eSports Car of the Week Ford Fiesta RS Rally
By Kelly G.
Art of Gears brings you a different car, a different race, and introduces you to the world that is eSports racing. This week, we’ll take a look at the Ford Fiesta RS Rally.
Ok eSports racing fans, get ready to switch it up a bit this week. You see, choosing a Car of the Week is no easy task. Each week, I really have no idea what car I want to pick. I don’t pick my cars in advance, and I don’t have a pre-selected list already written up that I can draw from either. The car I choose is based on what I “feel” like driving each week. That and your feedback. Sometimes, I drive the same car for multiple weeks, but it’s only if the event I am racing in lasts longer than a week, or I really like the car. I think this is the only way to keep the car list fresh and exciting.
So this week, while I was searching through the many eSports Summer ’16 racing events going on, I saw the tweet from @dirtgame saying there was a special racing event taking place in Finland. This special rally event, is a 6-stage rally through the dirt roads of Jamsa, Finland. eSports Racers are able to choose between 4 different rally vehicles. Sounds like fun, right? The vehicles include:
-Mini Countryman Rally Edition
-Ford Fiesta RS Rally
-Volkswagen Polo Rally
-Hyundai Rally
After checking out all the vehicles for this week’s event, our eSports Car of the Week is the Ford Fiesta RS Rally!
eSports Event Details
Date: Sunday, July 31th – Sunday, August 7th, 2016
Time: Various (times to be announced on Twitter @ArtofGears)
Game: DiRT Rally
Console: Xbox One
The Car? Ford Fiesta RS Rally
The Track? 6-Stage Rally in Jamsa, Finland
The Race? DiRT Rally Special Event – “The 2010’s”
eSports Ford Fiesta RS Rally – A Closer Look
On Sale: N/A
Base Price: N/A
Engine: 1.6 liter In-Line 4-cylinder Turbocharged Engine
Drivetrain: Four-wheel drive, Sequential shift, six forward gears and one reverse
Output: 315 hp, 425 lb-ft Torque
0-60 time: 1.9 seconds! (Depending on Gearing)
Curb Weight: 2,646 lbs
Fuel Economy: N/A
AOG Positives: Four-wheel drive rally car
AOG Negatives: Because it’s four-wheel drive, it’s a little heavy
Here is a video of the Neste Rally WRC Championship that went down last month in Finland. The video shows just how tough this course can be and after you get past the initial intro music, it provides some pretty wild rally action:
eSports – The Ford Fiesta RS Rally Setup
Car: Ford Fiesta RS Rally
Car Sponsorship Paint Scheme: Various
Car Sponsorship Color: Various
Tune: Stock Tune Only
Drivetrain: I will be using a combination of the Logitech G920 Full Race Wheel (manual with Paddle Shift for this event) and the Xbox One Elite Controller (Manual Shift)
Car Assists: Traction Control Off
Vehicle Damage: Yes
AOG Positives: Great acceleration speed; easy to control into the jumps
AOG Negatives: Brakes are kind of mushy; can lose it in the turns if you are not careful!
Below is the video of the Hot Lap in the Ford Fiesta RS Rally. Keep in mind, this video is a 3-minute hot lap, 1 take, no restarts to see how the car performs as if you were to jump in and try to race it. This particular video is the 3rd out of 6 stages of the rally, so my Fiesta RS was in need of some repairs and shows you how tough this event is!
So what do you think? Do you have what it takes to race against Art of Gears? Come join us in the DiRT Rally Special event this week.