Ford Fiesta S2000 2009

[Ferrer]

Welcome to Fiesta S2000

The Fiesta S2000, M-Sport and Ford's first global rally car, which will be eligible to compete in national rally championships around the world as well as the IRC and S2000 World Cup, is due for homologation in January 2010.

Continuing their close relationship with Ford, the team at M-Sport has worked in tandem with Ford's Motorsport Technical Manager Mike Norton and the Ford small car design team that developed the acclaimed kinetic design of the Fiesta road car, to develop a dynamic and aggressive looking rally car.

The experience gained from developing the record-breaking Ford Focus RS WRC has been used by the M-Sport team to develop the Fiesta S2000 rally car while working within the new FIA Sporting Regulations which means that this car can be used by customers at both national and international level.

The Fiesta S2000 is the latest in a long line of rally cars produced as a result of the successful partnership between M-Sport and Ford, starting with the Escort Cosworth in the 1990s and moving on to the record breaking Ford Focus RS WRC and Ford Fiesta ST.

It follows hot on the heels of M-Sport's extremely successful two wheel drive Fiesta R2, which was launched earlier this year and has already taken class victories in rallies across Europe.

The arrival of the Fiesta S2000 means that together Ford and M-Sport offer a complete ladder of opportunity for rally competitors to graduate with Ford from national level right through to the WRC in Ford cars.

[Ferrer]

All new Ford Fiesta S2000 rally car unveiled

Wednesday, 18 November 2009 00:00

The highly-anticipated Ford Fiesta S2000 rally car has been unveiled at a launch ceremony at M-Sport's Cumbrian base in the UK. The new rally car, the culmination of nine months' hard work by the design and engineering team at M-Sport, was presented by M-Sport Managing Director Malcolm Wilson. Gerard Quinn, Ford of Europe's Senior Motorsport Manager was present as a special Ford guest during the S2000 launch.

The Fiesta S2000, M-Sport and Ford's first global rally car, which will be eligible to compete in national rally championships around the world as well as the IRC and S2000 World Cup, is due for homologation in January 2010. However, it will make its public debut this weekend appearing as course car at the final round of the IRC series, the Rally of Scotland.

Invited guests were given an opportunity to get a close-up look at the exciting new car which has been designed by M-Sport's award-winning Technical Director Christian Loriaux and his team led by Chief Designer Anthony Brinkman and Test Engineer Chris Gray.

Continuing their close relationship with Ford, the team at M-Sport has worked in tandem with Ford's Motorsport Technical Manager Mike Norton and the Ford small car design team that developed the acclaimed kinetic design of the Fiesta road car, to develop a dynamic and aggressive looking rally car.

The experience gained from developing the record-breaking Ford Focus RS WRC has been used by the M-Sport team to develop the Fiesta S2000 rally car while working within the new FIA Sporting Regulations which means that this car can be used by customers at both national and international level.

The Fiesta S2000 has already completed nearly 3,000 km of testing both in the UK and Europe and that extensive testing programme will continue into the start of the next year in readiness for the car's competitive debut.

The Fiesta S2000 is the latest in a long line of rally cars produced as a result of the successful partnership between M-Sport and Ford, starting with the Escort Cosworth in the 1990s and moving on to the record breaking Ford Focus RS WRC and Ford Fiesta ST.

It follows hot on the heels of M-Sport's extremely successful two wheel drive Fiesta R2, which was launched earlier this year and has already taken class victories in rallies across Europe.

The arrival of the Fiesta S2000 means that together Ford and M-Sport offer a complete ladder of opportunity for rally competitors to graduate with Ford from national level right through to the WRC in Ford cars.

M-Sport Managing Director Malcolm Wilson said:

"Today is a very exciting day for us. This is the first global rally car for Ford and M-Sport, I really believe that we have produced a fantastic rally car and this launch is a big step to seeing it out competing in rallies. It's the first time in five years that we have been able to offer a Ford rally car that can challenge for overall victory in national championships across the world.

"It is also the culmination of a huge amount of hard work not only by Christian Loriaux and his team, but by everyone who works at M-Sport. We have worked closely with Ford on this project, their best-selling road car, the new Ford Fiesta, has been a perfect base car and its award-winning styling and kinematics together with M-Sport's expertise will surely make the Fiesta S2000 a huge global success."

M-Sport Technical Director Christian Loriaux said:

"It's a fantastic feeling today to see the car actually launched to the world after all the hard work and testing behind closed doors. Everyone at M-Sport has had to pull together in order to get the Fiesta S2000 finished in such a short period of time and it has been a great team effort to get to this point so quickly.

"The design team, led by Anthony Brinkman and Chris Gray, has worked incredibly hard and the fact that we have been able to deliver the car to schedule is down in no small part to the commitment of the entire M-Sport team to the success of the project. We have made a very promising start in testing and I am more than pleased with the performance of the car so far; it will be interesting to see how the real pace of the car compares to the competition."

[Ferrer]

Technical Information

The Development of the Ford Fiesta S2000

M-Sport and Ford's latest project has seen a move away from the tried and tested Ford Focus to the new highly-acclaimed Ford Fiesta which was selected as the base car for the S2000 rally car project. With its strong aerodynamic package, light bodyshell and good road handling the new Fiesta was judged to be the perfect car for the team to work on within the latest FIA sporting regulations.

Those regulations, which place the emphasis on making the competition vehicle as cost effective as possible, have presented new challenges for Christian Loriaux and his team at M-Sport, all of which have had to be overcome in an extremely short space of time. The experience gained from the development of the recording-breaking Ford Focus RS WRC has been put to good use throughout the project while also adapting certain aspects of the car to fit the new rules.

One of the biggest challenges was the size of the Fiesta's cockpit. Despite rules which allow the maximum width of the car to be 1820mm, 20mm wider than the previous regulations, the passenger compartment of the car is still small. With driver safety paramount, the crew have to be kept as far away from the outside of the car as possible so finding room for the competition seats whilst taking this into account was a real test for the designers.

An advantage of the extra width is that it allows more lateral grip and the Fiesta S2000, the first car to be designed within these new rules, really benefits from that. Stricter definitions of the roll cage geometry have been laid out by the FIA and more basic requirements, like an increase in the size of the tube used to construct the roll cage from 38mm to 50mm, have been included in the compulsory guidelines.

M-Sport technical director Christian Loriaux and his team studied 50 different roll cage options, taking into account safety considerations alongside weight distribution and the stiffness of the roll cage to maximise the Fiesta S2000's handling abilities. The cockpit itself has been designed to maintain the best possible visibility for the crew, who have to sit quite far back in the car.

The Fiesta S2000 has been designed in line with the latest FIA safety regulations and will be able to accept the new FIA safety seat design. The car came through its FIA crash test with flying colours; a maximum deflection of 100mm is allowed and the Fiesta passed with just 10mm of deflection.

The new car's suspension is based on the MacPherson strut system, a simpler system than that currently in use on the Ford Focus RS WRC, but as on the WRC car, the Fiesta uses Reiger shock absorbers. However, new FIA rules which ban ball bearings in the dampers meant that significant research was needed into reducing the friction losses.

M-Sport selected Xtrac to supply the transmission system for the car based on their previous experience of S2000 technology with other manufacturers. Engine development has again been restricted by the new regulations but M-Sport have continued to work with French company Pipo on the project. The normally aspirated engine in the Fiesta S2000 uses the same basic two-litre block and cylinder head that was used in the Focus RS WRC. The advantage of an atmospherically aspirated engine is that it fits comfortably under the bonnet of the smaller car.

After initial tests in the UK, the car underwent kinematic testing to measure suspension movement and stiffness, at Ford's proving ground in Lommel, Belgium before a rigorous week of tarmac and gravel testing in France with both Markko Märtin and Matthew Wilson sharing the driving duties. The car has now completed nearly 3,000 km of testing.

[Ferrer]

Technical Specification

Ford Fiesta S2000 Technical Specification

Engine

Ford 1998cc Pipo built I4 Duratec S2000 engine. Four cylinders, 16 valves.
Bore 87mm. Stroke 83mm. Cosworth electronics engine management system. Catalytic converter.

Power

280 bhp at 8000 rpm.

Torque

260 Nm at 6500 rpm.

Transmission

Permanent four-wheel drive. M-Sport / Xtrac six speed sequential gearbox with AP clutch.

Suspension

Front and rear: MacPherson struts with Reiger external reservoir dampers, three-way adjustable. Fully adjustable fabricated steel links. Front and rear anti-roll bars. Machined aluminium uprights.

Brakes

Gravel (front and rear): 300mm Brembo ventilated discs with Brembo four piston monoblock calipers.

Asphalt (front ): 355mm Brembo ventilated discs with Brembo four-piston monoblock calipers.

Asphalt (rear ): 300mm Brembo ventilated discs with Brembo four-piston monoblock calipers.

Hydraulic handbrake.

Steering

Power-assisted high-ratio (12:1) rack and pinion. One and a half turns lock to lock.

Wheels

Gravel: 7in x 15in (aluminium) wheels with 650mm tyres.

Asphalt: 8in x 18in (magnesium) wheels with 650mm tyres.

Bodyshell

Unitary construction. Unique composite side panels. Welded T45 steel safety roll cage. Aerodynamic rear wing. Unique front 'bumper' treatment.

Electronics

Full Cosworth electronics data acquisition for on-event diagnostics and performance development.

Fuel tank

FIA FT3 tank, 80 litre capacity, located centrally.

Dimensions

Length: 3958mm. Width: 1820mm. Wheelbase: 2489mm. Weight: 1200kg minimum.

[Ferrer]

Ford Fiesta S2000 #5

[Ferrer]

Ford Fiesta S2000 #6

[Ferrer]

Ford Fiesta S2000 #7

[Dino Scuderia]

And Honda's lawyers are hard at work to sue them for using 'S2000'.

[LeonOfTheDead]

And Honda's lawyers are hard at work to sue them for using 'S2000'.

They won't...it's the name of the championship.

Is it just me or this car looks much more modified than all the other cars from the same category?

[pimento]

I imagine there are probably some bigger budgets coming in, given that the top tier is pretty much going to be running these too, right?

[Ferrer]

They won't...it's the name of the championship.

Is it just me or this car looks much more modified than all the other cars from the same category?

I think it looks fatter, but I believe there are new regulations coming for 2010 so all pther will probably be updated accordingly.

[LeonOfTheDead]

That probably the case, I don't see the C2 and Punto having so large wheels arches for instance.

[Roentgen]

... and I jizzed... in... my pants.

[pimento]

Best keep the window closed next time...

[092326001]

What does the cardboard looking thing in the exhaust do?