One of the stars at this month’s London Motor Show, the Ford Focus RS is most definately one of the most anticipated hot hatches of the year. How it could not be? It’s among the most attainable performance cars of the year and and with 300hp under its hood, it’s most likely going to be the most popular hot hatches of the year as well.
The Focus RS is clearly based on the recently revised Focus ST but there’s more to it than meets the eye. The team behind the development of the car started their rebuilding process with a 2.5-liter 5-cylinder turbocharged engine and went on to upgrade it’s oily internals that include unique camshafts, a revised cylinder head and gasket as well as a new intake and exhaust manifold system. According to Ford‘s performance engineers, the improved 2.5 turbocharged engine is targeting a total power output of 300Hp with 410Nm of torque. (Refresher: the Focus ST is only good for a puny 225hp). The RS scorches the century sprint in six seconds, but then again, the car is still under development, so we will still have to wait till someone in Europe gets their hands on one with a G-Tech fitted to it.
But with 300Hp at its disposal, the Focus RS sadly retains its predecessors front wheel drive set up. So the question emerges, how will a car with 300Hp powering its front wheels behave? Like a lunatic some may believe, but Ford’s engineers put their heads together and came up with several solutions, starting off with the addition of a Quaife Automatic Torque Biasing limited-slip differential and onto an innovative front suspension system known as the ‘RevoKnuckle’; a system that works to reduce unwanted steering disturbance and most importantly, torque steer. Ford’s engineers reveal that the results are staggering and it eliminates the need for an AWD system that comes with a hefty weight penalty.
“Our work has shown clearly that our approach in combining a tuned RevoKnuckle with the Quaife differential is an ideal solution for a high performance front-wheel-drive road car like Focus RS”, says Jost Capito, head of Ford Europe Performance Vehicles division.
“As you would expect, we gave all-wheel-drive careful consideration, but by combining and tuning these elements and learning from Ford’s expertise in industry-leading handling, we have managed to eliminate the weight of AWD from the car and still have been able to target a class-leading balance of traction, handling and performance. The result is a lightweight set-up, that will deliver the right blend of traction and razor sharp controllability” Capito concluded.
Other improvements for Focus RS include a 40mm wider track, stronger, longer driveshafts, revised springs and dampers, a thicker, longer rear anti-roll bar, retuned steering system and most importantly, a special version of Ford’s ESP system designed to allow a very sporty driving style before activating. The Focus RS also boasts uprated brakes, with 336mm ventilated front discs and 300mm rear discs.
The Focus RS is also one of those cars that look as fast as they go, the bright green paint (think 70s Ford Escort RS1600 Le Mans Green) is loud enough to provoke any street racer into engaging you, and that’s even before the detailing of the car is considered. The RS is equipped with an aggressive bodykit that includes a new front bumper, a twin-element black roof spoiler, a newly designed rear bumper that includes a large venturi and two chromed exhaust tail pipes as well as a “Race Me You P*S*Y” rear window sticker.
The RS rides on 19-inch alloys, wrapped in 235/35 low profile Continental tyres that are housed under wider wheel arches. So while the RS has much sharper claws than the ST, it sadly shares its exterior with its lesser sibling although with a different theme to it. The RS’s interior can be differentiated by the bi-colour sculpted Recaro bucket seats, the brushed aluminium highlights and the carbon-look trim on the center console, Ford could have done better with the interior, but the RS is not about pleasing the eye, it’s about pleasing our driving senses, so from tonight and every other night, pray that it graces our shores, and don’t forget to save too.
