Ford Fiesta Wins Rally Gold at the X-Games

At Pikes Peak the Fiesta Rally racer used a north-south engine arrangement (see link), whereas the production Fiesta uses an east-west engine layout. I'm assuming that was the case at the X-Games, but I have yet to see the Fiesta engine compartment of the X-Games Fiesta racers.

http://www.lincah.com/2009-ford-fiesta-pikes-peak-rallycross/2009-ford-fiesta-pikes-peak-rallycross-engine-view

So, for whatever it's worth, at least the Subies use something that's *somewhat close* to what you and I can buy.

The one in the picture doesn't look like a "scrappy little economy car".

These things are fun, but they have very little to do with the actual vehicle.

Agreed but that's true of almost every race car that is based on a production car.

It's already an awesome little car. Let's just hope it doesn't get dumbed down for the mass market. I just cannot express how angry I will be if Ford gives the US market Fiesta a Sony stereo instead of a sport-tuned suspensions.

Everyone needs to go to the Fiesta microsite and complete 'the design your own' portion so we can swing the vote in favor of performance enhancements. It would be nice to have things like the sync system and a capless fuel filler system, but you know Ford will offer things like that anyway. The site is:

I'm just glad they're offering us the hatch and not just the US-only sedan. I don't know what we have against hatchbacks in this country or what the big three think we have against them, but how many Chevy Aveo sedans do you really see on the road? And how much did the Geo Metro sedan suck? But those are just my thoughts on the matter.

this is not a rebadged peugeot 308 is it?

i hope the rally body/perfomance kit will be sold as an option...

Come on, really? No wonder the American car is dead people print/post ignorance all the time. The Fiesta/Focus is loved in Europe and when the bring one of the cars that's actually worth buying you print this garbage. If it were a Peugeot or BMW it would be "amazing" Ford makes a decent small car to compete with that class and the adjectives are all negative?

Detroit's Big 3 don't have anything against hatchbacks. They'd build as many as people would buy if people were buying them. But they don't sell in large numbers, so Detroit hasn't been building that many for years. It's a different scenario in Europe.

I do hope the Fiesta is successful for Ford; it seems like a pretty good car from what I've read about it.

@rsholland: I rode with Kenny Brack in a practice session 2 days before the win.

http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2009/07/x-games-ford-fiesta-test-session-and-ride-along.html

There was barely any room in there for my lanky frame, as there was a huge hand-fabricated transmission tunnel right down the middle that housed a longitudial sequential transmission and transfer case for the AWD system. And yes, the engine was mounted north-south in front of it.

But this was no pure tube frame car with a fiberglass body. It really had started out as a Fiesta body shell before it underwent major surgery to fit this drivetrain and an extensive FIA roll cage.

Like someone said, few full race machines bear much resemblance to the production cars they represent. But because a real Fiesta shell was used as a starting point and because it uses other Fiesta parts like the doors that really open and close, the Fiesta rally car has much more actual Ford Fiesta in it than any "brand" of NASCAR stock car you can name.

@ actualsize: Yes, these are all purpose-built race cars. I just wish the regulations were a bit more strict in that the drivetrain at least followed the production models, meaning if the showroom model had an east-west engine layout so should the race car.

And yes, I'm aware that Ford only *sells* a FWD Fiesta, yet these racers are AWD. All the more reason (for me) to root for Subaru. At least with Subaru there's a better chance that "racing will improve the breed," simply because their race cars are closer to something you and I can buy at a dealer.