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Ford Focus RS (C170 - 2002)

Codenamed CW170 during its development, and briefly known to some Ford contractors as the Ford Fusion,[citation needed] the original Focus took its eventual name from a Ghia concept car which was shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1991. Certain elements of the design had been seen even earlier in prototypes used by Ford to demonstrate forthcoming safety features, such as the eye-level rear lighting clusters. As a continuation of Ford's New Edge styling philosophy, first seen in the Ford Ka in 1996, and Ford Cougar in 1998, the Focus' styling had been often described as polarising. The styling had been overseen by Jack Telnack and executed by Claude Lobo and Australian designer, John Doughty.

 

The decision to name the new car the Ford Focus was made in early 1998, as Ford's overheads had been planning to keep the "Escort" nameplate for its new generation of small family cars. A last minute problem arose in July 1998 when a Cologne court, responding to a case brought by the publishers Burda, ordered Ford to avoid the name "Focus" for the German market cars since the name was already taken by the publisher's Focus magazine. This eleventh hour dispute was overcome, however, and the car was launched without a different "German market" name.

 

RS

 

The Focus RS Mk1 was produced from 2 October 2002 to 11 November 2003 and was Ford's return to the RS (Rallye Sport) badge after the demise of the tweaked Escorts, particularly the fabled Ford Escort RS Cosworth. Production was limited to 4501 units only. The car was largely built on its own assembly line in Ford's Saarlouis plant, with some additional specialist off-line assembly performed by the ACÜ group at Überhern. The RS was offered all over Europe, but 2147 were sold in the United Kingdom, by far its largest market. The Mark 1 Focus RS was a limited production run available in 21 European countries.

 

Using a turbocharged version of the 2.0-litre Ford Zeta engine, the Focus RS rated at 212 horsepower (158 kW).

 

It would generate a steady 0.98G in lateral acceleration due to racing parts such as Sachs dampers, lightweight O.Z Alloy Wheels and a Quaife ATB Differential. It would also allow 1.0G of braking force due to the standard Brembo braking system 326 mm (Front) 280 mm (Rear).

 

The development of the Focus RS was undertaken by a mixed team of mainstream Ford engineers (not SVE or the TeamRS group which replaced it later on) and Tickford Engineering in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. Originally it was to be released as the Racing Focus, however after the poor selling Racing Puma,[citation needed] Ford decided to revive the RS badge.

 

More bespoke than the prior Ford Focus SVT (badged as the Focus ST170 in Europe), the Focus RS upgraded or replaced 70% of the standard Focus mechanicals. The turbocharged straight-4 engine produced a minimum of 215 PS (158 kW; 212 hp) and 310 N·m (229 lb·ft) of torque, which was then mated to the 5-speed MTX-75 and not the Getrag transmission used in the ST 170. Mechanically, most notably, the car incorporated a Quaife automatic torque biasing differential to improve traction from the front-wheel drive setup. The steering used a similar quick-ratio rack as the ST170 while the brakes used fixed-caliper, four-piston Brembo units with 324 mm (12.8 in) discs at the front and single-piston floating calipers and 280 mm (11.0 in) discs at the back. Wheels were 18" alloys specially developed by OZ Racing. The engine was heavily modified with forged aluminium pistons, hardened valve seats, sodium-filled exhaust valves, stainless steel exhaust system. The forced induction system comprised a Garrett turbocharger with a water-cooled charge air cooler and an electric water pump. To transmit the higher torque an upgraded AP clutch was used.

 

The Focus RS was available in one metallic colour, Imperial Blue. The body looked similar to the standard Focus or to the ST170, although the RS featured unique front and rear bumper assemblies required for the wider wheel arches which accommodated the 65 mm (2.6 in) wider front track. Internally, the theme is blue and black with sections of blue leather trim on the door trim panels, the steering wheel and the Sparco seats which were trimmed in blue/black leather and Alcantara. A green starter button starts the engine. The instruments have a blue background and in place of the coolant temperature gauge, the RS was equipped with a boost pressure indicator (up to 1.5 bar). The gear lever knob, handbrake lever, and pedals were all custom made by Sparco.

 

All-around performance was roughly equal or better to its other competitors, including hatchbacks such as the Honda Civic Type-R and some four-wheel drive cars in the same price field.[citation needed] Power was a diminished priority and the handling on a track, courtesy of the front differential, was considered by most observers to be its strongest characteristic. In a Top Gear review, Jeremy Clarkson noted that "it lacks the straightforward oomph of a Subaru Impreza. [...] The reason it was quick round our track is simple: this car handles like it's in a cartoon." Clarkson and other motor journalists also commented on the car's torque steer on bumpy British roads.

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Focus_(first_generation)

 

This Lego miniland scale Ford Fous RS (C170 - 2002) has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 96th Build Challenge - The 8th Birthday, titled - 'Happy Crazy Eight Birthday, LUGNuts' - where all previous build challenges are available to build to. This model is built to the LUGNuts 58th build challenge, - &quotOrder by Numbers" featuring vehicles built to one of ten themes available in that challenge. The Focus RS is built to theme 1: "A Legendary Vehicle... In Europe" - due to the unavailability of the RS in Global Markets outside of Europe.

 

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Uploaded on October 15, 2015