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Known to most simply as ‘Cossie’, the Escort RS Cosworth is, in many ways, the forebear on which the current Focus RS is based – if not via direct componentry, but in ethos.
With all-paw traction, a boosted, 167kW/298Nm 2.0-litre four-pot and a 0-100km/h time of 6.1 seconds, it wasn’t hanging about in terms of pre-millennium performance, either. Yet, in 1992 the Escort RS Cosworth had massive shoes to fill, those being the Bathurst-conquering, touring car-championship-wining Sierra Cosworth RS.
However, the brief for the Escort was much different. While the Sierra was a commuter hatch that later transformed into a race winner, the permanent AWD Escort was an unadulterated homologation special. Its success as a road car was more of a surprise than a business plan.
Essentially the Escort RS Cosworth’s bulging body was crafted around a cut-and-shut Sierra RS500 platform, with its longitudinally mounted turbo engine being tied to a Borg Warner T5 five-speed manual and sending power to all wheels in a 33/67 split front to rear.
The first batch of 2500 cars are known as the ‘big turbo’ version, given it used a laggy, but tunable Garrett T3/T04B turbo. Once race requirements were met, the ‘small turbo’ version was introduced with the T25 Garrett unit fitted, which added refinement.
The sad reality of the original hot-hatch defining Cossie is that Ford’s sole, ahem, focus was to win the World Rally Championship – a feat the Escort RS never achieved.
1992 Ford Escort RS Cosworth specs: Engine: 1993cc inline-4, DOHC, 16v, turbo Power: 167kW @ 6250rpm Torque: 298Nm @ 3500rpm Weight: 1275kg 0-100km/h: 6.1sec (claimed) Price new: $45,000 (new; est)
3 Fast Facts
1. Sting in the Cossie’s tail
2. Force-fed four rules the roost
3. Forest fighter fails to flourish
