The Blue Oval Motor Company recently pulled the covers back on its hottest Focus RS and announced that it will be powered by the same EcoBoost lump used in the all-new Mustang, albeit 10 percent more powerful in this form. Aside from that, it was declared that the RS would also be equipped with an all-wheel drive system for the first time.
That being said, Ford was being rather scarce with information of their wackiest RS model till the wraps came of at the Frankfurt motor show where a whole slew of details emerged as promised. For starters, it will launch itself to 100 km/h from standstill in just 4.6 seconds before rocketing onto a top speed of 265 km/h.
These daft figures are thanks in part to the 2.3-litre turbocharged mill that makes 345 hp and 440 Nm of torque, all of which is channeled to the four wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. There’s also a Launch Control system that will catapult you off the line. When it comes to the corners, Ford’s Dynamic Torque Vectoring system with differentials will keep you out of the roughage.
Having said that, one would naturally assume that power isn’t in short supply here, but you’d be mistaken. The RS comes with an overboost function on the turbochargers that will give you a total of 470 Nm for short amount of time, such as when Launch Control is activated.
The Focus RS can select from four different Drive Modes that will reconfigure the AWD system, damper controls, Electronic Stability Control, steering and engine responsiveness (exhaust sound too) to deliver optimum performance on road or circuit driving conditions. Normal, Sport or Track settings are available, alongside a special Drift Mode – yes you read that right, to help the driver achieve controlled oversteer drifts should it tickle your fancy.
Ford’s performance engineers have been hard at work to extract as much power as possible out of the Pony-car derived block. The engine features a new low-inertia twin-scroll turbocharger with a larger compressor, enhanced air intake design, and a large-bore high performance exhaust system. The result of which is an increase of 10 percent over the standard measure.
Ford has indicated a retail sticker value of £28,940 or roughly RM191,000. Expect that value to be much higher after taxes and duties are applied should Ford decide to stick the RS up for sale on our shores. Ford will start deliveries of the Focus RS beginning early 2016.
