pho_shizzle

iTrader: (17)

lets all wait.. watch..and see

not12listen

i'm guessing that you do not watch ERC. with all of the hours and hours, over all of the years of footage that i have (footage dating back to the 80's), and have watched - i have only seen an impreza in the field 1 time. and it got its *** handed to it, as in DEAD LAST PLACE. whereas, the Ford Focus, Citreon C4, Ford Fiesta, Skoda Fabia, Volvo S40 & Saab 9-3 are all running in the field, trading positions, winning, etc.

and honestly, trying to pit the European Focus VS the Impreza is a sad joke. the Impreza gets its *** handed to it. the Focus is still FWD, which is its main fault. but, i'd sooner trust an engine that is tuned by Cosworth than STi.

opinions are just like brown puckered starfish - everyone has one, and everyone else's stinks. the simple fact is, in the ERC, running a Subaru is akin to asking to NOT be in the winner's circle. all of the other mentioned cars, hit the winner's circle regularly.

chimchimm5

iTrader: (9)

Ford signing Block is a marketing move to try and get more Americans to watch, which makes a lot of sense. The article even states:

It's just sad that in Uh-meer-icuh car-racing=NASCAR.

Did Ford even ask Pastrana? Or did he turn them down?

Good luck to BK though. He won't win, but it'll be nice to get some 'mericans in.

subie OCD

iTrader: (11)

Why does everyone bag on Ken Block? Lets see... so far he has supported skateboarding (tremendously), snowboarding, Subaru and now WRC. Not to mention all the people on youtube that are entertained by his videos.

Who cares if he sucks, y'all a bunch of jealous *****es! If I owned DC I would do the same ****. GFYS!

JelloChex

iTrader: (6)

It's just too bad that most of their good stuff is over in Europe and outside of the U.S. If they offered the vehicles here that are so popular in other countries I have a feeling that a lot of people's opinions on Ford would really change.

ryball

iTrader: (6)

I thought this thread was going to be about Block getting drunk with a bunch of Mexican people.

chimchimm5

iTrader: (9)

Totally.

My wild speculation is that several gray-haired good ol' boys at Ford USA couldn't have their ego's crushed by letting Ford Euro show them up.

They claimed it was because the USDM market was so different that they couldn't bring in the euro cars. Yeah, the $$ numbers show how well that went.

And now more recently, we're seeing more Euro-esque cars from Ford and their numbers are up. Hmmm.

not12listen

the new CEO of Ford has a plan. i learned this by talking to the Ford guy at the SF Auto Show for half an hour.

at current, there are multiple 'Ford' iterations - the 2 largest being Ford USA and Ford Europe. he is slowly changing that frame of mind to 'Ford Worldwide.' at current, the flagship Ford for the US is the mustang, and all the attention is being put onto that. this explains why the Focus RS was never offered in the US, because it would surpass the Mustang in nearly every arena.

Ford has every intention of bringing the Fiesta to the US and, at current, when you go to their website, you can customize your Fiesta with specific options. the 2 most popular 'add-ons' selected are: Turbo, Aero Body Kit.

in 2012, the Turbo Fiesta will be offered in FWD fashion, and 2013 the Turbo AWD Fiesta will be up for sale.

also, the new engine spec is called the 'eco tech' and it has a very unique piston head design, direct cylinder fuel injection (2000 psi fuel pressure at the fuel rail), and its runs on 87 octane!

i've no doubt that running 91 and getting a proper tune will make that car come to life in a very good way.

not12listen

another note... if subaru made such a wonderful impreza, why is it that both Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson went over to Citreon when Subaru left WRC?

Chris went where he could (not many other options), but Petter chose a 2006 Citreon XSara... Petter had the pick of the field, even an Evo was an option for him. but no, he chose a 3 year old Citreon, instead of going back with the Impreza that has let him down for YEARS.

Unit 91

Part of that decision has to do with driving a car that is still being supported and can be updated. Prodrive will not be developing anything WRC related for Subaru unless Subaru decides they want back in. Whatever is already done is available, but it will be very hard to get new tech for the car unless the owner wants to do it themselves.

not12listen

very true, but Petter was at Ford prior to jumping over to Subaru. and Chris (that i recall) was never in a Ford. so, they both basically had that still available... and despite that, they both chose Citroen.

eastbaysubaru

iTrader: (9)

QFT!!!

Seriously though. What the fu(k is everyone's problem with the guy. He's doing exactly what most of us would be doing if we had the means. Hell, I know I would!

-Brian

eastbaysubaru

iTrader: (9)

Subaru leaving meant there were no Subarus to drive and no one to support them. Both Petter and Atkinson went where they could find a ride. Neither of them had many choices, let alone funding.

-Brian

ryball

iTrader: (6)

...

eastbaysubaru

iTrader: (9)

That's going to be changing over the next few years. We are getting the Fiesta this year I believe as a 2011 model. I have a sneaking suspicion that we'll be seeing the next Mondeo too which would be a huge plus for Ford here in America. The Mondeo has won countless awards in Europe and is a VERY nice car in all respects.

I'll believe an AWD turbo Fiesta when I see one on our shores. Ford has never made a turbo, let alone an AWD Fiesta anywhere in the world. Hell, even the Focus RS was FWD even though it looks a whole lot like the Focus WRC car. Only time will tell, but I wouldn't hold your breath for a turbo'd AWD Fiesta.

I also wouldn't put much stock in what the guys at the auto show tell you. I spoke to one of the Mazda guys a few years back about the Mazdaspeed 6 and he said there was going to be an wagon version as well.

-Brian