Ford RS200 Review
Tested on Rome, Leguna Seca, Suzuka, and The Nurburgring with all aids off except ABS1.
As Jeremy Clarkson said, the RS200 was a very tricky car to drive. The gearbox felt like it had been extracted from a tractor, and the brakes were appalling. However, the Ford RS200 caused a bit of a stir in Group B Rallying in the 1980's. Because it only saw a number of races before Group B was shut down, the car has a certain mystic surrounding it.
I've always been a big fan of the RS200 myself, so I sent one to CKR to see what they could do with it. Before the tune, the car felt wooden and a bit lifeless, and certainly not living up to my hopes and expectations. The gearbox in the RS200 was a bit of a nightmare, but thanks to the painstaking work of Indy and Bigberry, these issues seemed to have been ironed out. The finished product is well worth the wait.
When I first tested the car on Leguna Seca, I thought that the car still had some of the mad handling characteristics that it was born with. It still has some over-steer, the tires are a bit skinny, and the car will slide around from time to time. However, all of this is easily controllable once you get used to it.
When I took it to The Nurburgring, I started treating the RS200 like an over-sized go kart. The true value of the car really started to show here. The more trust I put into the car, the more I was rewarded. The more I threw it into the corners the more it responded, when I thought the car had reached the limits of its turning capabilities it just kept on going. The car is extremely quick and nimble no matter how much you
abuse it, and those gearbox issues have disappeared too. I'm fairly sure that it will stack up well against other cars of its class online.
I initially thought that what I had here was another short track racer similar to the Subaru 22b, and I was surprised to find that the little Ford can handle the final straight on The Ring quite well. Thanks to CKR for doing a wonderful job on this little car, and thanks again for all the time and effort you put into it (especially Indy), and thanks for giving the RS200 the makeover I always felt it deserved.
