Rally-eMag September 2013 / Feature
32/52
On the road
And now you’re on the road. It depends on the
kind of surface underneath your wheels how
that feels. The suspension obviously is not of
the comfortable kind. It’s rather stiff to use is
an understatement. Every bump or hole in the
road is amplified. You hear it and at the same
time feel it. Steering is remarkably easy, bearing in mind the very low and wide tyres. But the
Ford engineers invented one of the best power
steering systems we ever experienced. In the
parking lot you can turn the wheels without any
effort. Giving you the fear this will not be good
while driving a bit faster. But no fear! The system works as it should be. When accelerating
the steering feel stiffer (as it should do) and in
the end it feels right at every speed.
problem the enormous torque always keeps the
engine running. Feel like being Thierry Neuville
at the start of a special stage? Racing through
the gears is rewarded by an enormous acceleration and together with the excellent road holding capacities you get a very safe feeling. The
brakes of course fit very well into this package.
The engine
The red claws grip into the large discs in and
The 185 BHP powerplant is a very nice one in comforting way. If you need to stop quickly the
combination with the 6 speed gearbox it does brakes adequately help you do that.
everything you want. Lazy at the gear shift? No