I wonder if he removed the intercooler cover. Wouldn't help the rear diff situation but still curious. Much more interesting was that drift mode was useful for a competition event.

 

Makes sense in theory at autox to allow the car to rotate.

 

Some more data.

Top Gear test track:

Lotus Evora - 01:25.7
Evo 8 MR FQ320 - 1:26.0
BMW M5 (E60) - 01:26.2
Ford Focus RS MK3 - 1:26.4
Corvette C6 LS2 - 01:26.8
EVO X FQ300 - 1:28.22
Ford Focus RS MK2 - 1:29.3
Focus ST - 1:29.6

 

IBT fanboys point out that the FQ320 was faster by 0.4 of a second.

 

100 degrees ambient is fairly common in the Southwest and Texas. 100 degrees on a parking lot isn't even that hot, so this is definitely a temperature threshold that will cause headaches.

I'm not sure what Ford is trying to protect against, probably damage to the clutch packs, but for whatever reason, there are obviously sensors which are sensing excess heat and putting the car into a safe mode. I'm not surprised that auto-x would cause this problem (lots of heat generated, but no time going fast to cool things down).

 

I'm going to comment again that the Ford MED Ecu has all sorts of triggers to bring output down based on many many inputs. The Fiesta OEM programming has some of the heat triggers pretty low and if you track with the stock ROM, they can be triggered fairly easily.

One of the first things I did was raise a bunch of them (not turn them off) because I considered them way too conservative and I did a bunch of days with no issues and no power fluctuations.

Ford might have made them conservative on the RS as well just to be careful out of the gate. ECU updates are better (financially and PR wise) than stuff blowing up or melting.

 

This is more than just bringing down power output. This is locking the car out of the more aggressive drive modes. That's well beyond an engine failsafe for high ECT, knock, high IAT, etc. Makes it seem more along the lines that the RDU couldn't handle it, not the engine. Since the drive modes largely effect the RDU more so than the engine parameters.

 

 

I would assume that the ECU, TCU, etc all work in unison, much like the Evo MR so I wouldn't assume the controller for the RDU doesn't see or act on inputs from the other controllers. Also, if it the RDU is strictly seeing it's own temp readings and acting on it, that also could be programmed conservatively. One other thing to keep in mind is that Ford uses a very good amount of inferred sensor readings for inputs, meaning, there are no actual physical sensors for some of the readings the computers see and use for power control. An example is oil temp on the Fiesta ST. The Fiesta ST does not have an actual oil temp sensor but it infers it based on other sensors, same with EGT. (VW does this too). Mitsubishi does this with the SST as well.

Also, I would push to the side what you know about the Mitsubishi ECUs when talking about the MED ECU and controllers. Not saying you are wrong, just that it's a bit different world in there compared to the Mitsubishi controllers. If you have some knowledge of GM programming strategies, then it would be a bit more similar.

Either way, all assumptions from both of us until further information.

 

I have some vague knowledge of the ford and GM stuff. I know that they have fail safes, on top of fails safes, on top of fail safes. And yes, with modern CANBUS systems, everything is integrated. It's hard to say if an engine failsafe would reduce power, or change the drive mode, or both. Since the drive mode doesn't effect power output that is. The RDU fail safes are very likely a combination of effecting power and which drive mode is selectable. Since both engine output and the drive mode play a part in putting heat into the RDU.


But yes, these are all assumptions and guesses based on how each of us "thinks" Ford may have programmed the car based on how we might do it...lol

 

Yup, I'm really looking forward to seeing into the ECU(s).

btw, I added some info in my last post around Ford and it's large use of inferred readings.

P.S. Ahhhh, it's so much nicer in here without Nemsin. Now we have actual adult discussions...

 

Yeah, they all do it. The ford trucks have a cylinder head temp data line. There is not head temp sensor...lol. Just like the inferred oil life monitors. All based on how the vehicle is driven...

 

Matt's mention @ 5:22 of refinement, luxury.


Also comment made by Noise on his driving impression of the RS:

"If I had to pick one word to describe this car after driving, it’s certainly not the one I expected. But here it is: Refinement.

Quality is apparent everywhere in the driving experience. The RS has distinctively German virtues, which floors me coming from a car with a blue oval badge on the wheel. That’s certainly not to detract from the great things modern Fords are accomplishing, just that the fit, finish, and mannerisms of a BMW were the last things I expected to find in a Focus."

This takes me back to the day when I drove a Mercury Capri which was a German made import in the 70's. At the time the US made Pinto used a similar drive train but wasn't even in the ballpark by comparison. Capri had some of this talked about refinement too back then!

 

I dunno about the luxury part but refinement I 100% agree with. Even the Fiesta feels refined which is impressive for a car in that category.

Ford has basically copied all the good parts of VW and added their own take on driving dynamics which they have been doing very well for awhile now. At least the european designed Fords...

I took my new 2016 Fiesta ST on 150 miles of awesome driving roads today and I was reminded how good the Fiesta ST is in stock form. Was good to be reminded of that since I was coming from my 2014 Fiesta ST that I had modded with coilovers, fmic and tune.

 

Europien made cars tend to be more "refined" . less cup holders but more refinements. That is true for the Ford too. lol