Ford touts its turbocharged EcoBoost engines as downsized efficiency boosters—motors with small-displacement fuel economy but with size-up power—but the company wants to make them synonymous with performance, too. What better way is there to prove EcoBoost’s mettle than to send it racing? On its stand at the Frankfurt auto show, Ford is revealing a new Formula Ford race car powered by a production-based 1.6-liter turbo four, as well as the Focus ST-R turn-key racer.
Formula Ford is an open-wheel FIA racing class that doesn’t allow downforce-enhancing wings and other such aerodynamic aids, and uses engines and gearboxes based upon production pieces. Despite the class’s name, racers are free to field any chassis or engine they like as long as each complies with FIA regulations. Of course, the Formula Ford’s new turbocharged, direct-injected 1.6-liter four is fair game, but it is limited to 163 hp and 162 lb-ft of torque. The little turbo’s power is routed through a six-speed sequential transmission to the car’s rear wheels, and the powertrain is bolted to a tubular-steel chassis with FIA-spec carbon-fiber crash boxes front and rear.
To make its car stand out on the track, Ford adapted its Kinetic design language to the new Formula Ford’s body. While it’s unlikely that anyone will confuse the Formula car with a Fiesta or a Focus, the Y-shaped wheel spokes and front and side intake faceting are both nods to Ford’s current look. The new Formula Ford car will make its circuit debut in the 2012 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship in the U.K., and should spread to other Formula Ford series worldwide soon after.
