Ford Focus ST-R racer will cost you $100,000

If you have a thousand Benjamins burning a hole in your pocket, may we recommend heading to your local Ford dealership? Ford has unveiled the track-prepped sibling to itsFocus ST sports compact, the ST-R, with a price tag just under a hundred grand.

The stripped-down commuter car comes kitted out with FIA regulation roll cage, uprated brakes and suspension components, and a more powerful 2.0 liter, four cylinder Ecoboost engine. The car itself is only the start of Ford’s plans with the ST-R, which should be the beginning of a global motorsports and trackday campaign. Ford will first send out the ST-R to North American racing teams for competition in Grand-Am ST, World Challenge TC and the Canadian Touring Car Series. For once, Ford is starting its enthusiast fare in North America, and then moving across the Atlantic, taking the ST-R to racetracks across Europe, not least of which being the ever-growing 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

Rather than restricting this high-speed PR machine to top-flight racing events, Ford will sell the Focus ST-R to “seasoned hardcore professional drivers, amateur racers and track day enthusiasts” on order from Ford dealerships. If Ford’s international motorsports strategy means that the dealer down the street can sell me a full-on track racer, then let me give three cheers for globalization!

http://jalopnik.com/5840660/this-ford-focus-racer-will-cost-you-100000

2012 Formula Ford brings EcoBoost to open-wheel racing

We’re officially grabbing our helmets and ready to go racing. Ford has pulled what must have been an unusually creased sheet off of its 2012 Formula Ford racecar, and while the shape is similar to Formula F racers from years past, it somehow appears altogether modern thanks to angular items like angular air inlets and funky lightweight wheels.

The 2012-spec Formula Ford will power its way into Great Britain’s 2012 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship with 1.6-liter EcoBoost motivation and a sequential six-speed gearbox at the driver’s command. While 158 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque from the production-based engine might not sound like much, the lightweight steel-tube single-seater should have no problem providing thrills for both racer and spectator alike in the many feeder series it will eventually race in. Check it out in our gallery below and learn more about the car in the official press release reprised after the jump.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/14/2012-formula-ford-frankfurt/

Slick 2012 Formula Ford racer to debut in Frankfurt

Ford loves racing, and it’s looking to cultivate new talent with this new 2012 Formula Ford race car. Powered by a 1.6-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine, the steel-tube chassis’d Formula Ford racer is a FIA-certified racecar built to run on tracks all over the world. The engine is mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox, which meters out the 158 horses and 162 pound-feet of torque.

This all-new Formula Ford racer represents the latest leap forward for the series, which has entered its 44th year of competition. Formula Ford sees many of its drivers progress to successful careers in the World Rally Championship and Formula One racing. Slated to make its racing debut at the 2012 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain (*whew!*), the racer will be introduced in a number of series around the globe.

While you’re waiting for our live photos and impressions from the floor of the Frankfurt Motor Show, check it out in our gallery above and full details in the press release after the jump.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/12/slick-2012-formula-ford-racer-debuts-in-frankfurt/

Ford’s EcoBoost engine torture test gets TV broadcast, Web chat

Towing logs in Oregon and race cars in Florida, then running the Baja 1000 race. Ford did all that with one EcoBoost V6 built for truck duty. How did the engine fare? You can find out Saturday afternoon on NBC.

Ford has taken a series of Web videos, along with video of the engine being torn down during the Detroit auto show in January, to create a 30-minute show that NBC will broadcast at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. The show is narrated by Ford commercial spokesman Mike Rowe.

At the same time, Ford will host an hour-long Web chat with Jim Mazuchowsi, manager of V6 engines for the automaker, at www.thefordstory.com from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Eastern.

Source:  Autoweek

Ford Fiesta RS WRC rally car specs released ahead of season debut

We now know exactly what the Abu Dhabi World Rally Team will be packing when they take on this year’sWorld Rally Championship. Ford has officially let loose a volley of information on the team’s new Fiesta bruiser. Built by M-Sport, the minds responsible for some of the quickest machines on tarmac or off, the rally-spec Fiesta is loosely based off of the same S2000 car that recently took gold at the Monte Carlo Rally in 2010. M-Sport quickly set about reducing weight and strengthening all the components necessary to compete on the global stage.

Under the hood, there’s a steroid-riddled version of the FoMoCo 1.6-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine with 300 horsepower and 331 pound-feet of torque. Even with the added burden of lugging around a full-time all-wheel drive system, the machine manages to hit the scales at a fairly feathery 2,645 pounds. A 12:1 steering rack, massive Brembo brakes and an X-Trac six-speed sequential transmission are all standard kit as well.

Look for the new Fiesta to be helmed by the likes of Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala when the racer takes to the rally stages of the WRC later this year.

What the Inside of a Tortured Ford EcoBoost V-6 Looks Like

Photos and Words by Jim McCraw; above photo courtesy of Ford

Ford Motor Co. made some history over the weekend when it did a complete engine tear-down and inspection of a “torture tested” 3.5-liter EcoBoost twin-turbo V-6 used in the latest F-150 at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Auto shows, like NAIAS, typically showcase the latest metal in fancy displays bathed in brilliant lights and staffed with beautiful spokesmodels. They’re about as far as you can get from the garages that all cars and trucks will eventually require a visit to for service and maintenance. But for an hour Saturday, Ford turned part of its spotless blue and white display space inside Detroit’s Cobo Hall into a service bay for the last chapter of the F-150 EcoBoost torture test.

Video: Ford yanks F-150 EcoBoost ‘hero’ engine out of Baja racer ahead of NAIAS teardown

Ford has finally pulled the Ecoboost V6 engine from its Baja racer in preparation for the mill’s tear down at the Detroit Auto Show. This particular lump has seen several lifetimes worth of abuse, from skidding logs to endurance towing around a NASCAR track and even competing in the legendary Baja 1000.

Even more surprising, all of that came after severe endurance tests at the factory. The engineers say that this V6 has racked up enough hours to drive the equivalent of six laps around the planet. How did it hold up? According to Ford, the Ecoboost engine still managed to turn out the same power figures on the dyno that it left the factory with.

Ford plans to strip the workhorse Ecoboost V6 down to its bare bones in front of a live audience at this year’s Detroit Auto Show. The action gets going on January 15 at 11 a.m., so if you’re in the greater Detroit area, swing on by for a glimpse at the engine’s innards.

[Source: AutoBlog, YouTube]

Grueling Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Just Another Bump in the Road for Ford F-150 EcoBoost ‘Hero’ Engine

Press Release Source: Ford Motor Company On Wednesday December 22, 2010, 12:15 pm EST

DEARBORN, Mich., Dec. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

• F-150 EcoBoost™ race truck, with an engine that has the equivalent of 10 years of rugged use, finished the grueling Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in just over 38 hours, traveling 1,061 miles

• In addition to racing, the F-150 EcoBoost also acted as a “rescue” vehicle, assisting fellow competitors throughout the run

• The same stock EcoBoost engine endured the equivalent of 150,000 harsh user miles on the dynamometer, then was installed into a new 2011 Ford F-150

• The 2011 F-150 EcoBoost moved 55 tons of timber as a log skidder in Oregon, towed an 11,300-pound trailer at speeds approaching 100 mph at Homestead-Miami Speedway and beat the competition in a steep-grade towing contest at Davis Dam

Ford’s EcoBoost V-6 Gets Ready to Jump into Desert Racing

Posted by Mike Levine | October 11, 2010

In less than a week, off-road desert racing could change forever. At the Blue Water Desert Challenge in Arizona, Randy Merritt and the Mongo Racing team plan to become the first team in the Best in the Desert race series to run a gasoline turbocharged six-cylinder Ford EcoBoost engine. It’s a move that’s generating attention — and some controversy.

Until now, BITD racers like Merritt have been allowed to compete only with naturally aspirated V-8 gas engines or turbo diesels under the hoods of their full-size race trucks. But for the new season BITD changed its rulebook to allow the all-new turbo six to compete in stock classes 8000 and 8100.

Classes 8000 and 8100 cover race trucks built from full-size pickups and SUVs with production volumes of more than 4,000 units sold within a three-year period. Class 8000 trucks are the open stock racers. Custom rear suspension components and mount points, engine bores and strokes different from factory specs and any transmission are allowed from the truck’s manufacturer. Class 8100 trucks are closer to the original vehicles’ specs. They have to keep their front and rear suspension configurations and mount points, engine displacement and the original transmission.

The 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 is the first application of Ford’s gasoline direct-injection twin-turbo technology in a half-ton pickup. It’s Ford’s effort to shrink engine displacement for improved fuel economy while delivering tons of low-end power. In the 2011 Ford F-150, the 3.5 V-6 is rated a strong 365 horsepower (at 5,000 rpm) and 420 pounds-feet of torque (at 2,500 rpm) with a flat, diesel-like torque curve. Ninety percent of peak power is available from 1,700 rpm to 5,000 rpm.

Followup: Ford F-150 EcoBoost finishes Baja 1000 in 38 hours!

When it comes to the Baja 1000, simply crossing the finish line is reason enough to bust out the champagne. Ford has announced that its 2011 F-150 Ecoboost race truck has managed to cover the entire 1,061 mile course in 38 hours and 20 minutes. According to FoMoCo, the truck put up with some of the most grueling terrain on the planet – racing through temperatures below freezing and above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. More impressively, as you may recall, this particular 3.5-liter V6 engine entered the cross-country rally with the equivalent of 10 years of abuse on the clock. The very same lump went through extensive endurance testing at the Cleveland Engine Plant before being bolted into an F-150 that was used as a log skidder in Oregon.

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