In the 40-year story of Ford RS, the marque has been applied sparingly, merited by only the most high-performance Ford machines of the time.
Six years have passed since the last Ford RS – the Mk1 Focus RS – finished its strictly limited production run. Now the famous badge has returned for its league of devoted fans and a new generation of performance car enthusiasts.
RS – A Significant Event
This new Focus RS is the product of Ford Team RS, headed by Jost Capito, a committed car enthusiast and racer. Alongside Capito is a small team of dedicated performance car and motorsport engineering specialists, led by Chief Programme Engineer, John Wheeler, whose own expertise stretches over 20 years of Ford performance and motorsport vehicles.
Team RS works hand-in-hand with Ford of Europe experts from across the engineering spectrum to create Ford’s performance road car range. More than 100 engineers have been involved in Focus RS and every one understood the weight of expectation that greets a new Ford RS model.
States Capito: “A new Ford RS is a significant event; the badge is not applied to a new car very often and when it is, it has to be a great car. I know this Focus RS will be thoroughly deserving of the name.”
From early in its development programme, the team set a target to create a car with the poise, power, performance and precision to trade lap times with far more exotic vehicles and be a benchmark for performance and value for money.
Their result is a car capable of lapping the legendary 20.8km (12.3 mile) Nuerburgring Nordschleife repeatedly at speed and equally adept at cruising home afterwards; blending Ford Focus practicality with bespoke engineering, dynamics and a turbocharged, 305PS (300 bhp) 2.5-litre Duratec engine.
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