Widebody Fiat Panda Is Actually A 300-HP Ford Fiesta Rally Car

Elevate your hand if you observed this coming mainly because we unquestionably did not. British enterprise M-Sport, which operates the namesake motorsport team in WRC, has developed a hybrid. No, you can find no electric motor hiding in this boxy hatchback as we’re utilizing this phrase to describe the unforeseen relationship amongst an unique Fiat Panda and a initially-generation Ford Fiesta R5.

People Lego-like angular wheel arches encouraged by Team B rally automobiles denote this is not your standard Italian town auto as the little Panda has been extensively modified. One could argue it can be extra Ford than Fiat considering the fact that it gets the chassis from the rally-spec Fiesta, which demanded widening the shell by 360 millimeters (fourteen.1 inches) to make space for the borrowed bones.

The engine also comes from the Blue Oval, particularly a turbocharged, 1.six-liter gasoline engine. The 4-pot EcoBoost unit has been massaged to provide nearly 300 horsepower and an enough 332 pound-feet (five hundred Newton-meters) of torque. Output is channeled to equally axles by way of a five-speed Sadev sequential transmission.

Supplemental modifications have occurred inside of the cabin where by you will not discover the rear seats any more. These have been taken out not to save weight, but rather to match spare wheels considering the fact that the mysterious consumer desires to consider portion in rallies on equally tarmac and gravel. The Pandamonium as it has been baptized by M-Sport also comes with an FIA-homologated roll cage and 6-stage harnesses.

Whilst the love affair amongst a Panda and a Fiesta R5 will stay a 1-off undertaking, M-Sport says extra exceptional autos are on the way considering the fact that the enterprise desires to produce a line of bespoke autos. Meanwhile, the WRC division is placing the ending touches on a rally-spec Puma hybrid that will rejoice its racing debut in 2022.