1:18 OttOmobile Ford Escort Mk4/Series 2 RS Turbo Review
Categories 1:18, Models, Scale Model and Accessory Reviews
Welcome to my review of the 1:18 OttOmobile Ford Escort Mk4 RS Turbo in Radiant Red! This is part of the “review in a few” series where I show off all the main features of a model, rather than fully going into the history and background of the real car and posting a limited number of pictures for you to drool over.
Produced between 1986 and 1990, the Ford Escort Mk4 RS Turbo continued Ford’s RS (Rallye Sport) heritage line from the RS3100 Capri, the RS1600, RS1800 and RS2000 Escorts, the Sierra RS Cosworth and of course, the Mk3/Series 1 RS Turbo. Released in late 1984, the Series 1 RS Turbo packed 132bhp with 180Nm from its turbocharged 1.6 litre four-cylinder engine. The Series 1 RS Turbo also featured a viscous-coupling limited-slip differential to help eliminate torque steer. According to Ford, it was the first use of the technology in a front wheel drive production car.
Ford was only planning to build 5,000 for Group A homologation purposes, but due to demand, it ended up building 8,604 all in Diamond White – unless you were Lady Diana, who managed to get hers in Black! Due to the racing/rallying background of the car, many drivers and passengers complained about the unforgiving suspension on uneven surfaces.
This is where the facelifted Mk4 RS Turbo came into play. The Series 2 variant arrived in 1986 after just a year of the Series 1 being on sale. It incorporated aesthetic changes made to the Escort line that year and was clearly aimed at the road user rather than built solely for homologation purposes as per the Series 1. Performance was very similar to the earlier car, with a top speed of 125mph, the only changes to the engine being a water-cooled Garrett turbo, longer gearing, revised cylinder head and new piston, plus improvements to the Jetronic unit and Intercooler.
You could now get the Series 2 RS Turbo in Diamond White, Black, Rosso Red, Radiant Red (1990 spec cars) and Mercury Grey. Testing the car in 1986, Autocar magazine commented that Ford had succeeded in building a quick, practical hatch: “…this is a slightly more civilised hot hatch, better adapted to fast, long-distance motoring in improved comfort than its predecessor.” However, Autocar’s tester concluded that the RS had slightly lost its edge compared to its first homolgation creation saying, “anyone who drove the original…is likely to be disappointed by this second, slightly softer, version.” Unfortunately, Fords of the early to mid-1980s could be stolen with a teaspoon and a fast Ford was no exception! As a result of this, nobody would insure the RS Turbo and the car’s values plummeted.
Here we have the Ford Escort Mk4/Series 2 RS Turbo for review in Radiant Red and made by OttOmobile (item number OT826). The pre-1990 cars were Rosso Red, which seems to be a slightly darker shade. I just want to say a big thanks to OttOmobile for sending this press sample over for me to review – their partnership is much appreciated!
So what is my quick opinion of this model? For the €59.90 release price of OttOmobile’s 1:18 models, their models represent excellent value for money! I’m pleased to say there were no quality control (QC) issues on my example, although it was marked as a trade sample so make of that what you will. This is a left hand drive replica and it seems only the UK right hand drive variant had the orange side indicators in real life, so this model is correct in not having them included. Otherwise this particular model looks like a stellar representation in 1:18 form!
