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[Infamous Ob]

Man I been hooked on these since I first started doing research on em about 2 months ago. They are so sick. I seen a few up for sale, but they all are over in UK and such  places. So Im not sure how to get one over here or I wonder if I could find one here somewhere? They like Skylines........... not happening. lol

[kirky1991]

To get them from here to you, You'd prob be best to buy one, stick it in a container and get it shipped over to you...

The rs cosworths are animal, the huge spoiler on them looks abit weird but i wouldnt mind an rs cosworth

You talking bout the sierra cosworth or escort ?

[bucko]

my mate has an American Chevy that the previouse owner imported from the USA, it is possible (but it's weird when I sit in the place that is normally meant to have the steering wheel lol). Maybe there are some people over there that have already imported them and looking to sell up? Might be some forums about it??

[twistedsymphony]

You will never be able to straight up import an RS...

Crates are inspected at the docks and unless it's listed as a race car (you would need a letter from Ford saying that it is a race built car not intended for public road use) you cannot bring it into the country.


WHAT YOU CAN DO

Option 1:
contact an "RI" (Registered Importer) who can import the car for you and will make modifications to match that of the US spec Focus in terms of EPA emissions standards as well as DOT standards for lighting and crash-testing... this will cost you easily $10K over the base cost of the car. The RI will assign the car a US VIN and for all intents and purposes they were the ones who built the car.

Option 2:
Find someone in the UK who can scour junk yards for you... and ship you all of the necessary drive train parts to convert a US spec Focus to AWD and whatever else..

as long as you don't modify any of the safety features or emission features of the car (this means you're stuck with the US factory engine) you will have a legal focus that is essentially the same as the UK spec RS (and LHD too!)... A lot of people do this. I know a lot of older Impreza owners who imported STi drivetrains from Japan. This is also your cheapest option.


There are other Not-so legal options. A lot of people bring skylines into the US from Canada since they can be easily imported into Canada and it's easier bringing them over the Canadian border than it is from a shipping port. While a Skyline isn't exactly inconspicuous a Focus is... You might be able to find someone in Canada that has already imported one there... I don't even know how you'd get the paperwork squared away though... maybe find someone in Canada who can legally register it for you and and then just drive it around the US with Canadian plates...

alternatively you could bring the car in through Canada and find a US focus with a blown engine and then swap everything off the UK spec car onto the US spec chassis...

---------------------------

Honestly your best bet is to contact an RI and see what they say... for all I know they've done a few before... keep in mind that ANYTHING is possible... it's just a matter of money

[Chancer]

Which Cosworth? Sierra RS500 (The best one with the whale tail), Sapphire, or Escort Cossie.
They are old hat now and whilst being good motors don't have some of the features of the newer stuff.
RS Focus is stunning motor with equal performance, more refinement and less rust most likely.

[grim_d]

QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Jun 12 2008, 04:59 PM)

Option 2:
Find someone in the UK who can scour junk yards for you... and ship you all of the necessary drive train parts to convert a US spec Focus to AWD and whatever else..

you would need to be pretty handy to do that, remember the Focus RST is FWD, so you need the drivetrain from a Sierra 4x4 or Escort RS Cosworth, and need to fabricate a transmission tunnel etc.

For that reason i don't acctually think he is talking about the focus as REAL focus cosworths don't exist

infamous OB - are you talking about the Sierra or Escort?

Theres only one version of the Escort RS Cosworth (3dr AWD 227bhp) but there are 4 versions of the Sierra cosworth...

Sierra RS cosworth (3dr RWD 204bhp)
Sierra RS500 (3dr RWD 224bhp)
Sierra Sapphire Cosworth (4dr RWD 224bhp)
Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4 (4dr AWD 224bhp)

Nice, reliable and fairly fast cars, but suffer from one huge flaw, they aint japanese

[lostboyz]

a guy I met on the rally-America circuit that runs a cosworth escort was in pristine condition. Think it was a Mexican import.

[rms2001]

All I can say is good luck to you. I tried in vain to have my wife’s Jeep brought over from England. Every where I turned, we ran into a brick wall and finally decided it was easier to sell it there, and buy a brand new one here. The biggest problem is the fact the Jeep was a diesel and it was RHD.

I had to wait until last year when the US finally undid the knot in their panties to get a diesel powered Jeep here. Any way… I contacted a friend of mine who is a registered importer. He mainly imports the fun toys from Europe, non of that rice crap from Japan thankfully.

Any way, his says the Corsworth may be imported, but only in the ’94 and ’95 model years. This was the info I got from him. Import Eligibility Number; VCP: 9. Docket Number; Not online: 95-25. Its unknown if this is for a LHD or a RHD model, but most likely its a mainland Europe LHD model.

Hope the above info helps. Any thing you ever wanted to know about importing any thing with wheels into the US, look at the link below. From what can and cant be imported and what RIs you can contact.

http://www.nhtsa.dot...s/rules/import/

[grim_d]

why specifically the 94 and 95 models? thats kinda of gay since i limits you to excort cosworth, and lets be honest here, the sierra is far far cooler.

[twistedsymphony]

QUOTE(grim_d @ Jun 14 2008, 07:41 AM)

why specifically the 94 and 95 models? thats kinda of gay since i limits you to excort cosworth, and lets be honest here, the sierra is far far cooler.

I'm going to guess it's due to emissions standards because the USA enacted the OBDII as well as all kinds of new emissions laws in 96

though it could also be due to airbag laws which also kicked in around 96 IIRC.


it's also be good to clear up which vehicle you're talking about

Ford Fiesta RS Turbo
1990-1992
FWD 1.6L Turbo

Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1992-1996
AWD 2.0L Turbo
7145 produced

Focus RS Mark I
2002-2003
FWD 2.5L T5 Twin Turbo
4501 produced

The Turbo Sierra was released in the USA but not under the Ford name
it was called the Merkur XR4Ti and made from 85-89 available only in the RWD format... the European version had an AWD option and was made until 93

[rms2001]

QUOTE(grim_d @ Jun 14 2008, 06:41 AM)

why specifically the 94 and 95 models? thats kinda of gay since i limits you to excort cosworth, and lets be honest here, the sierra is far far cooler.

My guess is some one spent the money and imported either one of those two years. Its possible the ’94 and ’95 models are identical as far as emissions, safely and theft prevention. These car would have had to been approved by the USDOT, EPA and safty administration, as well as any thing else the buyer needed to do.

 It’s a royal pain in the padded ass to import any vehicle into the US. You’d think importing UK vehicles would be pie considering they have such strict, emission, inspection and safely laws. In a lot of ways, very much more strict than the Kalifornia Nazis.