When you think of the Ford Escort RS Cosworth<\/i>, two things probably come to mind: the legendary Ford Cossie<\/i> lineage,\u00a0which of course included the\u00a0the iconic Sierra RS Cosworth, and Ford\u2019s presence in the WRC during the 1990s, with drivers like Fran\u00e7ois Delecour, Carlos Sainz, and others behind the wheel of all-wheel-drive Group A and World Rally Car-spec machines. What likely doesn\u2019t<\/i> come to mind, however, is a V8 twin-turbocharged and rear-wheel-drive-converted Escort RS Cosworth built for the drag strip.<\/p>\n
Yet, 10 years ago, that\u2019s exactly what we featured. Crazy? Absolutely! Epic? Without a doubt! For this week\u2019s throwback post, we\u2019re revisiting Bryn Musselwhite\u2019s 2014 story on an 8-second Escort that defied all expectations.<\/p>\n 2014 Feature<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m not quite sure how you could consider a twin-turbo V8-engined Escort RS Cosworth \u201cthe safe option\u201d,<\/em> but that\u2019s exactly what this fast Ford is to Matt Smith. In a story that twists and turns, there have been superbikes, 500hp Cosworth engines, race circuits and mind-opening discoveries, but\u00a0whichever way the path travelled, the end game has always been about going fast. Like a sub-10-second\u00a0quarter mile at the drag strip fast\u2026<\/p>\n Reading\u00a0the comments on some of the stories we publish, I often pick up on little pockets of interest and envy.\u00a0One in particular is the American admiration for the European-built fast\u00a0Fords. The RS (Rallye Sport) heritage goes back to the early \u201970s, but it\u2019s the name Cosworth that gets the fuel pumping. Maybe that\u2019s why\u00a0I find it amusing \u2013 and more than a little ironic \u2013 that\u00a0we\u00a0Europeans will lust over the readily available V8s of America whilst many Americans\u00a0yearn for our four-cylinder, turbocharged homologation specials. So Matt and his Escort must have the best of both worlds, right?<\/p>\n What he\u00a0has now is a whole world away from what Ford intended the Escort Cosworth to be when it was released in 1992. But because Matt\u2019s a petrolhead\u00a0\u2013\u00a0a pure, power-driven pursuer of speed\u00a0\u2013\u00a0the standard was never<\/em> going to be good enough, especially with a history like his.<\/p>\n But he\u2019s managed to balance out\u00a0a radical list of modifications with the original spirit of the Cosworth badge. Of course,\u00a0Matt\u00a0never imagined it would come this far, but his enthusiasm for what he\u00a0started with never faltered. The\u00a0full rebuild originally\u00a0aimed for concours trophies before a sharp turn was taken, and the target shifted to the deep end of a quarter-mile drag strip.<\/p>\n So how does it all change? Speed has played\u00a0a big part in the Smith family history, originally supplied by motorbikes. Matt was\u00a0inspired by his older brother Martin, and then, with their\u00a0close\u00a0group of friends, they\u00a0went\u00a0through motocross and superbikes on track before eventually turning their collective interests to\u00a0quick track cars and quick road bikes. But some near misses and some injured friends proved to be a wake-up call for the brothers. As Matt wisely states, \u201cNo matter what you say, you\u2019re going to go out and go faster, and you don\u2019t realise how fast you\u2019re going until you have to stop or you have a crash.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Matt remembers an old friend, Jamie, having an Escort Cosworth when they were younger. The big-winged three-door is an iconic figure in the European tuning scene (hence the envy from over the Atlantic), and it\u2019s a model that left its mark on many\u00a0of us. It\u2019s one of those \u2018one day\u2019 cars. The original 220hp was just the beginning for many owners, and this particular car had been owned by another friend\u00a0who\u00a0hadn\u2019t used it for a few years. When the\u00a0opportunity for Matt to purchase\u00a0presented itself\u00a0in 2008, he grabbed it.<\/p>\n After a failed gearbox on the way back from Ford Fair,\u00a0the next year, a plan was made to build a quick, streetable Escort Cosworth \u2013 something there are plenty of out there.\u00a0With a 500hp motor\u00a0from renowned engine builder Harvey Gibbs ordered, the shell was stripped down for a full nut and bolt rebuild.<\/p>\n Then came the turning point, when good friend Phil Peck (who drag races a late-model\u00a0Mustang)\u00a0told the\u00a0brothers that they should come to the strip one weekend. Matt recalls saying: \u201cWhy would we want to do that? It\u2019s a straight line, boring; we were into circuit racing. But then I was walking down the pits, and on the left of me I had the track, and on the right of me I had the show and shine\u00a0\u2013\u00a0it was then that I knew what I wanted to do.\u201d<\/em> The explosive burst of power on the line and the condensed sensations you have to deal with when so much is squeezed into a few seconds sealed the deal.<\/p>\n Now, there are two\u00a0turbos, twice the number of cylinders and more than five times the original power of the Escort to entertain Matt. So, did he make the right decision?<\/p>\n That weekend at the track, Matt got introduced to Jon Webster (he\u2019s stood in the background here in the plain black sweatshirt).\u00a0There are very few people with the kind of experience Jon has, and as Matt explained, he played a pivotal role in the project.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s about trust when you want somebody to do this kind of work. What\u2019s vital for me is that we\u00a0don\u2019t have to\u00a0revisit things\u00a0\u2013\u00a0I don\u2019t want to be building an engine every other week or redoing things after every race.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Talking to Jon also revealed the way to\u00a0scratch the itch right the first time:\u00a0twin turbos and a V8. Coming home from the drag strip that weekend, Matt\u00a0went straight online and found an Escort for sale that had already been converted to V8 twin-turbo. It was a sign \u2013 and promptly purchased.\u00a0So, with his existing Cosworth already stripped down to a shell in the garage, the engine setup from the new car was put in the back of a van, and the pair was delivered to Webster Race Engineering. The Harvey Gibbs engine and anything else not needed was sold on, and the work began.<\/p>\n The plan from the start was to enter into the Street Eliminator Championship. That meant\u00a0the Escort needed to remain street-legal, which suited\u00a0Matt\u2019s plans fine as he still wanted to enjoy it on the road. But a YB-based engine just wasn\u2019t going to cut it.\u00a0Yes, they\u2019ll make big power, but with that, reliability issues would also be there to deal with. The other thing that had to go was the beam rear end. It\u2019s now\u00a0replaced with a built\u00a0Ford 9-inch\u00a0back axle, but that required\u00a0cutting into the\u00a0freshly detailed shell to fit. \u201cI went up to John\u2019s, and he took me to one side and said he had something for me, and there was my rear floorpan. I\u2019d spent nights and nights working on it\u00a0\u2013\u00a0getting it better than a showroom \u2013 but there it was all cut out. To be fair, though, I\u2019ve never looked back and never regretted it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Along with the cage and suspension, the other major fabrication was at the front end, where there\u2019s now a small block Chevrolet V8. And yes, I did say Chevrolet. There\u2019s not a definitive power figure, but with a\u00a0Garrett GT4094 turbo\u00a0mounted on either side of the engine good for up to 750hp apiece, and taking into account the ETs and trap speeds it runs (more on that shortly), it surely must be somewhere between 1,000\u00a0to 1,200hp.<\/p>\n Again, Matt\u2019s passion for the Escort shape that he\u2019s known and loved for so many years shows through in the execution. The Morette twin headlamp\u00a0conversion is popular in\u00a0the Ford scene\u00a0and comes from the Sierra rally cars, which predate the Escort. When a bonnet-mounted lamp pod was fitted,\u00a0the corner of the standard headlamp was obscured, so these were developed, allowing the manufacturer to run a single round lamp on the outside. Legend has it that the inner opening was used as an additional air intake that opened at speed until the authorities caught on. So it\u2019s kind of apt that there\u2019s a turbo eyeing you back through that hole now! The mesh grille lower down is from the legendary Sierra RS500, so it is more than a nod to heritage.<\/p>\n The original engine that the project began\u00a0with has been changed\u00a0\u2013\u00a0this one having been built, ported and flow matched by Mark Moseley with tech support from Richard Coles at Coltec Racing Engines and parts sourced from Rob Loring at Ice Engineering. That might sound like a complicated list, but it\u2019s all about the team work with these guys\u00a0\u2013\u00a0both Matt and brother Martin telling me how it made the jump from the circuit to the strip so easy and enjoyable. They now all race under the name Team Extreme, with a very impressive line up of cars ranging from a Supra to an R32 Skyline\u00a0and\u00a0more.<\/p>\n Of course, with the bonnet open\u00a0the game is up. As\u00a0you can see it\u2019s all been cleverly packaged\u00a0too, and that\u00a0exhaust manifold looks like it could survive a bomb blast. But it\u2019s not showy under here\u00a0\u2013\u00a0everything serves a purpose without being over the top.<\/p>\n The bonnet had to be modified to clear the engine, but it\u2019s the only non-standard body panel on the whole car now. Additions like the carbon lower lip are aftermarket, but it stays true to the lines of the original Ford moulding.<\/p>\n The\u00a0standard Cosworth vents may be hidden from each other by the scoop in the middle of the bonnet, but the factory fresh red paint job just adds to the illusion for\u00a0me. Unlike many\u00a0drag cars, the Escort is naked and free from any graphics or names too, which I really like.<\/p>\n Just how quick can you go and still be road legal though?\u2026<\/p>\n Inside it\u2019s a similar story to the outside:\u00a0subtle but modified for purpose. Remember this had to remain a nice place to be and because of that it all feels vaguely familiar with the factory lines being kept. But where there used to be a gearstick which connected Matt to the four-wheel drive system. Now there\u2019s a B&M shifter for the two-speed automatic transmission, which was built up by Andy Frost, the man responsible for the fastest street car in the world up until the 2014 Hot Rod\u00a0<\/em>Drag Week. Quick street cars are in the UK blood stream\u2026<\/p>\n And where the original dials and gauges used to be, now a SPA digital dash sits neatly in the carbon fibre cluster.<\/p>\n On the subject of carbon fibre, that\u2019s\u00a0another of Matt\u2019s weaknesses\u00a0\u2013\u00a0one which I personally can\u2019t fault him for!\u00a0The carbon bucket seats,\u00a0Eclipse 280mm steering wheel and other parts all came from UK firm Reverie. I\u2019ve drooled over their price list for many years, so I\u2019m very envious of what you see here! Note the standard centre console too\u2026<\/p>\n Little touches, like that and the standard rear parcel shelf make me smile. Usually you\u2019d want to shout about the potential this Escort has, but not here. The speaker grilles hide empty space, but those are genuine pop-out glass rear windows, just like the heated rear screen\u00a0\u2013\u00a0no polycarbonate here.<\/p>\n Maybe the Escort is a bit of a sleeper even? I know that may sound crazy, but if you saw it\u00a0on the street would you think\u00a0it\u2019s a 9-second quarter mile capable car? Maybe you would, but if so you\u2019d be wrong, because\u00a0Matt and the Cosworth turned in ETs as low as\u00a08.4\u00a0seconds in 2014.\u00a0With the aim in the last couple of years for the car to \u2018run its tag\u2019 of 8 seconds, that\u2019s now well within reach, which means\u00a07s can\u2019t be discounted either\u2026<\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s not been without drama, nor some serious head scratching from all involved along the way. But that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? If it was easy everybody<\/em> would be doing it.\u00a0Things rarely go to plan in\u00a0this game,\u00a0and if you need the perfect example of that\u00a0just\u00a0remember that this was meant to be a concours show car build!<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not\u00a0\u2013 although it is\u00a0immaculately presented.\u00a0I took this picture as we left the drag strip for a 25-mile night cruise to\u00a0prove that it\u2019s a proper road car. All the Street Eliminator competitors have to complete this cruise, which includes a fuel stop, then another hot start further along the way\u00a0\u2013 all\u00a0slap bang in the middle of the weekend\u2019s racing. Our annual vehicle tests are also a lot stricter than in the US, so this in itself is no mean feat.<\/p>\n It makes for a pretty awesome sight when\u00a0tens of thousands of horsepower rolls into a sleepy countryside fuel station.\u00a0Winding our way through dark\u00a0roads the snake of brake lights and headlamps make me smile, as other road users pass by blissfully unaware of the automotive potential they just encountered.<\/p>\n So considering this is the safe option over spanking superbikes around on the road and track, just how far is Matt going to go with the Escort, bearing in mind that it\u2019s\u00a0virtually a full-bodied car\u00a0with\u00a0sunroof, glass and metal panels in place. To that Matt says,\u00a0\u201cI set out to build an 8.50 street car, so if I start going any further it\u2019s going to get out of hand. Right now it\u2019s still an Escort Cosworth with a engine swap and rear axle. The next move is a full tube car, which would be a waste of this car. The passion is always to go faster, but the important thing is to remember to have fun while you are.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Fun? Sounds like a plan to me!\u00a0The Smith brothers know a thing or 10\u00a0about how to do things right, so whatever happens it\u2019ll be good.<\/p>\n Going back to the start and the point I made about how you can never predict what lies ahead\u00a0\u2013\u00a0sometimes it\u2019s best to just\u00a0enjoy the ride, because the journey is often just as\u00a0important as the destination. So do you still want to know where you\u2019re going with your project? Or are you content to see what happens?\u2026<\/p>\n The Speedhunters<\/strong> Bryn Musselwhite<\/strong>![\"Team](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/speedhunters-wp-production\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/01170013\/Team-Xtreme-Escort-Cosworth-11-1200x800.jpg\"\/)
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