1994 Ford Escort RS Cosworth - G-Games

5 Fifth PlaceFinal Score: 98.1 Pts.

European car brought a pretty good strategy to the G-Games: one "tack driver" and one big mutha of a gun. With a Porsche 914 playing mosquito fighter, the other end of the spectrum was covered by a fully modified rally homologation special.

Today, we drool over Japanese specials such as the WRX STi and Lancer Evo. Six years ago, however, there was only one that mattered, the British engineered Ford Escort RS Cosworth.

Through the 1980s, Ford's Sierra RS Cosworth was a potent rally weapon-think Merkur XR4Ti with a 16-valve, 2.0-liter turbo engine and AWD-but a smaller, lighter car was needed to stay competitive into the '90s. Ford's engineers did what Carroll Shelby had done 25 years before. They glued the Sierra's drivetrain and suspension under an Escort's unibody. Before the FIA would let it race, however, Ford had to build 5,000 for public consumption.

H&R Special Springs brought one of its Escort RS Cosworths to the G-Games. Featured in the June 2001 issue of SCC, this copper-toned monster was a labor of love. Originating in Germany as a used-up hot hatch, once it was imported, its lifestyle improved dramatically. Richter Motorsports did all the chassis and bodywork, while Autohaus Wagner built the engine and drivetrain to FIA competition specs. The Cosworth YBT engine was enlarged to 2.3 liters and all the airflow ancillaries were upgraded, resulting in a believable claim of 390 hp at the crankshaft. H&R said it did a few things to increase this number in the weeks before the G-Games.

The stock gearbox and viscous differentials were replaced with a complete, heavy-duty Quaife close-ratio box with Quaife ATB diffs all around. H&R coil-overs were combined with Powerflex bushings to tighten the suspension and Tar-Ox front brakes were added. The Cosworth looked like another potential winner.

Over the years, we've learned AWD cars aren't at their best on skidpads, so the Cossie's g rating was something ec would have to live with. In the slalom, it went 69.9 mph, an impressive number in any other crowd. Josh Jacquot says it handled differently between right and left turns; evening that out would improve handling. The Escort lived up to expectations on the road course, where AWD grip and predictability helped it run an impressive 67.4 second lap with Danny McKeever at the wheel. That's only 2.3 seconds off the autocross-prepped RX-7's time and only 0.3 seconds behind the black Supra, which claims a 300-hp (690 hp total) advantage.

Though all the tuned turbo cars suffered from the 108-degree heat, the Cosworth withstood it best. The Supra was parked before the end of the day and the RX-7 only did a fraction of the laps it could have done, for fear that a single detonation would stamp its engine "expired." -Dan Barnes