Rumour has it Ford is busy working on a new, third-generation Ford Focus RS.
We’ve great news for all you boy racers out there. Ford is building a new version of the Ford Focus RS — the dastardly, deranged child of the Focus family — or so we’ve been led to believe.
Allegedly already in development, the new Ford Focus RS is likely to feature the same 304bhp 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine as the new entry-level Mustang. Additional tuning of the four-cylinder engine could generate as much as 350bhp.
That power would be a significant step up from the slightly less bonkers, 247bhp Focus ST, a facelifted version of which is due to go on sale this summer. It also dwarfs the power produced by the previous-generation Focus RS, which generated a joyful but comparatively teeny 301bhp.
Barb Samardzich, COO of Ford Europe, hinted to Auto Express that there’s huge appetite for a new Focus RS, saying ‘something like that makes a great halo car.’
The engineers of Ford aren’t the only ones hankering to see an updated version. The Focus RS Mk2 was the closest most motorists could going to get to driving a full spec rally car. And despite the great styling, beautiful handling and devastating performance, it was still practical enough to ferry the family about comfortably. There’s little doubt the third-gen Focus RS would fall short of these expectations.
A Ford spokesman further added that ‘Martin Smith and his team are fully focussed on the future of our performance strategy.’
We can’t work out if that was an intentional play-on-words but by producing a Focus RS, Ford would make VW Golf R and BMW M235i buyers think twice.
If Ford do build one, it’s unlikely to appear before 2016. Rumour or not, we’ve come over all hot and bothered.
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