Ford's RS, or
R ally
S port nameplate, has been around for about 40 years now. It started out on a specially prepared Ford Escort Mk1 RS1600 way back in 1970. That vehicle launched Ford onto the world rally stage, and it's fair to say that they have never looked back.Success after success kept Ford at the centre of the world rally scene for many years, and the company has wisely used the lessons learned from that experience to inject more than a little performance into its road cars. The company is very selective of the models which carry its famous lettering. For many years it was the sole domain of the Escort and Capri range. This was then joined by the Sierra and the Fiesta, and finally, when the Escort was replaced, by the focus.
The
2009 Ford Focus RS which had its world debut at the
British International Motor Show is the second Focus model to carry that famous RS mantle, and it promises to follow the heritage of its forbearers by delivering exciting, yet affordable performance in a car that you can live with every day.The 2009 Focus RS is not actually in production yet. Its debut at the show was purely meant to preview the design intent for the final production vehicle, although as development continues, some minor details may change before volume production begins.That is the official explanation, but as a former RS owner, I like to think that I understand the RS development department, and I read that this way...This is what you're going to get unless we can come up with a few tweaks that make it even better! That's just the way the company views its RS products. It's all about keeping the Rally Sport name at the forefront of motoring excitement.But enough of my chat, let me tell you a little bit about the new Focus RS...It is staggering in appearance! In fact, it looks like a full blown works WRC car without the decals and the dirt.Power comes from a specially developed Turbocharged Duratec 2.5-litre 5-cylinder engine which produces 300PS and over 410Nm of torque.0-100kph in under 6 seconds! Trust me, that is very quick for a vehicle the size of a Ford Focus.