Ford's New Fiesta-Based Rally Car

[BoostBumps]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/news/a31882/meet-fords-bonkers-new-fiesta-based-rally-car/

http://www.m-sport.co.uk/m-sport-news/fiesta-rs-wrc/introducing-the-2017-ford-fiesta-wrc

Dec 9, 2016



Earlier this month, Hyundai showed off its new i20-based rally car. With 80 more horsepower and a 55 lb. reduction in weight compared to Hyundai's previous WRC entry, it promises to be one wild car. Today, though, we got our first look at its competition?the Ford Fiesta WRC.
First revealed by M-Sport, Ford's new rally car still looks a little like the new-for-2017 road-going version. But in WRC guise, it's been turned into a completely unhinged monster of a Fiesta.

Its styling is overtly aggressive, boasting humongous flares, a giant wing, a splitter that's ready to cut a bystander's ankles off, and a menacing diffuser. Without its racing livery, though, the new Fiesta WRC car somehow manages to look a tad bit subtle.

Under the hood, its 1.6-liter engine makes 380 horsepower and 332 lb.-ft. of torque. That power is routed to all four wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox.

Yes, we're definitely looking forward to seeing (and hearing) this car race.

 

[haste]

Nice. I was wondering what Ford would do with the new '17 regulations. It is good to see that they haven't abandoned WRC.

 

[Zormecteon]

I want one of those rear wings!

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^How many banks do I have to rob?!!

Monte Carlo is going to be vveeerrrryyyyy interesting this year!

 

[Siestarider]

The M-Sport site BB listed has more (self-promotional) meat. Memo to self, pay attention to the 2017 WRC schedule. Maybe we can get back on top of VW. If looks were enough Ford already won.

 

[enamelizer]

Yikes. Let's hope she runs better than she looks.

 

[M-Sport fan]

The M-Sport site BB listed has more (self-promotional) meat. Memo to self, pay attention to the 2017 WRC schedule. Maybe we can get back on top of VW. If looks were enough Ford already won.

VeeDub is totally out of the WRC this coming season.
I guess their bosses proved everything they wanted, got all of the PR/press/advertisement benefits they could expect, and spent way too much already on R&D, the equipment, support, and top drawer drivers' crazy salaries).

But now we have to worry about the Nippon Giant coming in 'loaded for bear', and probably throwing 20x the coin of what all of the other teams spend COMBINED, on their team's efforts and driver salaries.

 

[enamelizer]

VW has said they are open to using the 2017 car they developed as a customer car. So there are rumors that Ogier could move to a privateer team that uses the 2017 Polo, but not using any VW funds to run it. It sounds like their 2017 car is a beast, so I bet there will be a few of them on stage as customer cars. So VW still might a dominant force even after leaving the championship.

My prediction for Toyota is that they struggle a bit with the new car, and as much as I love JML as a driver, I just don't see him being consistently competitive with Ogier and Meeke.

 

[M-Sport fan]

VW has said they are open to using the 2017 car they developed as a customer car. So there are rumors that Ogier could move to a privateer team that uses the 2017 Polo, but not using any VW funds to run it. It sounds like their 2017 car is a beast, so I bet there will be a few of them on stage as customer cars. So VW still might a dominant force even after leaving the championship.

My prediction for Toyota is that they struggle a bit with the new car, and as much as I love JML as a driver, I just don't see him being consistently competitive with Ogier and Meeke.

I did not know that there was even a chance that VW would be supplying customer cars for the '17 season, thanks for that info!

I guess we will see IF Ogier's supreme talent can make up for not having the big buck tech/support of the mighty Volkswagen Audi Group behind his privateer team, although I suspect that what/whoever his sponsors are will collectively throw 8 figure coin at the effort, considering his stature as a pilot.

I DID think for sure that Toyota was going to scoop up Ogier, NO MATTER HOW MUCH he was asking to drive for them, given how many trillion$$ they have to throw around for advertising/PR which involves motorsports.
Truthfully, I am HOPING that they not only 'struggle' initially, regardless of how much they spend on the WRC team effort, but that they actually FAIL miserably, as they did in F1 (despite throwing many billions at that effort).

But that scenario is much less likely in the WRC, where they have been successful previously, even if it involved some very creative cheating on their part.

 

[shouldbeasy]

I did not know that there was even a chance that VW would be supplying customer cars for the '17 season, thanks for that info!

I guess we will see IF Ogier's supreme talent can make up for not having the big buck tech/support of the mighty Volkswagen Audi Group behind his privateer team, although I suspect that what/whoever his sponsors are will collectively throw 8 figure coin at the effort, considering his stature as a pilot.

I DID think for sure that Toyota was going to scoop up Ogier, NO MATTER HOW MUCH he was asking to drive for them, given how many trillion$$ they have to throw around for advertising/PR which involves motorsports.
Truthfully, I am HOPING that they not only 'struggle' initially, regardless of how much they spend on the WRC team effort, but that they actually FAIL miserably, as they did in F1 (despite throwing many billions at that effort).

But that scenario is much less likely in the WRC, where they have been successful previously, even if it involved some very creative cheating on their part.

Psst - your crazy is showing again.

Also, you if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Yikes. Let's hope she runs better than she looks.

I will bet that the Yaris WRC does NOT look any better to anyone (except the Nippon Giant's fanboys).

 

[M-Sport fan]

Psst - your crazy is showing again.

Also, you if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.

Wow, so now it's "crazy" to not be totally in love with your blessed TOYota?!?!

(Then call me cuckoo all you want. LOL)

Also, with all of their TRILLION$$ in capital, and supposedly 'superior' technical prowess/abilities over everyone else, they should not have to resort to cheating to win.

 

[Crooked Letta]

Wow, so now it's "crazy" to not be totally in love with your blessed TOYota?!?!

(Then call me cuckoo all you want. LOL)

Also, with all of their TRILLION$$ in capital, and supposedly 'superior' technical prowess/abilities over everyone else, they should not have to resort to cheating to win.

I support the hate for Toyota. Many companies race for many reasons, some how you always get the feeling when Toyota steps into something it is just for publicity. Toyota is a passionless company and it shows in their products. When they get into motorsport they some how manage to do nothing for the sport (not much for themselves either lol) and fail to apply any tech to their vehicles. They do not have one good performance product and the last one took 10 years to create While Ford did it in 2 for a vehicle in the same price bracket (and a race car to go with it).

 

[Crooked Letta]

Ogier for M-Sport http://www.redbull.com/us/en/motorsports/offroad/stories/1331834255898/sebastien-ogier-to-msport-2017-wrc

 

[M-Sport fan]

Ogier for M-Sport http://www.redbull.com/us/en/motorsports/offroad/stories/1331834255898/sebastien-ogier-to-msport-2017-wrc

HOW THE EFF did Malcolm Wilson afford THAT deal?!?!?!

Even if Seb brought Red Bull, and even many other big buck sponsors with him to the party, it still seems almost impossible without A LOT of Ford's coin involved.

But, I'm NOT complaining, as this may be the ONLY way to kill/stop the expected, MEGA ULTRA BUCK effort by the Nippon Giant, despite the 'flashes of brilliance' displayed by Tanak last season.

 

[enamelizer]

I will bet that the Yaris WRC does NOT look any better to anyone (except the Nippon Giant's fanboys).

I just don't like all the added aero in the new spec, so I am sure the Yaris and all the other cars will suffer from the same ugly wing designs. But maybe this is what they meant by making the sport more spectacular hah

Can't get on the Toyota hate train tho, I love my Tacoma to death.

 

[BoostBumps]

The 2016 World Rally Champion joins forces with the 2016 WRC Driver of the Year.

Dec 12, 2016

Sebastien Ogier and Ott Tanak Will Race the 2017 M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC Car

http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsp...k-chosen-to-drive-the-m-sport-fiesta-wrc-car/



Last week, M-Sport released the first official photos of Ford's new 2017 Fiesta WRC car. Featuring a gargantuan wing and aggressive, well, everything, the little Fiesta looks ready to gobble up a rally course. And today, M-Sport announced that Sebastien Ogier and Ott Tanak will take the helm.

Ogier is the current World Rally Champion, a title he won while driving for Volkswagen last year. But since VW shuttered its WRC program, M-Sport was able to snap up Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia.

"I've made no secret of how much we wanted to work with Sebastien and Julien, and it is fantastic to welcome them to the team. We have worked extremely hard to secure them, and they believe that the Ford Fiesta WRC is the car with which they can best defend their championship," M-Sport head Malcolm Wilson said in a statement.

Considering the pair have four world championships under their belts, we imagine quite a few teams were interested in picking them up once the VW news broke.

Tanak, meanwhile, was just named WRC Driver of the Year and returns to M-Sport after a year driving for DMAK. He also worked closely with M-Sport to develop the new Fiesta.

"I've done a lot of testing with the new Ford Fiesta WRC, and it's a massive step forward. This is the first time that I've had a hand in developing a new car completely from scratch and it's been great to work with the engineers," said Tanak.

Look for M-Sport's new driving duo to make their debut this January when WRC kicks off in Monte Carlo.

 

[BoostBumps]

2017 Ford Fiesta WRC (Video)

Dec 12, 2016 M-Sport

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNUbl8oSA44

[video=youtube;hNUbl8oSA44]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNUbl8oSA44[/video]

 

[M-Sport fan]

This is the closest the top level cars have been to Group B spec since Group B itself was last the rule in 1986!

The irony is that despite the almost double the horsepower advantage most of the old Group B rides had over these newest WRC monsters, the '17 cars will be quicker over the stages than the powerhouses of yore, due to the advancement of; diffs, gearboxes/shifters, tire tech, material tech, etc.

Even considering their wildly radical aero bodywork, they are still (required to be) a front engine configuration, so therefore still closer to the street cars than the converted to mid-engine AWD, most of the successful Group B machines were at the time (save for the 'Ur-Quattro' Sport short wheelbase Audis, which retained the front engine setup of their street going counterparts).

 

[Crooked Letta]

This is the closest the top level cars have been to Group B spec since Group B itself was last the rule in 1986!

The irony is that despite the almost double the horsepower advantage most of the old Group B rides had over these newest WRC monsters, the '17 cars will be quicker over the stages than the powerhouses of yore, due to the advancement of; diffs, gearboxes/shifters, tire tech, material tech, etc.

Even considering their wildly radical aero bodywork, they are still (required to be) a front engine configuration, so therefore still closer to the street cars than the converted to mid-engine AWD, most of the successful Group B machines were at the time (save for the 'Ur-Quattro' Sport short wheelbase Audis, which retained the front engine setup of their street going counterparts).

Oh the Group B days Many amazing vehicles came from that era. You may not be able to get an AWD FiST but it is amazing how well they handle a stage. It may not be as in your face compared Group B but at least Ford puts some the ferocity into the cars that their race counterparts are born from. It would be nice to see a few year run of Group B again, although Tech is at an astonishing level, it would be cool to see what came from it though.