The Escort RS Cosworth was a high performance version of the European Ford Escort. The RS Cosworth was created for Group A rallying, which required the creation of over 2500 production examples in order to qualify for competition. These highly tuned Escorts were based on the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth's underpinnings, and featured the venerable Cosworth YB turbocharged 2.0L inline four engine. The Escort Cosworth was built in two main versions, with the first 2500 examples being used to satisfy homologation requirements. These first cars featured a larger turbo and intercooler, as well as a non-functioning water injection system, and were more reminiscent of the Group A rally cars. Later versions featured a smaller and less laggy turbo, and were more usable as daily drivers, yet performance between the two versions was largely the same. A total of 7,145 examples were built before the Escort RS Cosworth was discontinued in 1996.