tbtstt

Surprised that someone hasn't beaten me to this! It was known that Block had bought an RS200 sometime ago but, after posting a few teaser pictures earlier this week...







...Block has finally unveiled his car:



After seeing the top picture I was expecting something hideous, but I actually think that black colour scheme is pretty tasteful.

There are a few clips of the car moving (rather slowly) here:


Oddly the video claims the car is #34, but it was #80 that Block bought (from Norway) a couple of years ago. There is also a walk around of the car here:


There are quite a few factual errors in this video, but the description of the car fits in with #80.

PaulinhoT

A lovely car, something I would like to own (one day lol).

GVK.

Don't like the wheels.

tbtstt

The RS200 has been the top of my dream car list for a lot of years. I'm never going to be able to afford a real one, but a UK company is now building space frame 4WD replicas which is the next thing I'd like to get in my garage!

Caddyshack

Which company is it that is making the spaceframe?

My Dad came within a whisker of buying the Cara kit car company when it was for sale in the 90s, I was gutted when the deal fell through and it included a lovely demonstrator. I have been tempted many times to build a replica.

Thanks for posting this one up, lovely car.

My friend knows the Mr Karidies who is "the plastic surgeon to the stars" and he has recently sold his RS200 road car as he could not get on with it despite running a T16 Pug 205, I read that Jethro Bovingdon drove one for EVO and said it felt awful until you were going very quickly as the diffs felt like they were fighting each other, I imagine a replica might be smoother using road car stuff?

I found an unfinished one recently but the chap wanted too much for what needed to be finished and that was based on SAAB stuff.

tbtstt

The company is called Evo200. They have already completed at least one RWD car and they have several 4WD builds underway. There are quite a few build pictures on the Facebook page.

Oh wow, yeah that would have been pretty bloody cool! There are a few RS200 replicas out there (I have seen several MR2 and Subaru based replicas) but I am personally not a fan of any replica that massively deviates from the original car configuration. The MR2 has the engine in the right place but is RWD, the Subaru has the 4WD but the engine is up front (and I personally think the Impreza RS200 replica sits weird as well).

These space frame replicas look to be as close as you can get.

Chris Harris seemed to be wrestling with the car a bit at slow speed when he drove one:


It's not the car of choice for driving around town!

Yeah, the replica might be a bit more manageable. That said, I'd really like to hear the opinion of a "real" RS200 driver to see if the space frame replica handles anything like the genuine car.

I would really like a car that deviates from the standard RS200 a bit (semi-stripped interior, NACA ducts for the rear brakes). If I ever did have pockets deep enough to buy a genuine RS200 I know I'd be reluctant to mess with it. With a replica you can have it how you want.

I am surprised how much money some of the replicas go for! I am waiting to hear a price on the 4WD Evo200 cars: I currently have it as my goal for 2-3 years time but depending on the cost, I may have to save for longer!

Caddyshack

Thanks for the detailed reply, I would be interested to find out the price on the 4wd, I will have a look at their site, I think I would want to buy it as a kit and build it myself.

I keep going back to the Hawk Stratos as an option too.

tbtstt

No worries, nice to find someone else with an interest in replica RS200's! I know how much one of the 2WD (competition) cars sold for a while ago, so I have a figure in mind for the 4WD car, but I might be miles off!

Truth be told the Evo200 website isn't that great, but I think the build pictures on the Facebook page are a lot more encouraging. I spoke with the owner of the company (Bill Watson) at length over a rallycross weekend a few years ago and he seems to want to do things properly.

Caddyshack

I have just ordered the DVD, build manual, price list and brochure off the site for £15.

I had a quick look at the prices and clearly you will go through £20k quite quickly and then a chunk on the engine, I would be tempted to go for a duratec 2.3 and have a BDT style rocker cover on it, Cossie would be nice but expensive. Might be nice to do a Hoonigan replica but I think I would have to have it white with red seats like the road cars.

tbtstt

If I recall correctly the first 4WD car they are building will be YB powered (as the buyer had a spare one), but the others were going to use a crate 2.3 engine and Tremek gearbox. That's a good shout on the BDT style rocker cover as it would really add to the look.

Oh, and white exterior, black front lip, Evo ears and black seats for me!

Caddyshack

I think many people tiger strip them as per the era they were produced in, I do not think I would do that though.

tbtstt

Yeah, I think the stripes make the car look a bit dated now. I like what Block has done with the matt black/gloss black stripes though, I wonder if it would look as good if you did matt white/gloss white stripes.

Plain colour all the way for me though. This...



...without the red on the side!

Caddyshack

Very nice pic. I wonder if the EVO kit can be made as a nice road car or if it is a rally car that would barely be useable as a road car, I would like one that I can use daily. Aircon, heated seats, stereo etc.

tbtstt

Well it is advertised as a competition or road car, though I'm not quite sure how many refinements (i.e. aircon, heated seats etc.) can be shoehorned into it. I have been in a couple of genuine RS200's and it's pretty tight in the cabin, so I'm not sure if you've got the space for many seat options.

My "fun" car is purely a weekend toy, but having a kit refined enough to be used as a daily driver would be very cool. Guess you are going to need to deepen your pockets if you want all the toys though!

Caddyshack

You can add the heated seat pads to any seat, I had my Cossie ones retrimmed with heated elements in them so that is an easy one even in a bucket seat.

Air Con should be ok as you can put them in the Ultima kit car and the front should have room for the condensor rad. I could make do without aircon, I have a roof vent on my Cossie Pug and it is brilliant, if a little noisey.

tbtstt

I have got to be honest and confess I have never seen what goes into a heated seat! I wasn't sure how much extra thickness the element added.

As you say you have got room up front, so it should be possible to fit one in. I rarely use the aircon in any car, but I would say some way of at least getting fresh air is going to critical if you are thinking about potentially sitting in traffic in the kit!

Caddyshack

Very true. The heated elements are about as thin as a greetings card.

I put a heated screen in my 205 pug as well, little things like that just make life a bit easier I think, even for early morning starts before a track day if staying in a hotel with open car park etc...

morcheen

colour scheme and wheels look shit.think the fellas a bit of a knob too,but i'll take the cars off him though

Jay,

iTrader: (4)

agree totally and taking a road going rs200 and doing that to it is sacrilege

Caddyshack

He has only painted it gloss black with a Matt wrap, the car was an odd green, non standard colour before. The interior is flocked but standard. Rest of the car is standard so all can be put back.

tbtstt

Not sure on the history you have there? This car (#80) was blue when Block purchased it in late 2015:



The car was featured in the January 2015 issue of Fast Ford:





It was white prior to that, but was painted blue at some point in the last decade. #80 is the car that is featured in this clip:


It's an original tub, but the car was assembled from parts, it was a long way from standard, so he hasn't ruined a mint car.

Interestingly (or not, depending on how much of an RS200 nerd you are) the Fast Ford article claimed that the engine fitted was one of three built by Martin Schanche. I haven't seen that verified, but have been told by a well known rallycross journalist that, if it is a Schanche engine, the capacity may have been slightly exaggerated (his "big" engine was just over 2.3, not 2.4).

Caddyshack

I have only based it on what he said in his video about the colour change and how he wanted to honour the motorsport stripes...maybe he got his colours mixed up. You are right, he says in the Vid that it was destined for Rallycross. My Dad used to hang out with Schanche and we used to go and meet him at Lydden when he was rasing. Oddly years later I became friends with Trevor Reeves who used to race against him and he did quite a lot of Track driving instruction for me. My first proper "off" was with Trevor in the car with me at Donnington.

tbtstt

Damn, that's seriously cool! Schanche is one of the main reasons I am so infatuated with the RS200. Wasn't old enough to appreciate it at the time, but I would give anything to be at one of the Brands Rallycross GP's or European Rallycross rounds in the late 80's/early 90's.

Yeah, there are quite a few factual errors in the Hoonigan video (which I am actually a little disappointed about as, as my dream car, I'd be checking my facts before I talked about it on camera!). Oddly, the Ford Performance video says the car is #34 when it's definitely #80.

Block actually bought the ex-Trevor Hopkins RS200 about 5 years ago, but he (or rather his team) did nothing with it and it was sold back to Terry Maynard in mid 2015-ish. Terry is currently restoring it and is supposed to be running it in the Retro Rallycross Championship. Liam Doran has another rallycross RS200 under construction as well (to sit alongside the other two the Dorans already have!), no idea as to the history of that car though.

Caddyshack

I have got a set of Pat Dorans wheels in my garage.

tbtstt

From one of his rallycross cars?

Caddyshack

Yes, I was looking for a spare set of compomotives in 16X8 ET25 and they came up on ebay with Rally Cross slicks on them, the paint was poor and when I went to collect them the bloke worked for Pat Doran spannering on his cars and Pat had given them to him to get rid of. I had them refurbished but they poke out a bit too much on my 205 so I will sell them but have not got round to it yet.

Caddyshack

I received the DVD and price list / build manual today...it is basically "strip a 2wd Sierra and bolt all the parts in to the RS200 kit" then, "get it through an IVA - you can look that up on the VOSA website"....

I think the Renault UN1 5 speed transaxle can probably only handle 350bhp and the torque that goes with it. After that I think you might need to look at trying to use a Porsche G50 but not sure on adapter.

I would be interested how they have done the 4WD ones as the real RS200 had the box in the tunnel at the front and a prop going from engine to it then back again to the axle.

The problem with this kit is that it uses a Sierra Cossie as the donor, that makes for a very expensive donor car.

jonfoc

A friend of mine up here called Roy Burrell has just finished restoring one for a customer, I'll try and get more details.
The last time I was at mellors Elliot Motorsport they had an rs200 full shell wrapped up in the corner. I doubt it's still there now.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Cool car this. I wouldnt mind being a few quid behing Ken Block.

tbtstt

Please do, can never see enough RS200 pictures!

Pity you refurbished them: you could have sold them for double as genuine ex-race wheels!

.
Hmmm, that information sounds rather dated, as I was sure they were moving away from the YB engine/Cossie basis as they are so costly now? Yeah, the configuration of the real car was rather unique, so I am curious to see how it all goes in.

I don't know if you got as far as the Evo200 Facebook page, but there are a few pictures of the 4WD build on there:







Gearbox (I think this is a Tremek unit?) roughly mocked up:



Transfer box mounted:



Zetec 2.0L in place. Engine is slightly rotated to allow propshaft to clear between rear diff and centre bearing.



Another view of the engine, apparently the cross braces are an additional option for the track version of the car.



Sitting with the panels mocked up:

Caddyshack

Thanks, that looks a bit more like it. I will give them a buzz with a few questions and then follow on Facebook.

Caddyshack

By the looks of that you could probably apply for a brand new reg based on how much is new anyway, just by crate engine and new interior parts. Still unsure of how IVA friendly it is out of the box.

Jay,

iTrader: (4)

Iirc pats car runs 9 inch wheels and the original box was a hewland box . The deter wide body car runs 14 inch rear and 12 inch front . The un1 gearbox is used in many reps they struggle above 300lb but there is a guy in Coventry that rebuilds them with a strong kit for gt40 reps that take the power. Most reps stand out like a mr2 Ferrari lol it is quite a thing to build a good rep as 99% of the kits are modified copy which are quite shocking

tbtstt

If I won the lottery, I'd have some very similar cars to him in my garage!

I was hoping the information you'd receive would correspond more to this "new" 4WD build. As you say, it seems like there is very little donated to the car.

With your car/build experience I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on the 4WD kit car once you have asked your questions. I guess the ultimate acid test would be hearing the opinion of an RS200 owner after driving one, but ascertaining the quality of the basic design/build is a good starting point!

Jackstrath

aww thats cool my car is in the same mag as kens rs200! haha!

Turbo Zetec

iTrader: (1)

Could the car not use parts from any 2wd sierra? no reason to use cossie bits really unless you want the engine to go with it.

I looked into the UN1 transaxle and decided that an audi unit from a 1.8t may be a better choice these days? gearchange would be far smoother and shouldn't be expensive to replace if things go wrong either!

Caddyshack

Yes, good point on the Sierra, if you can still find one. It looks like the newer version may have its own hubs etc.

The 1.8t option is an interesting choice. Which gearbox code or type do you mean, i.e. what car? I have just made an adapter plate and I can mount the 1.8t engine to a 944 gearbox for my 944, that actually uses a VW gearbox in the 944 at the end of a torque tube, its just a FWD gearbox at the back of the car.

I guess if going that route you could consider the 1.8t engine and just have someone like MK make you a billet cam cover to look like a BDT Ford...easy enough to do and the 1.8t has cheap tuning options and plentiful supply (I got the whole engine and loom, ECU etc for £300)

If not you would need to make an adapter to get from VW to Ford but that shouldn't be impossible.

I am still not sure what you would really end up needing from the Sierra as you may as well fit decent discs and pads, nicer seats, so other than things like wiper motors, wiring loom etc...

Caddyshack

@tbtstt - I cannot find them on facebook, do you know what they are called on there. I have tried calling both numbers on their site, neither worked.


they seem to have updated the numbers now.


LOL, also just found the "follow us on facebook" button on their site.

tbtstt

I tried to link in the Facebook page in one of my earlier posts, but the forum didn't seem to like it and I had to remove the link before the post would display properly.

I noticed yesterday that the Evo200 Facebook page was directing people to a slightly different website:

http://rallyreplica.co.uk/

The Facebook page is under the name "Evo200".

EDIT: Given that the forum won't let me paste the original Facebook URL, if you type Facebook . com/fordrs200 into your browser and take the spaces out, that should take you straight to it.

Turbo Zetec

iTrader: (1)

a transaxle like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLKSWAGE...sAAOSwLaZZqeeJ

probably the same type you're using with your porche

adapting it to fit onto a zetec would be relatively straight forward too, should just need an adapter plate like you do with the mazda box, possibly a flywheel and clutch too.

i doubt you need many sierra parts these days, although the original rs200 did use a few from the parts bin.