Two Views on the Ford Lynx RS

It’s hard to believe that fellow Philippine Star Motoring writer Andy Leuterio was still in diapers when my 13-year-old self first drooled over a Ford with an "RS" designation. The year was 1979, and to all the thirtysomethings today who ever cared about cars back then, that Ford can only be the legendary Ford Escort RS2000, one of the most fearsome competitors in world rallying in its time.

Escorts then, as were all the cars in its class, had 1300- and 1600-cc engines. So one can imagine the impact of shoehorning a big 2-liter motor into the engine bay of what was then one of the smallest and lightest cars in the market: giant-killing performance, especially when outfitted (as some cars were) with twin side-draft Weber carburators. Clothe this drivetrain in some of the most eye-catching colors (red and yellow were popular RS2000 colors) and those outrageously wide fender flares and you’ve got one ground-bound rocket guaranteed to turn heads everywhere.

Fast forward to 2003. Ford Group Philippines unleashes a new Ford with the illustrious "RS" badge featuring prominently on its grille and trunk lid. This time, the platform is the Lynx compact sedan (which, like its Escort forebear, comes in 1.3 and 1.6-liter versions). Again, the motor displaces two liters. This time, however, it’s got many of the state-of-the-horsepower-art tricks to further beef it up: electronic fuel injection, double overhead cams, 16 valves and a variable air intake system.

The result is 142 ps at 6000 rpm and a class-leading 192 Nm of torque at 4500 rpm. But big numbers aside, what I found truly spine-tingling with the Lynx RS is the melodious baritone wail of the engine when it hits its stride at 4000 rpm and above. That, and the impressive push on the back as the car hurtles forward with the kind of accelerative force approaching that of sports cars costing millions more.

But quarter mile runs are hardly half the magic of the Lynx RS. Turn into a corner at speed — any corner — and you’ll be stunned with the way the car instantly changes direction with very little body roll. Forget BMWs and their so-called handling prowess. This four-door Lynx corners like a Porsche. Credit goes to the Lynx RS’ sport-tuned suspension (stiffer springs and struts, front strut tower bar, thicker stabilizer bars, special bushings, additional rear link, etc. etc.) and largest-in-class 16" wheels and 195-sized 50-series tires. And the best news is, you get this ultra-responsiveness without the usual penalty of a harsh ride or a low ground clearance that results in a scraped underbelly.

And the other driving dynamics? Powerful and easily modulated braking from big 4-wheel discs, ABS and EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution); and a light clutch that abets slick shifting from the short-throw 5-speed stick (no automatics in this hard charger!).

As if the driver gets to eat all his cake already, the Lynx RS still adds an ergonomically perfect leather steering wheel, sporty drilled metal pedals, racy white meter gauges and the best-looking black-and-red bucket seats (with a superbly grippy fabric) this side of a Recaro. One has to be blind to mistake this car for anything but a true-blue sports sedan.

Want more? You also get to play with your very own 6-disc in-dash (!) CD changer and power moonroof. And you’ll look good doing all this (or blowing past traffic) thanks to the car’s standard front blacked out mesh grille, front airdam with foglamps, side skirts, rear skirt and trunk lid spoiler. These add-ons make the car look mean enough without being too anti-social. The car comes only in two understatedly aggressive colors: black and a red that’s actually closer to maroon.

The clincher? The car’s eminently reasonable (I’m tempted to call it cheap but I still can’t afford one) retail price of P808,000. To put that in perspective, it’s closest competitors in terms of engine displacement (Civic 2.0, Corolla Altis 1.8 and new Sentra 1.8) all cost P150,000 to P200,000 more. Now if that doesn’t spell a winner, I don’t know what else will. — Manny N. De Los Reyes

At last, a spiritual successor to the Honda Civic SiR. Twin cams, all-disc brakes, a proper 5-speed, black-on-white gauges, and taut handling are just some of the good stuff underneath the RS’ skin. In comparison to the Honda, which gave you twin cams from 1.6 liters and some other mechanical upgrades over the vanilla VTi, the RS also has a power moonroof (yay!), a thick-rimmed, 3-spoke sport steering wheel (yeah!), aluminum pedals (ooh...!), ABS (hoo-ah!)…you get the picture. Makes you wonder how Ford can make money out of this P808,000 sports sedan.

Whereas the SiR came alive past 5,000 rpm, the two-liter motor of the RS just has bags of torque everywhere. The redline’s a ho-hum 6,500 rpm, and really, there’s no point in zinging the engine past 6,000. The tradeoff is a very tractable engine with minimal need for downshifting just to overtake everyone in sight, which you will do the moment you get a taste of the engine’s power. You can just put the nice but somewhat mushy-feeling shifter into 5th gear on the highway and forget about shifting; heck, who needs an automatic with an engine like this? Yet in traffic, it’s as docile as the 1.6-liter Lynx.

At high speed, the fairly close ratios of the transmission mean that 5th gear will pull the car to its top speed, which I wouldn’t try to reach on public roads (I’d guess it’s 200-something kph). The SiR has the better suspension for that kind of stuff, though. The RS’ struts just don’t give that planted-to-the-road feel that double-wishbones or multilink suspensions have, although they’re pretty good when the road isn’t straight. Turn-in is immediate, there’s minimal bobbing and modest pitch, and it’s not harsh at all. Boy racers won’t tire of the ride long after they’ve settled the payments on this car.

Sadly, the lack of an automatic for the people will limit this all-around sportster’s appeal to a very appreciative few, the kind of driver who lives for a nice set of switchbacks and knows the lost art of heel-and-toe. I could live without the "carbon fiber" panels on the dashboard or the rear wing. Too rice boy for me. And the red paint is too, uh, racy. Stealth black, or better yet, angelic white would be classier. While the universally likeable (and more sedate) Corolla Altis 1.8G and Civic 2.0-liter i-VTEC are the primo models for the Altis and Civic lineup, the unabashed character of the RS makes it seem less as the top dog than the rabid pitbull lurking in the garage along with the more civil 1.6-liter Lynxes. It’s a great performance demonstrator for Ford and a great value, but it’s a niche car nonetheless. Type A drivers looking for a compact, fully-equipped sedan will find that the sweet RS simply kicks arse. — Andy Leuterio