New Cars>> Ford Focus Rs, Now Official

Following our post last month on the forthcoming Ford Focus RS, Ford have now released images and basic information of the new model, which will make its world debut later this month at The London Motor Show.

The car will go on sale in Europe in early 2009 with other markets following. This Focus will not be available in North America.

Compared to the standard  ‘C302 ‘ (non-North American) 3 door Focus, the visual features include a aggressive bopdykit, wider wheel arches, large rear diffuser, hood vents, larger 19 inch wheels with 235/35 tyres, fender air intakes (I hope thats not a dummy – shame on you Ford if so!) and a high mounted extreme (for OEM) rear wing.  Various elements such as the trim, wing and mirror are picked out in ‘Piano Black’.

The London show car is in the vivid  Metallic Green, which I kind of like

Inside,  the Interior includes  Recaro seats with exterior colour matched accents.

The RS features a 2.5 Litre 5-cylinder engine with 300PS and over 410Nm of Torque with a 0-60 time of 6 seconds. Unfortunately the new Focus doesn’t feature the 4 wheel drive system, rumoured before launch.

Ford’s press release tries to turn this into a positive by stating ‘ various innovations, developed as a result of customer feedback from previous performance Fords, have allowed Engineers to keep the new Focus RS as Front Wheel Drive, with a limited-slip differential, while still achieving demanding targets for traction, handling and steering’ .  At least legendary Ford Performance vehicle engineer, Jost Capito oversaw the project, so, that does bode well.

The Focus RS marks a return to the market of the ‘Rallye Sport’ RS brand, which has been absence since the last generation Focus RS.

You can watch a good video of the Captio showing the Focus RS here, courtesy of Autocar magazine. Capito argues the reasons for keeping the front wheel drive layout.

It might not be the all-conquering all-wheel drive hot hatch that people hoped, but its rivals are going to be few and far between. Rumours suggest that the Focus has already managed a 8.20 lap of the Nurburgring.

Images: Ford Europe

Autocar video

ADVERTISEMENT

Comments



Comments are closed.

19 comments

by Oldest
by Best by Newest by Oldest
1

I really hoped Ford would bring the Focus to the US, finally a Ford product I can buy that does not have a live axle and fits nicely in my budget. I would gladly take a white or black RS turbo 5 cylinder with the nice body kit and some aggressive Rota D2 wheels.



~Alas, Ford is hellbent on selling Mustangs, F150s, and the current Focus until they go belly up, which is a shame.

2

I absolutely love it except I don't do FWD.

3

Why don't they sell this in north america? I think its exactly what they need to keep up with scion, subaru and mitsubishi

4

liamsil80 - long long story, but in short. When the focus above was developed, Ford N.A decided not to take part and refresh the 'original' Focus. Wasnt a massive sucess and there were reports on Jalopnik a while back that Ford were loosing money on the cars. Now the original N.A. Focus has been rebodied for the next few years, so North America still has a car that was designed in the 90s.....



Good news is, Ford have indicated the next Focus (2010ish) will be the same around the world. + The Fiesta may also come back to North America.

5

Ford is retarded for not bringing this car to usa. It would probably sell a lot. The focus we have here is so weak, blah.



Patrick why would you rock Rota's? Epic Fail.

Rock some SSR Professor SP1 or Work S1's



Actually the wheels it has on now are pretty cool. Very similar to ADVAN RS.

6

As for the fender ducts, they are most likely cosmetic. They look almost exactly like the fake ones on the new focus in N.A.

7

i believe the big issue for Ford N.A. is the price point. Cars are cheaper here and generally, people won't pay high end prices. For the Focus to work for Ford N.A, it has to sell in big numbers against things like the Caliber, Corolla, Cobalt and Civic. That would be there argument.



I wonder how much its cost Ford to do two facelifts on the old chassis, compared to chipping in on the R.O.W. car?

8

Something american needs to compete with the new Turbo Cobalt SS with its lame-o beam rear axle. I'll keep my eye out for a Cobalt beating Nurburging laptime for FF. Go Focus!

9

if you think about, two of the other "big three" already have hot versions of small cars, the SRT-4 and the new Cobalt SS,both of which are turbo four bangers and have 230 and 260 hp repectively, is it unreasonalbe to tihnk that for could compete with these reasonably well selling cars with a hot focus in the states?

10

@hechtspeed



I don't care home much BHP this focus has, de JDM civic type R is probably faster.

11

If it's anything like the last RS it will be a weapon as far as FWD track cars go, but will be a complete pig on the roads as a daily driver due to the differential.

12

thanks for nothing ford. with all the hoopla about the mustang and fords return to road racing you think a small number of these would be worth brining over.

13

I feel bad for whinging about the lack of Four Wheel Drive now, seeing as it is available here in the UK and you guys don't even get the option of buying one =(

14

byron - I suspect type approval for North America just for this model (remember it wasnt designed for N.A.) could hve pushed the price way up.

15

so in other words it's a C1 Focus with an S60R engine?



Meh.



That color is atrocious and the bodykit does the Focus no favors. The last-generation RS was much more attractive, at least to my eyes.

16

should of put the 4wd on the car, sort the green out, all in all looks v Good

17

i dont understand doesnt volvo sell cars here? (engine parts and service)

hasent europe done the testing on this car? (no R&D costs)

cant the specs on machines to tool parts be electronically sent to USA (jobs for americans)

then crash a few change a bumper and then sell it in USA

18

Is the new Focus RS coming in Malta and when?

OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS