[deetjohn]

The very exciting 2016 Ford Focus RS is ready and here.

With a 2.3L EcoBoost engine making 345 BHP/440Nm and mated to a 6 speed manual, 4 doors and a big boot, all wheel drive with track and drift modes, launch control, very clever torque vectoring with an emphasis on over-steer, its one hell of a machine. And quite simply many cars rolled into one fun package.

The RS will be made in Germany for all the global markets. The engine development was done in the UK and the tests were conducted across EU and USA. Ford also crash tested 28 RS prototypes during development.











It took Ford 2.5 years from concept to sign off under the very demanding Raj Nair, the Executive Vice President and now the Chief Technical Officer, Product Development at Ford. You can watch him working on the RS with the global performance division of Ford and Ken Block in the video below. Yes, you read it right. Ken Block worked with Ford' performance division to get the chassis balance right and the drift mode spot on. The aim was to make the car driver friendly with different modes but not at the expense of performance.

Here is Raj and Ken in the RS during development. You can catch more of that in the 'Rebirth of an icon' video below.



You can find the static review of the production ready model below. We wont get drive reports from media until early next year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGx7qra76oc

Raj is a very hard customer and is very hands on. He drives the RS at various stages during development to deliver his verdict and guide the team with very specific feedback - like the feel of steering and brakes and adding pops and burbles to the exhaust note. And for those who are interested, do take a look at this very detailed and highly insightful making video of the Focus RS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwd5838OeY

What a car! I just love it and cannot wait for the media reviews.

Source for pics

[deetjohn]

The reviews have started to come in now. And as expected, its rather lovely!



Some excerpts:

Originally Posted by TG

So even I can drift like Mr Block?

Yep, given the space and sufficient commitment from your right foot. It all starts with a revolutionary four-wheel drive system, developed by a company called GKN. It uses a pair of electronically-controlled clutch packs either side of a rear drive unit to manage the front/rear torque split – sending up to 70 per cent to the back - and channeling up to 100 per cent of that rear torque to the left or right wheel. By comparison, the Golf R’s Haldex system can only send 50 per cent of the torque to the rear and distributes it by braking the inside discs.

In drift mode it forces maximum grunt to the rear, but softens off the dampers to allow more movement, unlocking enormously-satisfying and controllable power oversteer. The system constantly monitors you, too, so if it senses you’re not applying lock quickly enough for the speed of rotation at the rear, the ESC will step in. If you are, then it lets the drift angle increase. Alternatively you can switch everything off, take a deep breath and leave the judgement up to your eyes and feet.

It’s a magical sensation, because unlike powerful rear-wheel drive cars, where the rear has a penchant for overtaking the front, the RS’ front tyres aren’t merely a static rotation point, they use that 30 per cent of torque to keep things moving forward, letting you hang the tail out, fear-free.


Sounds like it’s pretty much perfect, then?

Not quite, there are some issues. Our test car was fitted with the optional fixed-height bucket seats and immediately they feel too high, so you’re perched rather than sunken down into the belly of the machine. Ford says it’s already working on a fix, so watch this space. Then there’s the interior: the seats look great and are soft in all the right places, the bank of boost gauges is a nice touch, but beyond that it’s all a bit too boggo for our liking. Same goes for the exterior: the front-end, wing and exhausts are neatly executed, but where are the gratuitous vents and the flared arches? The strategy is clear, to widen its appeal (it’s a global car after all) but it’s definitely lost some of its inner Essex boy along the way.

But here’s the rub. After just a few hours playing with the RS’ hilariously approachable limits and using all of its performance more often than you’d think, those problems just fade to black. You’re left astonished by the way it ticks the same boxes as its competitors, then offers another dimension entirely. It’s a game-changer, this car. Really, it’s that good.

TopGear First drive



And here is the former Stig 'Ben Collins' explaining the four "Drive Modes" of the RS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbd3h4FoYOw

[extreme_torque]

Damm you beat me to it. Spend half the day reading the reviews on the internet and each one of them says that this car is revolutionary. And Drift mode and that too in a hatchback! How freaky funkin fantastic is that!

Edit: Here are the different driving modes explained. Look at how effortlessly it drift! What a hooligan!

Edit2: Turns out the video is already posted above ^

[deetjohn]

Well, the reviews are coming in thick and fast now and almost everyone is smitten. Wish Ford India had imported the RS instead of the Mustang.

That big intercooler at the front has been partially covered by a blanking plate from a Ford Transit van as it was cooling a bit too much. LOL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtuqPAkl-SY

Apparently, the rear spoiler is inspired by the F40. WOW! This is becoming rather adorable by the moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftei3z4KS-4

[deetjohn]

Look how 4WD + launch control catapults the RS to 35 Kmph!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5ZyDkcpbwU

And here is all the RS models from Ford to grace this planet in the last 40 years.


How GKN’ incredible Twinster all-wheel drive looks.




And here is Jalopnik' amazing review.

God In Hatchback Form

[deetjohn]

Focus RS is making a lot of fans worldwide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep6kzlNaAw0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yebl4YgoRA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB4mMPWXAgk

[ajmat]

Just been reading the latest CAR. Although, a closely fought battle, the Focus was able to trounce the new Boxter and the BMW M2 in term of all round ability for the price

[VPSuchin]

Ford Focus RS vs Honda Civic Type-R vs Audi RS3 vs Mercedes-AMG A45 & more: Hot Hatch Mega Test:

"featuring the all-new Ford Focus RS, Honda Civic Type-R, Audi RS3, Mercedes-AMG A45, Volkswagen Golf R, Renault Sport Megane 275 Cup-S, Peugeot 308 GTI By Peugeot Sport 270, BMW 135i and Subaru Impreza WRX STI. We've driven each of these cars on road, set times on track, plus covered essential ownership items such as running costs and practicality to name, definitively,

Britain's best hot hatch!

"

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by VPSuchin

Ford Focus RS vs Honda Civic Type-R vs Audi RS3 vs Mercedes-AMG A45 & more: Hot Hatch Mega Test:

What an incredible test! Thanks for sharing. I loved it to bits.

Here is the 'behind the scenes' video of that test.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFkm4wQMwpY&

The Focus RS is making me miserable. I so so want to drive one!

[deetjohn]

Here is Mat Watson with the RS vs Civic Type R vs Golf R.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D82QJlj-ruo

And if you think Mat jumped the start in the drag race, take a look at this amazing 360 degree camera view. That launch control is ludicrous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?annota...&v=zF9rl8AlxyA

[deetjohn]

Here is Motor Trend Head 2 Head of Focus RS vs. Golf R.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oklm3mV6ThE

The Ford is now walking it. Time for VW to think about that R400.

[Octane_Power]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Here is Motor Trend Head 2 Head of Focus RS vs. Golf R.

The Ford is now walking it. Time for VW to think about that R400.

If this beast gets launched in India, I bet you're going to be the first customer for it Also, that 0-35kmph was insane, was fraction of a millisecond

But I agree, this is the hottest of the hot hatches. Would definitely be my first car (IF) I purchase one here in the US.

-Bhargav

[deetjohn]

Ford went ahead and outdid themselves with the new limited edition 2018 Focus RS.

They listened to the existing owners and enthusiasts in the forums and invited some over for the first look. The big changes - the red colour and the limited slip differential for the front axle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wz4ObDSQlo

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Ford went ahead and outdid themselves with the new limited edition 2018 Focus RS.

They listened to the existing owners and enthusiasts in the forums and invited some over for the first look. The big changes - the red colour and the limited slip differential for the front axle.

It is always heartwarming to see a manufacturer listen to its customers and more so when that manufacturer is Ford. I only wish they do more of it here in India.
If I were to buy the RS (which I most definitely will, someday!) it has to be the blue, no red mumbo jumbo for me!!! Limited slip differential for the front axle as standard is .
Ford India, if not the real deal, please please please give us the Focus ST and you will have a customer in me!!!

[deetjohn]

Matt Prior of Autocar wrote this farewell for the Focus RS - a car which is really close to my heart! And I agree with everything he said there, even the title! I shed a tear!

Excerpts:

Originally Posted by Matt Prior

Nobody does hot hatchbacks like Ford does hot hatchbacks. Until it doesn’t. There won’t be a Mk4 Focus RS, you see. The baddest hot hatch of them all won’t get a replacement.

This is a shame. Not because the Focus RS has always been the best hatchback in the world but, more often than not, flawed or otherwise, it has been in a class of one. With the Focus RS, Ford did the things other manufacturers dare not do.

...then came the Mk3. This time around, it adopted a transmission with a pair of clutches either side of the rear differential and continually adjusted them so that the Focus RS could do such advanced things in the middle of a corner that it felt more like a Nissan GT-R than any other ordinary hot hatchback.

Other car makers use similar systems now and charge more than £50,000 for the cars they sit in. The Focus RS was less than £30,000!

That, as much as anything else, is the thing about fast Fords. You get lots for little. The Fiesta ST starts at only £18,835. It’s so affordable that teenagers buy them on credit – and so begins a love affair with fast cars and fast Fords that can live with buyers for decades.

But that affordable ethos was probably the undoing of the Focus RS. Ford is perilously close to the limit of impending EU regulations that state the average CO2 output of everything it sells must be less than 95g/km. Sticking a large engine in the front of a Focus is a sure-fire way to breach it – and land Ford with a frighteningly big fine for every single car it sells in Europe. It’s unthinkable.

I know Ford has badly wanted to make a fourth-generation Focus RS, but electrical assistance would be the only way to do it, and it can’t do that while making the car cheap enough.

For everything I like about Uncle Henry (that its engineers love driving is chief among them), it has been slow to electrify its cars, hence an absence of CO2 headroom across its line-up.

So, a shame. Although, as Ford points out, we’ve got the Mustang, Ranger Raptor, Fiesta ST and Focus ST to amuse ourselves with. A Focus RS would be splendid. But I guess plenty of firms would envy making three cars so diverse and exciting.

Farewell Focus RS, my bold friend