A journalist was recently refused permission to drive the Focus T-one90, and instead was taken for a ride. He must be a seriously pissed-off bloke, having missed the drive of a lifetime. However, we're happy to report that AutoSpeed's UK correspondent was handed the keys, and told to sod off into the moorland, and not come back until the gnarly red beast had done him in, or he'd killed it stone dead. Failing that, until he'd got it bloody dirty.
We were raring to go because it's a 190bhp car, conceived and built in much the same way as former Ford high-performance stars like the Sierra and Escort Cosworth. The legendary Special Vehicle Engineering division has more recently brought the world the Mondeo ST200 and Puma Racing. But SVE wasn't involved in the T-one90 project, 'cos it's an outside effort. But the companies that created it have so much experience putting together successful Ford rally cars, that it may as well be the real thing...
Its maker is Midlands-based DPRS. Headed up by Dave Pavely, who has been building rally cars for more years than he'd like to confess, it has drawn on the skill of two major players to built T-one90. The turbocharged engine is the work of Mountune, whose handiwork you'll also find if you peep under the bonnet of a Puma Racing. Meanwhile, the chassis is put together by Gordon Spooner Engineering, whose CV includes more race and rally-winning Fords than you can imagine.
Ever-obedient, we started up the car. But there was nothing in the engine note to suggest this was the Escort Cosworth's athletic cousin. Despite a cone filter and bespoke performance exhaust, your neighbours aren't going to be rudely awoken by it. Nor are they gonna be ringing to complain about your ear-splitting wheelspin antics. Yes indeedy, though there's nearly 200hp going through the front wheels, this machine's a child of the nanny-state new century. Thanks to the standard Ford traction control, it doesn't flounder about wrecking tyres instead of going places. You can nail this car from a standing start, with your hands off the wheel, and it'll track off like a rocket, in a dead straight line. Believe us, we tried it. Quite a few times.
By the time an Escort Cossie has wound up its huge turbo and shed its wheelspin, the Focus is way down the road, with a minute spare to duck behind the corner shop for a crafty fag. Under the bonnet is a 1.8 16-valve Zetec engine, with a tiny intercooled T2 turbo cunningly grafted onto a newly cast exhaust manifold. The turbo's small size means it comes on song at just 1750rpm. There is no lag at all: you only know it's there because you're going very fast, and there's turbo turkey gobbles on lift-off. Besides the 192bhp it develops, there's also a massive 250 ft-lb torque across a wide rev range. It gives you ample grunt, whenever you want it. You tend to want it all the time.
We took the car to the Derbyshire Dales to do some damage. It worked, too. Thanks to the monster WRC-style rear wing and mad front bumper with gaping mesh grilles, it caused a bit of a stir whenever we drove through a small town. We are personally responsible for a local epidemic of cricked necks, judging by the number of people's heads whipping round, as their mouths soundlessly formed the words "What the...?" The effect was in no way lessened by the Morette-developed quad headlamp conversion and bonkers carbon-fibre bonnet vents. Or the 17-inch Team Dynamics alloys and scary stance.
We surveyed the scene with glee, and in some comfort. To add to the car's already tasty Zetec trim, with silver dash and door detail trim, DPRS saw fit to have seat-meister Cobra make up special, leather trimmed sports chairs, to its own ingenious design. These ain't the cheap seats, and it shows in the security they give you as you fool around at high speed. Which, once you leave town and its suddenly enlarged invalid population, is exactly what moorland roads are designed for. The Focus has bloody good handling. Add big power and get Gordon Spooner to build the suspension, and you've got even better handling, well capable of throwing as much power as you dare down on whatever surfaces you encounter. Fast twisties are ace fun, as the turn-in is sharp, the steering gives more feedback than a sackful of excitable ferrets, and the grip from the 215/40 Michelin Pilot Sport tyres is, as far as we could make out, limitless. Stopping isn't forgotten with TarOx grooved discs and Mintex pads doing the neck-snapping work on decel.
Going forwards again, there's enough torque to let you use the car's tendency towards slight understeer to full advantage. Part of the steering is done with the throttle. Because of the traction control, too, it's incredibly difficult to mess things up. The Focus flatters you, dropping you totally unsubtle hints that you should be sending your CV off to the Ford rally team. We loved it.
Once we'd made enough mayhem to keep ourselves amused for days, we returned the car to DPRS. We hadn't broken it, it hadn't murdered us. But it was absolutely filthy.
We'd done our job well.
Contact:
DPRS
01676 521112
