In what Fifth Gear bills as the first TV drive of Ford's long-awaited Focus RS, UK presenter and former BTCC racing champion, Jason Plato, takes the 300-horsepower, front-wheel drive hot hatch for a spin in Spain. Normally we wouldn't ruin the surprise by telling you the outcome, but this time we'll make an exception; despite his initial fears for the FWD layout, Plato's verdict is that the 2.5-liter turbocharged Focus RS is one of the best hot hatches in the world - if not the best. Watch the video right after the jump.
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still in trouble with geography : this is south of france boys.
Very impressive! Go Go FORD! Keep up the good work! Yes do me a favor buy it in BLUE! whats with the green for testing haha
I just love this car, always dreamed about having a front wheel drive car like this when I was young. It's a challenge to drive a powerful front wheel drive car, but much less so with this ripper then the front wheel drive cars of old. A lot more fun and a lot less work.
That said, why would anybody want one over an Evo X MR, or even, the WRX STI which is certainly off on performance in comparison to the Mitsubishi, but I know I could beat this Ford in the Subaru. No matter how good the limited slip approximation, you still have the equivalent of a shopping cart with a whole bunch of watermelon piled in the front. Simply from a physics standpoint, it's a huge impediment. Certainly with enough time and energy you can make any shopping cart handle beautifully, but why would you want to when there are much better solutions. This car would probably be a better performer, if it was rearwheel drive, or if you took the drivers compartment and put it over the front wheels, with the engine behind you where the passengers would usually be. From a mass centralization and balance standpoint, it would be a much effective weapon, if an absolute trip to drive sitting on the front bumper like a bus driver. :-)
This car should be all-wheel-drive, and then it would be with the Evo, and all the other premier all-wheel-drive cars. I don't begrudge them the effort, but I think Ford needs to think about the future, and front wheel drive is not the future of performance vehicles. I like the idea of having some manual control over the proportion of drive to the front and back wheels, the way Subaru and others have offered. Ideally the driver should be able to put the drive wherever he wants, 100% in one wheel at any time, though that kind of thing is better left to computer control. Still I would like the option of having a manual override that I can engage in any time. But I don't feel the need to have two dead undriven wheels on any sports car here in the 21st-century. That just seems like a waste unless you're talking about nothing except the weight of the vehicle.
The guys at Top Gear are saying this is "a car without rival." Certainly is, but that doesn't mean much when hardly anyone is competing in that category. Is it better than an Acura Integra? Perhaps. Is it better than a tuned Acura Integra, maybe not.
Would I rather have this Ford then a Porsche Cayman? Well maybe I would because I kind of learned how to drive with FWD, so it speaks to me on some nostalgic level, but I could probably go quite a bit faster on most any standard track or surface with a Porsche, except maybe tight city streets and on dirt. Only there would I feel I had the advantage driving this Ford.
Nevertheless I think that Ford should be selling these cars all over the world, certainly in the US, because young people love these kind of cars.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this car, I covet this car, and I love the color as well. I wouldn't be ashamed of that green and all, I think it's a flash, and I always liked being a flash behind the wheel. :-). When you're not carving up some backroad, what's the point in driving a hot car if nobody looks at it. If it was mine, I blackout the wheels and add a 150 hp nitrous punch. That'll get their attention.
This lapped Fords Test track quicker than the Ford GT so that is saying something!!!
This car is wicked! Love the color and agressive front.
Why Focus RS instead of Evo or STI ? The Japanese have lost the plot with the latest Evo/STI. Drivers Republic tested the Focus and it ate the STI alive.
Pretty strange that it doesn´t have dump valve or a bypass. Or at least the chatter sounds that it doesn´t. How long they expect the turbos last this way?
having it purely fwd is like having an Olympic cyclist on a pink 10 speed with a basket. bring back the RS200 i say