So my friend is talking about a freind of his who apparently got a Ford RS200. I know those are sporty, but I heard that this is some rally version with 450 hp thaqt can do 60 in 2.1 seconds. I never thought this was true, but I didn't rule it out.
Then I got a picture:
I recognize it as an Escort. What is it and is he full of BS like I suspect?
Questions of its provdence aside (IMO, it's probably
not a genuine RS Cosworth), there are some factual issues to be considered in the stats.
The road car came in two versions: initially, a two litre inline 4 with a big blower good for slightly under 230bhp, was followed by a less laggy incarnation that was closer to 200bhp. Externally, the key difference was that the more powerful car had a massive raised spoiler supported by a huge central stanchion, whereas the less powerful car had a wing more in keeping with that photographed.
Most Cosworths got modified after they were a couple of years old. The engine is strong and can be boosted to around 350bhp. Above that, and it starts to get expensive - friends I had at the time who were in the know were telling me that above 350bhp you needed bigger fuel injectors and needed to start braiding the injector hoses. Above 400bhp and you're looking at replacing the intercooler, cam modifications and a new fuel pump. They start to run into heat problems at this power level, probably because you've put a massive intercooler in the radiator's air stream. Clutches were good to around 300bhp, and the gearbox was officially rated at near-enough 375bhp.
Most of the heavily-boosted ones didn't really run worth a damn though. There were plenty of chip vendors selling brainwash kits for the turbos, but above 5,000rpm they tended to start misfiring horribly under full load. Above 300bhp you really needed to start taking a whole-system approach to tuning them, and of course that was expensive. Power costs money: how fast can you afford?
So, 450bhp was attainable using the stock lump, with fuel system, camshaft, turbo and intercooler mods. Whether this would translate to a sub 3.0s 0-60 dash is unlikely. Remember that a 2007 911 GT2 with 530bhp won't do that, and that's after 15yrs of whole-car development by Porsche, so it's pretty unlikely that a bunch of neds in a shed could do it in 1996 with a four-year old econobox.
There were rally versions. Initally it was a Group A car - one of the last - and so was turbo-restricted to around 300bhp. Stripped out, anti-lag fitted, tarmac suspension and soft slicks, I would reckon 0-60 in around 3.5s would be possible.
So your mate's figures sound like Chinese BS (where the extent of the BS increases with each repetition).
As to whether the car is a fake: you've got to look under the bonnet. Failing that, I would check the brakes. Big (>250mm) vented discs at the front, not drilled or grooved, and sizeable (>200mm) solid discs at the back. All boggo Escorts at the time would have tiny discs on the front, and drums on the rear, and you're looking at a big bill to upgrade to big discs all round.
