After the long wait, the 2016 Ford Focus RS is finally here. For the U.S Ford Focus RS car enthusiasts, the wait has even been longer because this model has never been sold in the American auto market. Ford Auto Company recently revealed an Ultra high-performance Ford Focus RS car model in an event in Cologne, Germany. It is for this reason that this article will look at some of the things you need to know about this car.
When Ford revealed earlier this year that they are working on the 2016 Ford Focus RS they were serious. This all wheel drive car come with over 300 horsepower engine power. The US model will be identical to those sold in other markets save for the homologation and safety equipment. Speculation has it that this car may go racing. Ford’s executives hinted that the 2016 Ford Focus Rs might participate in the rally series or racing events sometime next year. The car has an all wheel drive system with specific suspension tuning. The engine of the car is an EcoBoost Mustang modified for a Focus duty vehicle. It will have a 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine with unique cooling setup and a shaped front end. It is important to note that this car will come with an engine power of more than 315 horsepower.
The body of the 2016 Ford Focus RS will be of the regular Focus Automobile and will have no major carbon fiber parts. Ford will assemble the automobile at Saarlouis, Germany and import it into the US market. The engineers have built a Focus that is more pedestrian as a result; the regular Focuses will feel intimidated. It has an all wheel drive system that is in-house designed a feature that its competitor VW Golf R lacks. For example, when the 2016 Ford Focus RS is moving in a straight line, without any slip, the all-wheel drive system sends 100% available power to the front axle. However, when there is a steering input or a slip is detected the system sends up to 70% present power to the rearward. On the same note, the all-wheel drive setup also routes up to 70% of the torque to the rear axle. It is after this that it evenly splits the torque to each of the rear wheels. The system works such that it can instruct the rear axle on how to distribute the torque on the wheels. With such tricky differentials, the 2016 Ford Focus RS is capable of inducing precise rotation. The engineers have carefully worked on the breaking system on how to deal with the torques at the corner a setup known as understeer mitigation.
For those that have been thinking of an automatic transmission system, there are no plans for such a feature in the 2016 Ford Focus RS model. It is because the company will be saving the manual transmissions as in the models sold in the other markets. The RS will have a standard six-speed manual transmission system just like the Ford Focus ST model selling in the other markets. The only modification is it has a drive mode button that the ST model lacks. Looking at the photos released by the company it is accurate to say that the speedometer will run all the way to 186mph or 300km/hr. We expect the 2016 Ford Focus RS to wear Michelin Pilot Super Sports of size 19 inch 235/35. The only bad news is that there are no plans to provide strip kits for this car model.