Generation RS: Ford Lynx (2004)

I may already be suffering from a mid-life crisis. I’m no psychiatrist, but consider this: in the considerable number of cars I’ve driven so far, I’ve fallen in love with those which are admittedly targeted for a much older set. Sure, the Honda Accord, Volvo XC70 Cross Country and even the Ford Expedition are great cars in their respective fields, but they don’t exactly make me feel any younger than my twenty-odd years of existence.

Twenty-three years may seem such a short time, but having been repeatedly warned by friends about ‘getting too old’; I started to yearn for a secret youth formula. Since I don’t plan to start venturing into the use of leather jackets and tight-fitting jeans, maybe I would start with the car that I drive. Surely a drop-top two-seater sports car would do the trick, right? Not unless you live in a different dimension. Maybe a compact SUV, then? For all its sporty lifestyle pretensions, it still shouts family man. Realistically, it would have to be something that’s reasonably priced, easy to maintain but still offering distinctiveness, style and downright naughty fun. This is the world of the Ford Lynx RS.

It’s hard conserving with a girl, trying to point out what makes the RS so good compared to other Lynxes, and beyond that, the other compact sedans. They won’t care that the revised bumpers add aggressiveness to the profile or that the 16-inch alloys look spot on in the wheel arches. Heck, they probably won’t even care about the it having a 2.0-liter engine under the hood. Show the same car to a bunch of guys, and they’ll do one of two things: admire the car for what it is or they’ll try to race you to prove that their cars are better. In short, the Lynx RS is a car with a goatee and chest hair. It’s simply overflowing with testosterone.

When word came out that I’d be able to drive the Lynx RS on the road, I felt something that I haven’t experienced in a long time: excitement. The last time I had sleepless nights was the night before my parents would take me to the toy store. The anticipation in driving this car is the same. Sure, other cars may have given me smiles before, thanks to driving comfort or push button luxury, but as a young guy, nothing beats doing a scene straight out of The Fast and the Furious. No one doubts that the RS is fast—it can reach 180 km/h without difficulty, but what amazes me are the details that make the Lynx RS a cut above the rest.

With so much emphasis concentrated on the RS’s looks, I thought that actual engineering could have taken a back seat here. Could the RS be a quintessential muscle car: all horsepower and no finesse? Thankfully, this is one American car that has learned a thing or two from the Europeans, especially in the suspension department. The lesser Lynxes were already known to have excellent handling, virtually the best in class, but this one takes it one step further and has come close to capturing the European Focus’s behavior.

I’ve taken the RS on all sorts of roads during my test: pot-hole ridden, marble smooth, slightly wavy—and the car’s ride was excellent. Whereas I managed to complain about the Ghia’s popsicle-like ride, the RS glided with more panache and poise, despite its bigger tires and tuned suspension. Where it counted the most, the RS showed off as a nimble handler with bags of mechanical grip and almost no body roll in even the tightest of bends. What amazed me even more is how the RS communicated itself well with the driver. It offers excellent steering and suspension feedback that’s notoriously absent from the other Japanese compact sedans. At the limit of adhesion, the RS fully utilizes its high-performance Yokohama Advan tires giving just hints of tire chirping.

The 143-bhp figure may be seem modest for a 2.0, but if there’s one car that manages to make each horse’s presence felt, it’s this one. The rev happy nature of the engine makes punishing the RS such a joy, especially since it has 6,500 rpm to play with. What makes the engine extra special is the noise. The VICS mechanism produces an excellent growl thanks to a trick induction system coupled with a revamped exhaust.

The excellent chassis stability means that the RS is able to channel all of its 192 Nm of torque without any drama, making this one solid driver’s car. If those torque figures don’t seem amazing enough, consider the following: the Mitsubishi Lancer MX only has 141 Nm, while the Honda Civic SiR has 170 Nm and the Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8G has 188 Nm. With a bantam curb weight and a proper five-speed gearbox, the RS can easily outrun all of those mentioned above. In practice, the RS can produce a devilish smile each time I nailed the throttle without worries, as extra grippy four-wheel disc brakes can bring the RS to a grinning halt with no problem.

At this point, it’s fair to warn you that the Ford Lynx RS isn’t the car for everyone. As I mentioned before, women would probably just see the car’s inherent weaknesses: the interior’s too cramped, there aren’t enough cup holders, and it only comes with a five speed manual (a clunky one at that). That said, for those whose purchase decisions are less influenced by their significant other rather than personal taste, the RS provides rocket-like performance with a price that undercuts the Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8G by more than 50,000 pesos. What’s more, unlike its Japanese rival, the RS doesn’t make you feel old: for one it doesn’t have wood trim.

Since I’ve spent a couple of years with the folks from Ford Philippines, it was obvious that this is car could not have come from your run-of-the-mill company. With a younger set at the helm, their liberal thinking has earned them their fair share of headlines. Everything from pushing of changes in the automotive excise tax to the ASEAN-wide CBU export program were some of the programs initiated by this David among the Philippine automotive Goliaths. In the end, I’m glad that their radical views aren’t limited to their policies alone. This is one car company that has the balls to come up with an in-your-face segment buster that’s as cool to drive, as it’s practical to own.

By Ulysses Ang | Photos By Ulysses Ang and Jason Ang