McLaren Engines Helps Put the 'Zoom' in Ford Racing's Focus FR200
31 October 2000
McLaren Engines Helps Put the 'Zoom' in Ford Racing's Focus FR200 Vehicle
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 30 It features a modified 2.0-liter Zetec
engine and delivers an astounding 304 horsepower. It is designed to be the
ultimate combination of high horsepower and superior handling in a small,
front-wheel-drive car. It is Ford Racing Technology's Focus FR200, and
Livonia, Mich.-based McLaren Engines played an integral role in making it go
"zoom."
Ford Racing Technology unveiled the turbocharged Focus FR200 project car
today during Innovations Day at the Specialty Equipment Market Association
(SEMA) Show in Las Vegas, Nev.
The Focus FR200 is the second in a series of performance parts project
vehicles created by Ford Racing Technology to develop and market new lines of
parts for the performance parts aftermarket. It follows the advanced, high-
performance Mustang FR500, which made its debut at the SEMA Show in 1999.
McLaren Engines -- a business unit of McLaren Performance Technologies
-- also supported Ford in the development and prototyping of
the FR500.
"We are excited to be involved with Ford Racing Technology on the Focus
FR200, which is a phenomenal vehicle," said Wiley R. McCoy, president and
chief operating officer of McLaren Performance Technologies. "We appreciate
Ford Racing's confidence in McLaren and look forward to continuing and
expanding our valued relationship with Ford on projects of this type and other
advanced concepts."
"We want people to say this is the best high-horsepower, best-handling,
front-wheel drive car that they've ever seen," said Dan Davis, director, Ford
Racing Technology. "Creating a new line of performance parts for this segment
of the market is uncharted territory for us at Ford Racing, but it's an area
that we felt we needed to address since there certainly appears to be a
growing market for these kinds of parts."
McLaren Engines worked on the Focus FR200 at the company's Livonia, Mich.
facility. Future vehicles of this type will be developed at the new McLaren
Vehicle Development Center, also located in Livonia. Expected to open by
year's end, the center will be dedicated to advanced concept vehicle
development for Ford Racing Technology and other related Ford vehicle
programs. It will encompass design, fabrication and vehicle assembly
capabilities to build complete prototype and concept vehicles.
Ford Racing Technology developed the Focus FR200 due to the growing demand
for aftermarket performance parts for sport compact cars.
Although the exterior of the car features some dramatic changes, the heart
of this car lies in the Ford Racing-modified 2.0-liter Zetec engine, which
delivers 304 horsepower @ 6750 rpm and 285 lb.-ft. torque at 3500 rpm -- more
than twice the horsepower and torque of the production Focus.
To handle that increased horsepower and torque on the road, Ford Racing
widened the wheel track in front and back by four inches (the bodywork is
widened by five inches front and back to cover the tires), and built a
prototype bolt-on double A-arm front suspension, with prototype, three-way
adjustable front and rear coil-over shocks.
The FR200 delivers all the power smoothly through a European production
MTX75 transmission case with FRT prototype gears.
"Clearly, the horsepower numbers for our version of this car are extreme,"
Davis said. "Going forward, our plan for the parts market would be to do
something less extreme than this -- perhaps in the 225 horsepower range. And
we know that the chassis modifications are radical for many do-it-yourselfers,
but we wanted to do something different to gauge the interest level in this
kind of package.
"This, like the FR500 before it, is an on-going project; one that we see
as a work in progress," Davis added. "This has been uncharted territory for
Ford Racing Technology in terms of these kinds of performance parts, but our
engineers have jumped right in and I think the FR200 is a tribute to their
hard work and vision."