Ford Fiest ST Goes Green as M-Sport Promotes
Bio-Fuel to the World Rally Championship
23 June 2007
Ford and M-Sport,
the company behind the BP-Ford World Rally Team, have developed a Bio-Ethanol
E85 powered version of the Ford Fiesta ST Group N rally car. It aims
to take the environmentally positive, high-performance fuel onto the
FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) when the cars compete in the Fiesta
Sporting Trophy International series in 2008.
The environment is in
everyone’s thoughts and to contribute towards
reducing motorsport’s environmental impact, the development of
Bio-Ethanol E85 fuel is seen as an ideal platform from which to raise
public awareness of the benefits of bio-fuels. Environmental pressures
are reshaping the automotive industry and Ford is a market pioneer
in this shift. Together we have developed a ‘green’ strategy
to lead the way to a more sustainable future by showcasing CO2- efficient
rallying on the world stage.
The GpN Fiesta ST is converted from the
standard 2-litre ST road car. With the close relationship between the
rally and road-going versions, M-Sport has taken the opportunity to
develop real solutions to improve the environmental efficiency of motorsport
and help promote sustainable alternatives to pure fossil fuel.
What is E85?
Bio-Ethanol is a mix of ethanol, a highly flammable liquid which can
be manufactured by fermenting a wide variety of agricultural produce,
including forest residue, sugar cane, sugar beet or grain, and then
mixed with normal petrol. The mix is defined by the codename – E85 – being
85% ethanol and 15% petrol.
What are the benefits of E85?
Using such a high blended bio-ethanol fuel in specifically designed
engine technology means that the crucial “well to wheel” CO2
emissions can be reduced significantly. As the plant crops grow, they
absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, which partly offsets the CO2 emissions
produced during the burning of the Bio-Ethanol fuel in the car’s
engine.
In addition, ethanol has a higher octane rating than normal
petrol (typically 104-106 octane compared to the traditional petrol
95-97). This allows an optimum timing for engine ignition and has a
fast flame speed in the cylinder, so the fuel burns faster, increasing
the efficiency of the engine. The result is an increase in both engine
power and the torque produced.
A global perspective
Since 2006, the concept of the Fiesta SportingTrophy (FST) has
been developed around the world and there are currently eleven countries
operating national FST championships. There are now over 225 Ford Fiesta
STs competing in 25 countries around the world.
It is in the Swedish
FST (known as the Ford FlexiFuel Cup) that Andreas Eriksson, a former
Swedish National Rally Champion, has proven the use of the Fiesta ST
with E85 in one-make competition. Since 2006, the FlexiFuel Cup has
competed with E85 as the mandatory fuel. Ford calibration engineers
from the European powertrain development centre at Dunton have developed
the concept further and adapted it to work with the standard ECU configuration
on the Fiesta ST so that potentially all the existing Fiesta SportingTrophy
cars around the world can be adapted to use this fuel with limited
modifications.
Malcolm Wilson, Managing Director of M-Sport said about
the move to go green: “The long-term environmental message is
clear - reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and the overall reduction
of CO2 emissions is a priority. The jury is out on the exact direction
that the future will take with regard to the use of renewable fuel
technology in road cars, but for the motorsport environment, E85 offers
a solution that can demonstrate to the wider audience that ‘going
green’ doesn’t
necessarily mean any reduction in the driving experience. With our
experience of engineering WRC cars behind us, our company wants to
use our capabilities to produce rally cars that are both fun to drive
and environmentally friendly. The Fiesta SportingTrophy will provide
a great showcase to demonstrate this technology in action.”
For more information on the Fiesta SportingTrophy, visit www.fiestasportingtrophy.com.
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