Forza Horizon 4: All about the Escort RS1800

Venturing to the Ford Motor Company's vault of classics, there's one kind of Ford that serves as one of their success stories in the world of rallying. Enter the Escort RS1800.

So, what's it all about the Ford Escort RS1800? It's actually based on the Mk. II Escort that follows the footsteps of its successful predecessor, which is proven to be unbeatable in the RAC Rally, winning every year from 1975 to 1979, as well as winning numerous events worldwide. 

The Mk. II Escort is developed jointly between UK and Germany. Underneath, it features a new underbody as well as leaf spring rear suspension, and others. The RS1800, seen here, is powered by a 1.8L naturally aspirated engine producing 117PS of power and 171Nm of torque. It features heavily strengthened bodyshells as well.

In the 1979 season of the World Rally Championship, the RS1800 made Bjorn Waldegard the champion, Hannu Mikkola the second placer, and Ari Vatanen in 5th place.

I've had prior experiences dealing with the Mk.II Escort RS1800 in past installments and judging by the way it performs, the Escort RS1800 is a great car for those who are feeling nostalgic about Ford's best rally cars in history. It's lightweight, it's agile, it's moderately good to drive, and overall, it's nearly great, I'll give you that. It maybe challenging at first but the more you drive with it, the more you're going to enjoy Ford's rally icon of the late 70's and in the end, you'll have plenty of ways and means to enjoy it.

Speaking of ways and means, I have a little play date with not one but three Escort RS1800 machines; the normal one, the rally-spec one, and the one Ken Block enjoyed for Hoonigan purposes. I took the normal one in the British mainland while the rally version gets down and dirty at Fortune Island, and the Hoonigan one lets it tires rip through LEGO Valley. Ready to see how these Escort RS1800 machines roll?

Different Escorts, different ways and means, but they still bear the same touch.

It's okay if you're not familiar about the Escort RS1800 because once you get your hands on it, it takes some research through the history books just to get to know about the car's greatness in the world of rallying and because of such success, it's no wonder why this car is one of Ford's success stories in rallying. It's one of their greatest achievements Ford ever think of and that is the bottom line.

See you next time.