosworth values increase, the most original cars are the most soughtafter. There are plenty of average cars out there to upgrade, but if you find a superb original car, keep it as it is.
’It’s possible to squeeze more than 600bhp out of the Cosworth’s engine’