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The RS version of Ford’s new-generation Focus could be powered by both a turbocharged petrol engine and a torquey electric motor mounted on the rear axle, according to senior company sources.

Although the RS Focus has yet to appear on Ford’s confirmed future model cycle documents, the success of the current model has encouraged Ford management to keep the project in pre-development.

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So, Ford are persisting with front wheel drive, the equivalent of fighting with one arm tied behind their back. Also, the RS will have to be "significantly more powerful" than the current 345bhp. How will they manage that?

I'd like to see Ford give it 4WD and it really would take it to Subaru and Mitsubishi but as long as it stays FWD it won't reach its full potential

I don't mean to be nitpicking the rendering looks identical to the current model.

Nappeunnom:

So, Ford are persisting with front wheel drive, the equivalent of fighting with one arm tied behind their back. Also, the RS will have to be "significantly more powerful" than the current 345bhp. How will they manage that?

I'd like to see Ford give it 4WD and it really would take it to Subaru and Mitsubishi but as long as it stays FWD it won't reach its full potential

I don't mean to be nitpicking the rendering looks identical to the current model.

 

 

Couldn't agree more!! The current RS has lost out in a lot of ways by not being 4WD and i really will be disappointed and down right pissed off if the next one isn't !!

 The current Subaru is half the car of the previous generation Impreza and i feel Ford missed out by not filling the gap and so easily could have with a 4WD Focus RS. Lets hope they don't make the same mistake twice!

kevin2010:

Couldn't agree more!! The current RS has lost out in a lot of ways by not being 4WD and i really will be disappointed and down right pissed off if the next one isn't !!

The next Focus will be 4wd - it's going to have an electric rear axle which seems like an intelligent solution to me and you can expect quite a few SUVs to have the same tech I would have thought. As for whether the current Focus RS has lost out for not being 4wd I'd say the argument for trad 4wd systems in 'hot hatches' gets weaker all of the time when you consider how far stability systems and front diffs have come. Not to mention the weight penalties you pay. In fact, an interesting Pepsi challenge is to drive the Golf R and Scirocco R back to back. Both have near identical mechanicals, save that the Golf has 4wd, whilst the Scirocco is 4wd. In 99% of the sort of road conditions you find in the UK, the Scirocco feels more agile, turns in better, feels faster, steers better and is more fun than the Golf. Proof to me that 4wd can actually detract what you want from a hot hatch. I wish they also offered the Golf R as a 2wd car...

 I wonder if ford's bean counters support that aweful, trashy front air intake as it reduces the amount of questionable hued paint necessary per vehicle?

 the forthcoming new focus ST, with 2.0 ecoboost engines, could have 250bhp according to autoexpress. If that is the case then the new ST could be faster than the current focus RS. better handling/lighter weight more usable power. would make a few exisiting RS owners a bit glum being beaten by a standard ST.

 

 

Nappeunnom:

So, Ford are persisting with front wheel drive, the equivalent of fighting with one arm tied behind their back. Also, the RS will have to be "significantly more powerful" than the current 345bhp. How will they manage that?

I'd like to see Ford give it 4WD and it really would take it to Subaru and Mitsubishi but as long as it stays FWD it won't reach its full potential

I don't mean to be nitpicking the rendering looks identical to the current model.

 

Top Gear mag reckoned that the 345hp Focus RS was a hang sight more fun than the 400hp Impreza. I seem to remember the Focus was also faster round the Harewood hill-climb.

Good God, the end of the world is come. I am defending FWD against 4WD!

I'm confused, it's an RS, so which Ford Motorsport car is it based on? The next RS WRCar is a Fiesta......, not a Focus, has somebody not told Ford.....

I would have thought that was no real reason for the next Ford RS to have significantly more power.

Given the decision to stick with two wheel drive Ford should concentrate on improving the chassis still further, in order to convince the doubters that four wheel drive is not required.

AndyRAC:

I'm confused, it's an RS, so which Ford Motorsport car is it based on? The next RS WRCar is a Fiesta......, not a Focus, has somebody not told Ford.....

 

focus touring car

beachland2:

AndyRAC:

I'm confused, it's an RS, so which Ford Motorsport car is it based on? The next RS WRCar is a Fiesta......, not a Focus, has somebody not told Ford.....

 

focus touring car

 

So it'll be LPG-fuelled, will it?

right click, view image if too big for screen.

 

the touring car rules use 2.0 turbo engines LPG counts as petrol really.

so a 2.0 turbo RS focus is very relevant, remember it was still relevant even when the focus was a 2.5 engine even when the touring cars were 2.0 size, it just needed to be a focus in racing, the engine didnt matter too much. 

rallying has made the fiesta much more relevant to RS branding potential, more so with the engine link to road cars .