According to Ford’s website, the 350 HP Ford Focus RS will have a starting MSRP of $36,605, and a well-equipped Focus RS will send you well over the $40,000 mark.
This is the price point that we expected several months ago, and the pricing is competitive with the new Subaru STi.
Now that the 2016 Ford Focus RS pricing is official, here is what you need to know:
- Will be available in the United States
- 350-HP 2.3L GTDI EcoBoost
- Six-Speed Manual Transmission
- All Wheel Drive w/ Torque Vectoring
- 0-60 in under 4.5s
- A 2-Door version is possibly in the works
- $36,605 MSRP, will be upwards of $45,000 fully optioned.
Powered by the same 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbo-four that you can find in the new Mustang, this motor is upgraded with a new low-inertia twin-scroll turbocharger, larger compressor and intercooler, free-flowing intake, large-bore dual-pipe exhaust with electronically controlled valve and upgraded internal components.
The end result is a 6,500-RRPM redline, with an output of 350 HP – which is more than the EcoBoost Mustang and quite a bit more than the existing Focus ST.
The EcoBoost power is channeled to the pavement through a new racing-inspired all-wheel drive system that includes torque vectoring that actually sends as much as 70 percent of available torque to the rear wheels. The system works in conjuction with the brake-based torque vectoring system and stability control, and will even divert torque to the outside rear wheel when cornering to keep it flat and under control, all while reducing understeer.
Ford has also stuck with a conventional six-speed manual transmission in this pocket-rocket.
The team of Ford Performance engineers also addressed the suspension, which features stiffer spring rates, bushings and anti-roll bars than the Focus ST currently has, and is augmented by two-mode switchable dampers.
19-inch alloys wear Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, with optional Pilot Sport Cup 2 semi-slicks for your track-days.
Inside the cockpit you’ll find upgrades such as Recaro buckets, a flat-bottomed steering wheel (as found in the new Shelby GT350), alloy pedals and auxiliary gauges for turbo boost, oil temperature and oil pressure.
Ford promises the new Focus RS will corner at over 1 g of lateral acceleration on the skidpad, and a 0-60 MPH time of ‘under 4.5 seconds’.
This new RS will have fierce competition from the new Mini JCW and more powerful versions of the VW Golf, Honda’s upcoming new Civic Type R and rival hot hatches from the likes of Seat and Renault that keep trading lap records at the Nürburgring, to say nothing of the Subaru WRX STI which it most closely resembles and may prove its closest rival.
For now, this new RS will be manufactured exclusively in Saarlouis, Germany – but this new hatch will be available globally (including the United States), joining a growing array of Ford Performance vehicles alongside the new Ford GT, Shelby GT350R and F150 Raptor revealed in Detroit several months ago.
By 2020, Ford promises to introduce a good dozen new performance models, and we’re looking forward to every one.
