was exhumed to see what was what.
“The build was meant to be a basic Stage
3, but a friend, Richard Youll, persisted in
bullying me and it ended up getting a bit
out of hand,” Andrew laughs. Chief among
the upgrades in the new-wave spec was
the aforementioned Borg Warner EFR7064
turbo – a brutal piece of kit that spools like
crazy, its cunning precision specs offering
power levels hitherto unheard of for its
compressor wheel size. This is the kind of
turbo technology that would have been
simply unimaginable back when the RS
Cosworth was new on the forecourts. “This
was the first time I’d fitted a Borg Warner,so it did present a few hurdles,” Andrew
explains. “It required custom hoses, new
exhaust, airbox lid adaptors, designing
and manufacturing damper brackets for
the EFR... all part of the fun though, and
all the work on the car was carried out in
my own garage by myself and two friends;
the only work done by a tuner was the
management install and mapping.” The
engine data is really quite impressive now;
that cracked block has been ousted for a
long-studded 200 block, stuffed with Arrow
rods and Wiseco pistons, and running an
8:1 compression ratio. Uprated cooling and
intercooling were a necessity, as was beefed-up fuelling, and Andrew’s done a wonderful
job of making the engine bay and build
look almost factory-stock but with a twist.
Naturally that groovy turbo is the elephant
in the room! And the management he talks
about is an Emtron setup, which not only
corrals all of this hardcore equipment into
putting out a sturdy 511bhp, it also offers the
grin factor of anti-lag and launch control.
The chassis upgrades to suit are pleasingly
old-school too. Koni adjustables are mated
to Bayjoo springs, as Ford lads and lasses
have been swearing by for years, while the
brakes are a formidable combo of AP Racing
6-pots up front and Reyland gear out back;
a Quaife LSD keeps the smiles coming, and
those Imolas have been replaced with the
timeless Compomotive MO6-spoke rims. A
proper spec – retro ’90s hooligan with usable
21st-century power.
“It’s a Sunday fun car now, used for
enjoying the local roads with my family,”
Andrew smiles. But then a malevolent glint
twinkles in his eye. “And then, when the
family’s not in it, it likes a good thrashing
on the B-roads...” Yep, there it is, that retro
RS passion – never leaves you, does it? This
was a long and protracted gestation before
the Cossie finally hit the road, but it was
well worth the wait. Andrew’s Sapphire may
not just be all about the big turbo, although
it does rather dominate proceedings;
thankfully, despite that elephant in the room,
everything’s totally appropriate and fit for
purpose here. The past, remastered.AP 6-pots live behind those
timeless Comp MO6sSAPPHIRE COSWORTHѲ FAS T FOR D SEPTEMBER 2019was exhumed to see what was what.
“The build was meant to be a basic Stage
3, but a friend, Richard Youll, persisted in
bullying me and it ended up getting a bit
out of hand,” Andrew laughs. Chief among
the upgrades in the new-wave spec was
the aforementioned Borg Warner EFR7064
turbo – a brutal piece of kit that spools like
crazy, its cunning precision specs offering
power levels hitherto unheard of for its
compressor wheel size. This is the kind of
turbo technology that would have been
simply unimaginable back when the RS
Cosworth was new on the forecourts. “This
was the first time I’d fitted a Borg Warner,so it did present a few hurdles,” Andrew
explains. “It required custom hoses, new
exhaust, airbox lid adaptors, designing
and manufacturing damper brackets for
the EFR... all part of the fun though, and
all the work on the car was carried out in
my own garage by myself and two friends;
the only work done by a tuner was the
management install and mapping.” The
engine data is really quite impressive now;
that cracked block has been ousted for a
long-studded 200 block, stuffed with Arrow
rods and Wiseco pistons, and running an
8:1 compression ratio. Uprated cooling and
intercooling were a necessity, as was beefed-up fuelling, and Andrew’s done a wonderful
job of making the engine bay and build
look almost factory-stock but with a twist.
Naturally that groovy turbo is the elephant
in the room! And the management he talks
about is an Emtron setup, which not only
corrals all of this hardcore equipment into
putting out a sturdy 511bhp, it also offers the
grin factor of anti-lag and launch control.
The chassis upgrades to suit are pleasingly
old-school too. Koni adjustables are mated
to Bayjoo springs, as Ford lads and lasses
have been swearing by for years, while the
brakes are a formidable combo of AP Racing
6-pots up front and Reyland gear out back;
a Quaife LSD keeps the smiles coming, and
those Imolas have been replaced with the
timeless Compomotive MO6-spoke rims. A
proper spec – retro ’90s hooligan with usable
21st-century power.
“It’s a Sunday fun car now, used for
enjoying the local roads with my family,”
Andrew smiles. But then a malevolent glint
twinkles in his eye. “And then, when the
family’s not in it, it likes a good thrashing
on the B-roads...” Yep, there it is, that retro
RS passion – never leaves you, does it? This
was a long and protracted gestation before
the Cossie finally hit the road, but it was
well worth the wait. Andrew’s Sapphire may
not just be all about the big turbo, although
it does rather dominate proceedings;
thankfully, despite that elephant in the room,
everything’s totally appropriate and fit for
purpose here. The past, remastered.AP 6-pots live behind those
timeless Comp MO6sSAPPHIRE COSWORTHѲ FAS T FOR D SEPTEMBER 2019