Car Spotlight>> Pike’s Peak Forge Motorsport Rs200

One of the most exciting new builds unveiled at the 2012 Autosport International Racing Car Show was this monster of an RS200. Put together by specialists Forge Motorsport for Liam Doran, this Ford is built to tackle a single event: the Unlimited class of the 2012 Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb. In the same way as other legendary events such as Le Mans or Bonneville, there’s a mystique about the event that pulls people in, that makes drivers and teams throw everything at it in their effort to conquer the challenge.

Liam will be competing full-time in the States this year, taking in a whole raft of events across 2012 using a Citroen C4 which will include the X Games and Global Rallycross Championship. But the key event is Pike’s Peak with this RS200. This year’s 90th running on July 8 will feature a 100 percent tarmac surface for the first time – that means times should tumble and the competition will be even stiffer. 12.4 miles of sinewy road wind their way up from 9,440 feet to 14,110 feet, and in places 6,000-foot sheer drops are the penalty for getting it wrong. You don’t want to get it wrong. 156 turns makes Pike’s Peak the Nurburgring of hill-climbing.

Forge have taken an RS200 and stripped it right back to basics for Liam’s attempt on the event – as they took it apart they found all the original tags and markings from when the car was originally manufactured in 1986.

There seems to still be a bit of confusion about the origin of the car, with some people claiming that it’s come from Germany or Austria – rather than that it belonged to Pat Doran, as the team understand…

The business end of the RS200 contains the unit that will propel the car up the hill at unholy speeds. It’s a mid-mounted 2.4-litre BDT E2 built by Julian Godfrey Engineering (Julian is not only a co-competitor in rallycross, but is also teaming up with Liam to help him with his US assault this year). The engine isn’t that different from the original unit, but it’s been bored out from the original 1.8-litres.

A Garrett turbo is supplemented by an NO2 system to reduce lag, and it has a quad-throttle inlet manifold with an air bypass and water/methanol injection. All this means that power is up from the original 250 to a mighty 925bhp. 60mph will arrive in a face-squashing 1.7 seconds and the top speed will be around 160mph.

The main thing limiting the speed is the enormous rear wing, though the negative impact of the drag is somewhat outweighed by the downforce it produces.

The transmission is provided by X-Trac – a five-speed, flat-shift box feeds the four-wheel-drive system, with an X-Trac plated front differential and FF viscous centre and rear diffs. An H-pattern ‘box has been chosen for reliability reasons over a sequential. To suit the new surface on the hill the RS200 has Reiger three-way tarmac dampers, double-wishbones and adjustable bladed anti-rollbars.

330mm Carbon F1 brakes are fitted on all four corners; the wheels are Speedline – 18×11 at the front and 18×12.5 at the rear. Avon have supplied the rubber: Radial Tarmac Hillclimb spec.

One place that is anything but cluttered is the cockpit.

A bare dash with just a single tach – there’s nothing to take Liam’s focus away from that charge to the roof of the world.

Apart from that there’s just the shifter, basic switch-gear and a control unit for the Pectel SQ6 Engine Management system.

The aero is as extreme as you’d expect for something tackling Pike’s Peak. At the front is a heavily-modified DTM-spec splitter and canards. The under-tray is flat carbon.

The centrepiece of the rear wing is based on a three-slat Formula 1 model, with additional outboard winglets.

There’s another piece of DTM-derived tech in the diffuser, which has the exhaust outlets built-in – in this shot the diffuser is hanging down as the rear deck it is normally secured to has been removed. The cooling is all Forge-originated – the roof-mounted intercooler and radiator, plus the brake,power steering and oil coolers – as is the four-inch exhaust, which is un-silenced. Hearing this thing coming will not be a problem.

The body panels have been re-made in carbon, further reducing weight, but are all based on the original E2 pieces.

With a design approach very different from its peers – not unlike the situation with the futuristic Lancia Stratos of the ’70s – Ford’s all-wheel-drive, turbo-charged RS200 was born and bred for the Group B rally regulations of the mid-80s – and killed by them too. Group B was introduced in 1983, and led to an arms race to make the most brutally extreme rally cars possible. By 1986, the cars were just too fast and too dangerous. Casualties were mounting and the rules were radically changed – just as Ford’s RS200 (and the Metro 6R4) were getting into their stride.

With their raison d’être seemingly gone, the racing versions of RS200s could all have been banished to museums – luckily, rallycross was the ideal outlet for them, and plenty of Group B cars ended up going even faster in rallycross guise. There was even an IMSA GTO circuit racer variant developed! RS200s were turning up in national rallycross events until quite recently, particularly in the hands of father and son team Pat and Liam Doran.

200 cars were built by Ford to satisfy homologation regs, but around 240 chassis and tubs were actually manufactured – this is how ‘new’ cars have turned up that don’t conform to original chassis records, known as ‘parts cars’. One such bitsa RS200 has been used for previous attempts by Mach 2 Racing on Pike’s Peak: most famously with Stig Blomqvist three times in 2001, 2002 and 2004 and then by rallycrosser Mark Rennison in 2009.

So, a 28-year-old car, a 24-year-old driver vs 600 seconds and a 90 year-old hill. Who’s going to win?

Jonathan Moore

ADVERTISEMENT

Comments



Comments are closed.

48 comments

by Oldest
by Best by Newest by Oldest
1

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.

2

from 250 to 925hp.... :o holy crap thats a lot of power!

3

i hope it'll be in dirt4

4

Will that driver's side door bar pass tech?

5

hes a personal friend of mine for a fair few years and i cant wait to see him smash pikes peak

6

this is insane. hope there are some videos of it in the future.

7

Looking forward to pikes peak this year.

8

Holy crap! Thanks for the spotlight, I can't wait to hear what this behemoth must sound like!

9

*slowly removes sunglasses*



mother of god...

10

I would have expected them to run something more advanced than the original viscous LSDs. Sweet car either way!

11

Please do your home work The RS200E had a 2.1 ltr 600 hp stock when new....

I had 900 whp when done back in 1992 my RS200E #106



After all this time you'd think they'd have so much more but it is racing and all racers lie...lol

12

This is an insane car and I love it but why does it have to be driven by that fat piece of lard......I stood up and cheered when Tanner Foust took him out in the X-Games. He is a dirt bag.

13

Sad to see the gravel disapear, but we did see the 10min marker go last year atleast!

Maybe 9min will be beat this year? Now they can run full slicks and really soft rubber.



Also I hope that some of the European Hillclimbcars will find their way over, those cars are SICK!

14

That thing is badass! Just wondering. Is there any 24hr of Dubai coverage?

15

THAT IS FUCKING INSANE!

16

Epic car, but pikes peak has been ruined by progressively tarmacking more and more of it, at least they can't change it any more now.



I wonder what Suzuki and the 'monster' Tajima have up their sleeve?

17

My jaw just reached the floor... Never the Monster livery made so much sense! I wonder how much (or how little) this thing weighs. 1.7 seconds to hit 60... holy cow that's fast!

18

Liam is a great driver, he really gives it 100% all the time, without knowledge of "danger"



He will give pikes a hell of a run, thats FOR SURE

19

and you did'nt think to 'tag' it?

20

Excellent article, awesome job from the mechanics , amazing fotos!!Thanks a lot for all the informations that you are providing us. I hope some day I will be able to see those thins in real and not only in pictures. We all are waiting the races to see those beauties(cars) in action..!



Greetings Alex

21

I'm gonna guess that "hill" is more than 90 years old haha, none the less that car is amazing

22

*wide eyed stare* .... between Monster, Rhys, and this, PP is going to be killer this year! 7 months is too long of a wait...

23

this is pure porn!!!!

24

WOOOOO!!!!!! imma being going down in a few hours!!! wooop woooop!



maybe ill see you there Jonathan!!!!

25

I don't think the livery is gaudy enough.

26

please....PLEASE make desktop backgrounds of this monster!!! Totally considering going to Pikes Peak this year!

27

if only group b were still around

28

approved! all images saved

29

The car is from germany, the original Pat Doran rallycross is being rebuilt at the minute.

Awesome car, best looking Monster Energy car i have seen to date

30

POWEEEEEEEEEEER!

31

It's only January ... what a monster of a car ... can't wait to see how this goes!

32

No better excuse to take off a day or two of work and head out to the mountain this year. Some much win in that car.

33

The drink is the most discusting thing I have ever had.

The car is the most epic out of epic cars.

One video request: face-squashing 1.7 seconds, I have a hard time immagining that, can you show us?

especialy the face-squashing

34

The car looks amazing but you just know duran will crash it, i wish my dad was rich so i could just spend his money building ridiculous cars

35

awesome car i knew it wasnt going to be long till there was a monster energy rs200! theres no doubt this was probably pats car, there was talk of him selling his so i doubt he's sold his to anyone else but liam,



For any forza players ive just finished making this and uploaded it to the storefront so you can race this car on forza! use the hamman wheels as there the only wheels what look remotly similare to liams.



If you want the design search gamer tag McGoooo420 in the store front or type in Liam Doran RS200 and you should find it!



happy racing

36

from 1.8 to 2.4I doubt it

37

This is a beast. Can't wait to see it perform at Pikes Peak.

38

EPIC! there is no other word! I will still miss the gravel on Pikes Peak though

39

we need a Video Roll of this thing on the move.. put that on your "must do before you die list" for 2012 - hit me up after the jump - Thanks

40

This car is awesome I love the execution and the detail to the tubular frame design. Beautiful welds on the exhaust as well. The interior is so rough, it looks like the car is for very serious business. The body work also looks great and the vinyl scheme isn't annoying. I can't wait to see and hear this car in a video!

41

truly epic, god bless group B!

42

The car before it was given some monster



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzzDu0NKjaM

43

amazing build

44

Just to clarify the inaccuracy in the article. This car was bought (minus engine) by Pat Doran from Dieter Knuttel last year, Knuttel had been successfully using the car in the German hillclimb championship for a number of years.



Pat Doran already owned an RS200 ("Rosie") which is the car he used in the British Rallycross Championship, he still has this car and this ISN'T the car you see here. Parts of "Rosie" were used to demonstrate the car in this article last year, but have subsequently been removed and fitted back to the rallycross RS200 where they belong.

45

Sweet Jesus. That's alot of car, and a free facelift.

46

@ronin exige



actually there were only 24 rs200E's (2.1) and none of the made 600brake from the factory

the rest were all 1.8s and made 250bhp before upgrades, so maybe its you that needs to get your facts right.



speedhunters, you have done us proud once again!

47

The Autosport show was a great way to remind ourselves just how good rallying was – and still is

48

So, a 28 year old car, 24 year old driver, vs 600 seconds and a hill.  who won?  the hill.  there were two RS200's this year, and both broke down.  The first one near the beginning and this one just before the half way point.  i was sad as all i heard was a loud engine with tons of backfiring and then silence.  The mountain was angry this year.

OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS