The Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth Was the Ultimate 1980s Fast Ford

TL;DR

The Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth was the ultimate 1980s performance Ford because only 500 were built as a homologation special dominating Group A touring car racing.

Key Points

• 1.The RS500 was a homologation special built to dominate Group A racing. Ford needed 500 road-legal units to qualify the Sierra for Group A touring car and rally competition, where it won dozens of races in the mid-to-late 1980s.
• 2.Tickford, a former Aston Martin subsidiary, performed the RS500 upgrades. They added a bigger turbocharger, larger intercooler, beefed-up engine internals, and improved oil and cooling systems over the already-hot standard Sierra Cosworth.
• 3.The iconic double-decker rear wing — plus a Gurney flap — became the car's most recognizable feature. The lower additional wing was added by Tickford and later influenced other high-performance Ford Cosworth models throughout the era.
• 4.Rated at 225 horsepower, the RS500 was widely considered underrated from the factory. That figure was 20 hp more than the standard Cosworth and roughly three to four times the output of a regular Ford Sierra's 60–80 hp engines.
• 5.All 500 RS500 units were right-hand drive only, with no left-hand drive versions ever produced. The car was also only offered as a three-door hatchback, distinguishing it from the broader Sierra lineup that included sedans, wagons, and vans.
• 6.The interior is quintessentially 1980s but includes clever quirks. Notable features include a factory turbo boost gauge, a dashboard clock with a built-in stopwatch for lap timing, a driver-angled center stack, and Recaro seats with heavy bolstering unusual for the era.
• 7.Doug's driving impressions found the RS500 faster than its claimed output suggests. He noted strong low-end power with less turbo lag than expected compared to his Audi RS2, though steering was lighter than ideal and handling reflected its 40-year-old suspension technology.
• 8.The RS500 scored 50 out of 100 on the Doug Score, competitive with a Ferrari 328 and 930 Porsche 911 Turbo. It outscored those cars on daily usability while they led on weekend performance, underlining its dual-purpose homologation-special character.