Road Test: Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works GP

Price as tested: €47,640

+ Handling, performance, styling, seats, noise, fun
– Hard ride, impractical
= Small car, massive fun

Road Test: Ford B-Max 1.0 EcoBoost Titanium

Price as tested: €23,170

+ Doors, comfort, engine, chassis, quality
– 1.0 not economical enough, needs more space in the back
= Better than the diesel version but still flawed

Road Test: Ford Focus ST

Price as tested: €36,800

+ Massive grunt, lairy soundtrack, chassis, solid build, practicality
- Styling doesn't look premium enough inside or out, not well enough equipped
= Ford's working class hero for the 21st Century rekindles old Cosworth romance


Like so many of my age group, I grew up on fast Fords. My first motoring memory is of standing on a ditch, somewhere near the village of Ballydehob, where my dad had taken me to see a stage of the West Cork Rally. Now, my dad's a football nut, not a car nut but he still seemed excited to be there, and as a curious six year old, I wondered why. Then I saw, for the first time ever, Billy Coleman gunning, slipping and opposite-locking a MkII Escort between the hedges, BDA engine burping, farting and snorting away like a cage of warthogs with IBS. I wondered no more.

If by then the MkII was already something of a dinosaur, then I didn't have to wait long for more iconic hot Fords to come along and trawl for my desire. First came the XR3i, then the short-lived RS200, then the mighty first generation Sierra Cosworth. By the time I came to driving age, I was fully convinced that a Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 4x4 was the ideal and perfect car for me. Sadly, in lieu of a Lotto win, I was relying on my dad's generosity of spirit and he duly let me learn how to drive in his Sierra. A hatchback LX with the 1.6-litre engine. I think it had about 12bhp...

Still, by the time I passed my test there was the Escort Cosworth to lust over and then... And then there wasn't much at all. The Escort Cossie was the apogee of the hot hatch, a car which cost more to insure than it did to buy and for a time, Ford more or less entirely retreated from the affordable hot car market. A few trickles came along, such a the Mk1 Focus ST (sweet chassis but not actually much more fun than a diesel 1.8 TDCI) and a few ST Mondeos, but it too until 2003 and the arrival of the Mk1 Focus RS to really kick-start the fast Ford revival. Since then, we've had an even more extreme (properly Porsche-quick) Mk2 Focus RS and a warbling, five-pot ST (lovely but too thirsty by half). And now this, the Mk3 Focus in ST spec, with a new 2.0-litre 250bhp four-cylinder turbo EcoBoost engine. It's a five-door only model (in direct contrast to most previous Ford hot hatches, although there is a rather anti-cool estate version) and seeks to finally bridge the gap between previous lairy and uncouth performance Ford models and the more sophisticated likes of the Volkswagen Golf GTI.

First off, the ST's looks are a little odd. In spite of big wheels and a chunky bodykit, there is little to tell the unassuming bystander that this is a performance flagship. Yes, there's the gaping, Aston-Martin-esque grille, but you can now find something similar on a boggo Fiesta, so that's hardly a telling item. No, this Focus, for the first time in hot Ford history since that long-desired Sierra Sapphire Cossie, majors on subtle looks.

That's true of the interior where the overwhwelming impression is that of standard Focus. Yes, there's an extra bank of dials atop the dash, the steering wheel and seats have bold ST logos and there's a plaque on the centre console indicating your car's build number, but other than that it looks stock. Beware of the seats, incidentally. They look gorgeous but the bolsters and supports are so chunky that if you're built along similarly husky dimensions to myself, you may find them restrictively tight. Better lay off the cupcakes. (It also feels curiously bare. Not cruise control? No heated windscreen? On a €35k car? Really?)

And when you first fire up the powerful new engine and pull out onto the road, you may also feel a slight lack of being whelmed. Unlike previous fast Fords, there's little sense of urgency or hairy-chestedness, assuming that is that you tickle it along and upshift early, as we've all become accustomed to doing from driving tourquey, low-revving diesels. The ride is certainly firm and thumps hard over sharp obstacles, but mostly, it's just refined and easygoing, with a hint of muscularity underneath.

And then you drop a gear and venture beyond 3,000rpm and all hell breaks loose with a side order of demons. Then the engine shows is true colours and they are fully red (shade: tooth & claw). It emits a hard but tuneful bark that swiftly becomes addictive. It's not the musical roar of a big V12 or the grumble of a V8 but a blunt, business-like shout that speaks of racing heritage and serious intent. That seriousness is hammered home by the fact that the traction control light has by now more than likely become constantly lit and the steering is bucking in your hands as the front tyres try to choose between being traction devices or simply smoke emitters. It is, just a bit, exciting.

But curiously, not OTT. Yes, the torque steer is there, as mentioned, but a firm grip on the wheel easily quells it. And yes, there's wheelspin there for the taking, but the odd thing is that the Focus ST feels like a duck. You know that old adage about a duck swimming on a lake looking serene and effortless on the surface while underneath it's paddling like hell? That's what I mean. If it can be said that the Focus ST has a split personality, then it's split along the horizontal axis, all thunder and fury down below, while you sit calmly atop, deciding the precise degree of fury to unleash.

The handling is just excellent. Yes, it would be nice for Irish conditions if the ride had a touch more pliancy, but the way the meaty steering pulls you into corners and spits you, cannon-shell-like, out the far side is a truly terrific experience. In some ways, with that wheelspin never far away and the sledgehammer power output, you could see the Focus ST as a bit of a crude weapon, all point-and-squirt. But learn to hold back the throttle a touch to keep the wheelspin quelled, learn to lean on the grip of the front end and realise that the engine, far from being peaky or laggy, actually does a convincing impression of being a much larger, naturally-aspirated unit, and you will unlock the immense point-to-point ability of the ST.

And that, in a heartbeat, finally bridges the gap between a fast Ford and a supposedly more sophisticated Golf GTI. Yes, the VW badge will continue to carry more kudos and apparent classiness, and the Focus isn't helping its own cause by persisting with a cabin that still feels a salary band lower than that of the Golf (even if its actual quality is unimpeachable) but here at last is a Ford hot hatch that works equally well as a daily driver and a Sunday morning cobweb remover.

Any car that can sprint from standstill to 100kmh in 6.5secs and on to a top speed of almost 250kmh has to be considered as a serious performance player. But any car that can seat for in easy comfort, has a big boot and can manage 9.0-litres per 100km (31mpg) can also be safely considered for family use. Drive with a modicum of sense (and a low-carb diet to make sure you fit into the seats) and none of your passengers would guess that this Ford has the potential to smoke high-end German sports saloons on the right road. Equally, drive it the way it was designed to be driven and hear its aggressive bark, and you'd be hard-pressed to guess that it's a practical family hauler.

It hasn't quite supplanted the childish desire in my heart for a Sierra Cosworth, but as a more caring, sharing, efficient and (let's face it) faster modern alternative, I guess I can make space for an ST poster on my 12-year-old self's bedroom wall.

Facts & Figures
Ford Focus ST

Price as tested: €36,800
Range price: €20,315 to €39,100
Capacity: 1,997cc


Power: 250bhp


Torque: 360Nm


Top speed: 248kmh


0-100kmh: 6.5sec


Economy: 7.2l-100km (39mpg)


CO2 emissions: 169g/km

VRT Band: D. €570 road tax


Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 92% adult, 82% child, 72% pedestrian, 71% safety assist

Feature: Mazda's Le Mans Legend

To say that Le Mans is magical is to grossly undersell it. While F1 becomes ever more tiresome, ever more mired in politics and ever more dull, the 24hrs of Le Mans remains as a true beacon of motorsports greatness. It’s a combination of motor race, camping, funfair, acid trip (especially at 3am) and group experience. It’s the ultimate, and has been since 1923.


And yet, in all that long and glorious history, from the Bentley Boys to the roaring GT40s to the unstoppable Porsches to the silent Audis and Peugeots, only one Japanese car maker has triumphed in an outright win at Le Mans. Toyota has tried (and will have another crack in 2013 with its fabulous TS030 hybrid), Nissan tried, Honda dabbled but only Mazda succeeded. 

Through a combination of sharp driving skills, clever manipulation of the rules and keeping their heads when all about were being lost, Mazda brought the remarkable 787B, with its eerie, howling triple-rotor rotary engine, home first in the 1991 Le Mans. And hasn’t been back since...

That could be all about to change, and we’ll get to that in a minute, but first, we took the opportunity of this remarkable 20th anniversary to talk to Irish racing legend David Kennedy, who was a lynchpin of the Mazda team in 1991.

“I was in several different motorsports businesses at the time and virtually knew every race driver as they were coming through. So I was well positioned to try and grab the next superstars coming through and bring them to the Mazda operation, after I’d driven with Mazda in the C2 category in the early eighties. So with my colleague Peirre Donaire, we were effectively the European arm of Mazda Motorsport.

“So we got hold of Nigel Stroud, who had been a designer at Porsche, and had had a hand in the dominant 956 racer, and had unique experience in building cars from aluminium honeycomb.

“The other cornerstone of the operation was a guy called Kio, who had been my mechanic in Formula 3, and between them they both bridged the gap in communication and culture between Japan and Europe, which was quite significant.”

To call Mazda the underdog in 1991 would be to lapse into understatement. Here was a small Japanese car maker, with a new car, a new team and a rotary engine going up against Porsche, Mercedes, Peugeot and Jaguar at the most storied race event in the world. How the hell did they pull it off?

“These cars were 800bhp, 230mph projectiles, they were fantastic to drive and unbelieveable to see, hurtling down the Mulsanne at 230mph, slipstreaming each other.

“But we were a very tight, very cost-effective organisation. A pure motor racing group, where as some of the other teams were maybe manufacturer heavy.

“As for the engine, the rotary was unique, and it had its advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages, it never gave you engine braking, so at the end of the Mulsanne, there was no help. But we managed to get carbon brakes on the car, so then it was a benefit because no engine braking means better fuel consumption. And because it was so smooth, it was like riding a magic carpet, and very good in the wet, with very progressive power. It felt like it would go on for ever.

“Against the turbos, they would accelerate off the corner faster, but you’d catch them at the end of the straight.”

Still though, up against the might of Mercedes (with a certain Michael Schumacher in one of their cars) and multiple winners Jaguar and Porsche, and even home favourites Peugeot with the new 905 racer (which would win in 1992), Mazda looked to be an also-ran.

But there was a secret weapon. Weight.

Because of the compact, light rotary and thanks to come clever chasssis design, the 787B was actually running in a slightly different rule class to its rivals, meaning it could carry around 150kg less weight. A crucial factor. As was the main Mazda driver trio of Johnny Herbert, Bertrand Gachot and Volker Weidler. Despite both Herbert and Weidler still recovering from massive F3000 accidents, all three drove magnificently.

And as the Porsche, Mercedes and Jaguar challeneges faded all around them, the shocking-looking (that wild orange and green paint job), shocking sounding (David relates that he couldn’t sleep inbetween his driving stints because he kept listening to the distinctive rotary engine wail, heard above all the other engine noises. Herbert says much the same.) 787B worked its way up steadily through the field until, with just a few hours left, the leading Mercedes, driven by Jo Schlesser, Jochen Mass and Alain Ferte, pitted with an overheating engine, and suddenly car no. 55 was in the lead.

Famously, Johnny Herbert’s final to-the-flag two hour stint in the baking hot cockpit pretty much finished him off. He brought the car home to the chequered flag, then promply collapsed from heat exhaustion, leaving Gachot and Weidler to take to the top step of the podium without their comrade.

“There was a Japanese report done by Mazda, and as ever Japanese reports aren’t small” says Kennedy. “It was of biblical proportions, on the reasons why we had won. And on the last page it said, ‘maybe it was because the car was blessed by a Bhuddist monk at the foothills of the snow-capped Mt Fuji.’ I was there for that blessing, it was a fabulous ceremony. And sometimes you scractch your head and say who knows?”

Twenty years is a very, very long time in motor racing. For half of that time, Audi has utterly dominated at Le Mans with its mighty diesel cars, and Peugeot has only been recently able to offer it stiff opposition. But now, Jaguar, Porsche, Toyota, Bentley and others are looking at reviving their Le Mans campaigns. What of Mazda?

Well, David attended the recent 20th anniversary celebrations, which saw the 787B return to Le Mans for an emotional ceremony, one which was thronged with crowds. “You know what, I think a lot of the Mazda guys clicked that there’s something they’re missing out on.”

So there’s hope then. Hope that the Mulsanne, Arnage and Tetre Rouge will once again vibrate to a banshee rotary wail.

News: VW getting serious about performance Passat?

 

There hasn't been a high-performance Passat since the slightly nutty W8 engined version went out of production close to a decade ago, but it seems that VW is now intent on producing a more sporty version of its four-door saloon, at least for the US market.

It may not look like much on the outside, but this is the Passat Performance Concept, bound for the Detroit Motor Show next week and you can pretty much forget the concept bit and assume that this very car will go into production for the US, and just possibly Europe, next year.

There's not many giveaways on the outside; even those ritzy 19" wheels look quite subtle, but underneath this Passat is packing lower, stiffer suspension and VW's EA888 2.0-litree turbo petrol engine cranked up to a hefty 247bhp.

Apparently the interior has been suitably gussied up too, with carbon and leather trim elements. Will such a Passat make it to Europe? Well, the market for hot saloons is pretty tiny, but given VW's sprawling interests and profit margins, they might just decide to do it for a laugh...

News: Hot Porsche Cayenne arrives but Lambo & Bentley may delay SUVs

Porsche has just launched a range-topping Cayenne Turbo S but its sister brands in the VW Group, Lamborghini and Bentley, may be delaying their own SUV projects because of darkening economic clouds.

The Cayenne Turbo S gets titanium-aluminium turbine wheels in the turbos to spool power up to a massive 542bhp, backed up by a more than ample 750Nm of torque. That means this 2-tonne 4x4 can sprint from 0-100kmh in a BMW M3-threatening time of just 4.5-seconds and run on to a top speed of 283kmh. Quite why you'd need a 4x4 with those kinds of figures, we can't quite imagine, but it's probably good fun.

Astonishingly though, Porsche claims that the extra power and performance over the standard Turbo model have not come at the expense of, well, expense. The Turbo S records the same 11.5-litres per 100km (about 26mpg) on the European combine cycle.

But while it's raa-raa all round for Porsche's hot 4x4, its VW Group sister companies, Lamborghini and Bentley, may be rolling back on their plans to launch (admittedly somewhat controversial) SUVs.

We've seen both the Lamborghini Urus and Bentley EXP 9F at various motor shows over the past year, and both their paths to production seemed pretty clear. After all, what the world's monied car buyers seem to want more than anything else are cars with premium badges, four wheel drive and chunky tyres. Porsche itself sells way, waaaaay more Cayennes than it does 911s and Boxsters, so both cars seemed to make perfect financial sense for Bentley and Lambo.

Today though, the word is that both projects are on hold. According to Automotive News, VW is starting to get a bit more careful about how it spends its money. The European car sales crisis that is so damaging the likes of PSA Peuegot Citroen and Fiat hasn't really started to affect the VW Group yet, but it seems that the bean-counters in Wolfsburg are starting to prepare for the worst, even if it never comes.

Road Test: Citroen DS3 Racing

Price as tested: €30,495

+ Fun, high quality, gorgeous
– Bit pricey, other than that not much
= Other may be purist but the DS3 is more fun

In a motoring world where convention is king (“I’ll have that in silver please, with black upholstery” is the phrase most often heard in Irish dealerships) it is refreshing, like zesty mineral water on a hot day, to drive something a bit naughty.

And naughty is not often a word that you would apply to Citroen. Quirky? Yes. Comfortable? Absolutely. But naughty? Not so much. That kind of changed when the little DS3 hatch was introduced. Take the chassis and engines from a C3, add a healthy measure of the kind of appealing styling and sporty driving experience that has made the Mini such a storming success, garnish with a sprinkle of the DS badge magic, shake over ice and pour... It’s been a storming success in Europe (albeit much, much less so in Ireland) and is a sharp-edged competitor to the Anglo-German hatch.

The Racing is all of the same ingredients, with about a quart of Wasabi added to the mixture. It takes the 150bhp DSport model as its basis, cranks the (BMW-sourced) 1.6-litre petrol turbo engine up to 204bhp, adds a chassis tweaked and balanced by the sorcerers at Citroen Rally Sport (which has utterly dominated the World Rally Championship in recent years) and served it up as a grey-and-blinding-orange, €32k playzone.

There are few things better in life than a quick, well-balanced hot hatch and the DS3 Racing is certainly not going to upset that assertion. It gives you all the performance you could reasonably ask for, unless you are a track-day junkie, yet it remains practical, spacious and comfortable enough for everyday driving.

Aside from the damage to your retinas that the paintjob will cause, the most abiding memory you will take from driving the Racing is the performance of its engine. And oddly enough, not because it is savagely powerful but because it seems so unassuming.

That’s a strange thing to say about a hopped-up turbo job, but it’s true. There is so little turbo lag and the power is delivered so linearly that you start to doubt, just a little that it really has its advertised power output. Its other significant rival, the RenaultSport Clio 200, has a similar grunt figure but it’s all delivered, in one mad dash, at the top of the power band, making it more exciting in extremis than that Citroen, but maddening and frustrating at all other times. The Racing, with its diesel-like low-down shove, is much more accessible, and yes, I consider that a good thing.

It’ll still do the 0-100kmh dash in 6.5secs (hardly blistering I know, but it feels pretty rapid in a car this compact) and will run on to a top speed of 235kmh (given space and legality, of course). Yet its fuel consumption is reasonable claimed 6.4-litres per 100km, which you should be able to match, or at least get close to, in real world driving.

It’s the chassis, rather surprisingly, that feels unruly and naughty. Normally, cars tweaked by motorsport departments are set up for cold, clinical apex-annihilation. Racers want cars that go as quick as possible, even if the quickest way sometimes looks and feels the slowest. The DS3 Racing, rather pleasingly, eschews this for a more on-the-edge feel. It’s not really anywhere near the limits of its abilities on the public road, it just likes to make you think that it is. It does this through steering that feels a touch ragged, with a nibble of torque steer at the edges, and handling that washes surprisingly quickly into understeer. Now, technically, this is not good, but it is enjoyable as you feel as if you’re really pressing on when in reality, you’re actually just cruising. A classic case of being better by appearing worse.

What I particularly like about the DS3 (in all its forms) is the way it really nails the static quality side of things. Renault’s hot Clio is all business-like plain plastics and underwhelming styling, preferring you to concentrate on the chassis and engine. Which is fine if you’re lapping the Nurburgring, but not so good if you’re stuck in traffic on the Wellpark Road, casting around the cabin for something nice to look at. The DS3’s funky exterior styling, its high-quality cabin (yes, in a Citroen) and its decent rear space and boot mark it out as a car that gets the true ownership essentials right.

So, it’s not a paragon of hot hatch handling, or even grunt for that matter. A Mini Cooper S Works offers (slightly) more power, a RenaultSport Clio has sharper steering and handling and, frankly, a VW Golf GTI has the lot licked for all-round appeal. But, like an engagingly naughty child, the DS3 Racing’s character shines through, and in a world of grey cars, that is truly something to be happy about.


Facts & Figures

Citroen DS3 Racing
Price as tested: €32,990
Range price: €17,490 to €32,990
Capacity: 1,598cc
Power: 204bhp
Torque: 275Nm
Top speed: 220kmh
0-100kmh: 6.5sec
Economy: 5.4l-100km (44.1mpg)
CO2 emissions: 149g/km
VRT Band: C. €330 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 87% adult, 71% child, 35% pedestrian, 83% safety assist