Description

The Escort Mk5 arrived in September 1990 with an all-new bodyshell and a simplified torsion beam rear suspension (instead of the Mark III’s fully independent layout). Ford facelifted the Escort in September 1992, giving the revised cars a new grille, bonnet and a new rear end.

The Escort MK5 RS200 was a performance derivative featuring a naturally aspirated 1996 cm3 engine producing 150 hp (110 kw) and 190 Nm of torque. The car accelerated from 0-100km/h in 8,7 sec and had a top speed of 210km/h. Later on, Ford introduced a four-wheel-drive variant of the RS2000, offering much improved handling over its front-wheel-drive cousins. A first for the Escort also saw the introduction of all disc brakes on all four wheels as standard on all RS2000 and XR3i models.

The crash structure was also improved, featuring side impact bars, a reinforced safety cage, improved crumple zones, front seat-belt pretensioners and airbags. This Escort was the first European Ford to feature an airbag; shortly afterwards a driver’s airbag became standard across the whole Ford range, with many other models having a passenger airbag as at least optional equipment.

Source: Wikipedia

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