The interwebs overfloweth this week with more anxious reports of the return of Ford’s compact giant slayer, the Focus RS. Britain’s Autocar made the boldest claims of the bunch, going so far as to essentially state that the RS is a done deal, tossing in some rendered images to sweeten the story. While the Autocar report neglects to name names, they claim sources at Ford report that the RS is under development, and “sign-off for the project is imminent, dependent on final analysis showing a business case for it to sit beside the new, European-bound Mustang, which is confirmed for 2014.”
Car and Driver has been on the trail of a new Focus RS for a few months now, so we thought we’d reach out to our own sources at Ford for a quick update on the RS situation. First, our insiders were quick to tell us that it’s not uncommon for engineers working on a project to “leak” information in hopes of influencing corporate decisions when it comes time approve a future product, which leads us to believe at least a few Ford engineers are clinging to hopes of a rebirth of the hot-hatch version of the Focus. That said, our sources indicated that if the RS does, in fact, make the jump from fanboy fiction to a genuine showroom artifact, it almost certainly would be a global vehicle, citing the company’s decision to take the Edge and Mustang to Europe as examples of the company’s dedication to the One Ford strategy.
One of the most-talked-about hurdles to the fruition of a new Focus RS is how it would sit in Ford’s lineup alongside the Mustang. If the RS were produced, it likely would produce as much power as a V-6–powered Mustang, and the pair’s prices wouldn’t differ too much, either. However, Autocar reports that Ford sees these cars satisfying two different market, calling them “complementary” to one another.
Do you think the Ford Focus RS will be US Bound? discuss:
At a price point close to $40k and with the only difference being the new engine and an LSD, i do not see much of a premium over the ST unless you track your car more than once or twice a month. I like the style and i like the power but it is like a new GT500, its the top of the line but to drive it to work every morning or go grocery shopping it is a pain. Its true what everyone says here, this is a track car for the street meant as a toy for people that already have their daily drivers and have nothing else to spend their money on.
9,527 "idiots" bought them when the Dodge Ram SRT-10 was produced from 2003-2006. At the the time Guinness World Records recognized it as the world's fastest production pickup truck(154.587 m.p.h.).
They said that about the SVT and it didn't fly off dealer lots and it's MSRP was near $20k and less than a year later they were being bought off the showroom floors for under $14k. I can't see people buying a fwd Focus for over $35k.
they wont fly off the lot but they will sale. people are buying the focus st for almost 30k and im sure the has been a few sold with crazy mark ups above 30k. so why not spend the extra 5k for more power, better options, better handling, and overall a better performing car?
no they wouldnt fly off the shelf but they would sell, ford didnt bring the st state side to get massive sales on it. they brought it state side because enough people were asking for it. they are trying to even the playing feild between the states and outher countries as far as who get what performance model. they might now walk away with a huge amount of money real quick off the rs but they would still profit. gotta remember they are trying to make money and if they see it as a way to get them some money rolling in they will even if it takes a few years to sell them all.
the new rs that is on the front page looks like how the subies used to look, mean and aggressive. The subies now are hybrids and floppy, the only thing that sets them apart is the awd. Imagine a world with less subie douche bags and mroe focus drivers haha
I will 100% buy one if the base model comes in under $30,000. If it doesn't, there will likely end up being better options (used) that I would end up taking. Please, Ford, do this.
The ST almost makes me want to do a sell and buy of my car but not quite. a new RS with AWD...yeah I'd do it. Has to be a couple options available to satisfy all the price-points. options for full leather, HIDs bigger wheels Stainless steel exhaust - carbon fiber front fenders? That way you could slip into one from 27K-32.5K
How much power would this car have? 300HP/325 FT LB TQ?
3300 LB Curb weight? This would equate to 11lbs per HP.
ST is about 12.7lb per HP
The 5.0 Mustang Curb weight I estimate to be around 4200lbs so the 420 HP it pumps out equates to a drivers race between the two cars in a straight line (10HP)
This kind of performance from a RS car seems right. The car would be able to do at LEAST 100MPH in the 1/4 mile and make mince meat out of the Nürburgring making this the fastest RS ever made.
Where's my checkbook![smackbum] lets whoop some imports!
100 in the quarter BEFORE Tom gets his hands on it. God only knows what Focus Power will do to a monster like that. You'll probably need to upgrade the Haldex controller if it uses one...
AWD is too expensive and adds too much weight, period. This is the reason it has never happened in any of the Focus or Fiesta lines. It has happened in the Mondeo(Contour/Mystic) with a 2.0L Zetec
There's no way a Focus RS costs substantially less than a Golf R which does have a Haldex in the ass end. You may think it's dead weight, but it's safer and more versitile --in addition to increasing traction when you're making big power. An LSD doesn't keep you from getting suck in the mud, and it's no solution to torque steer.
So you're saying a Cobalt SS performed better than the Focus RS on the Nürburgring?
Damn I checked. 07 Cobalt SS= 8:22.85 Ford Focus RS= 8:26
The Cobalt was driven by an unnamed person for Motortrend. The Focus was driven by Horst Von Saurma, a regular "Ring" driver. All I can say, is WTF? I guess it must have the magnetic shocks and suspension similar to the ZL1 and Caddy. I'll have to look that up. Either way [thumbd]=RS, sorry, but facts is facts. That's fairly sorry to have a limited edition car upstaged by a craptacular run of the mill Korean designed American labeled tird muffin with a turbo.
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