Steve Sutcliffe: A Formula Ford racing car is not perhaps the most obvious choice of
vehicles compared with an Audi R8 supercar, a BMW M6 GranCoupe, or a Mercedes A45 AMG.
But here's the thing, because this particular Formula Ford is, in fact, road legal. Hence,
the reason it wears numberplates, has a set of headlights, and even has a tax disc to
prove it. Okay, I'm sitting on a 1.0-litre turbocharged
engine. It's been pretty heavily turbocharged. Ford says it's got just over 200bhp, which
might not sound a great deal until you realise that this car weighs less than 500kg. It's
got mega, mega performance as a result - quite a lot more straight line performance than
a regular Formula Ford would have. It's the torque that's most impressive. I
just put my foot down now, and - wow - in fourth gear you've got a big, big thrust
in the back for starters, but you also get all these massive chatters and fizzes from
the wastegate because it opens and closes as it dumps boost. It sounds just like a mid-80s
touring car. It's fantastic. Listen. (Laughs),
I mean the rest of this car is absolutely straight Formula Ford - sequential gearbox, double wishbone suspension front and rear,
actually be no curb weight whatsoever. Super hyper-instinctive, hyper-precise steering.
And the movement on all the pedals, it's just tiny. The brake pedal moves about an inch
backwards and forwards through its total travel. That's really nice because it's a lovely solid
pedal to lean up against. This car is all about showcasing Ford's award-winning
three-cylinder engine. It's basically to show the world, I guess, an alternative view to
what a sports car could be like. We're going to show you what it will do to an Audi R8 V10
in a straight line, and to an M6 going around a corner, and a Mercedes A45 AMG going
through The Snake (test track). It can live with or beat all of those cars, despite having only a 1.0-litre
engine. I think the real killer point about this car
is not just how fast it is in a straight line or around corners, it's how much fuel you
don't use in the process. Ford reckons that this car will do 118mpg. That's mad - all that
performance and 100mpg. That's the answers to all of our prayers, isn't it?
Okay, so here's how the Ecoboost from the Ford compared with the Audi in a straight drag race
up to about 100mph. Unfortunately, it was soaking wet when we started filming as you
can see, which gave the four-wheel drive Audi a massive advantage off the line.
But when we compared them in the dry a bit earlier, before the cameras started rolling,
the Formula Ford could stay with the Audi up to 90. In fact, it was a little bit quicker.
Once again, it was wet when we filmed the Ford and the M6 going through our favourite corner on the test track.
As you can see, the M6 was all over the place while the Ford just
basically drove through with no problems. Even so, the lack of inertia in the Ford was
very obvious. Beside it, the M6 felt like a bit of a tank, although it did provide us
with the perfect opportunity to do some gratuitous sideways driving.
It was the same when we compared the Ford with the A45 through The Snake. The A-class
felt more stable, true, and it probably had a bit more grip, thanks mainly to the Ford's
not entirely rain-friendly tyres, but the way the Ford could change directions so rapidly,
thanks to its light weight, was still a real eye opener.
That's the one key lesson in all this, I guess, which is lightness in a sports car really
is the Holy Grail. And when you don't have two tonnes of car to lug about but instead,
in this case, just half a ton, when everything else kind of falls into place, sports car
makers of the world, please take note.