2009 ford focus3/22/2023 Where do we start? The Focus RS is an absolute blast to drive – it’s ludicrously quick point-to-point. The interior is also nearly identical to the lesser ST’s (racier Recaros notwithstanding), while the single-pot brakes are generally good but lack the ultimate stopping (and staying) power of the best multi-piston stoppers. I’d say the second-gen Focus RS bodywork is just a little too OTT, especially the proliferation of fake vents. It’s not chaotic like the Mk1 Focus RS could be, but the steering wheel will firm up noticeably under hard acceleration and the wheels scrabble for grip in the lower gears – the ESP system allowing the driver to dictate when power should be cut in most situations, rather than cutting in early and spoiling the fun.Ī disappointment, perhaps, but then what did we expect with 301bhp going through the front wheels? It also adds that boisterous edge that we’ve come to expect from RS products. Well, despite all the hype that surrounds RevoKnuckle – a system that allows MacPherson strut suspension to behave with the purity of a multi-link set-up – we can conclusively report that this car does torque steer. Go on then, the Ford Focus RS’s bad bits first… Because it really is one of those cars.You’ll see how the new second-gen Focus RS stands up against the best hot hatches of all time (Renault Clio Williams, Peugeot 306 GTi-6, original and current VW Golf GTi, Lancia Integrale and more) in the new April 2009 issue of CAR Magazine out 25 February, but let’s get down to business here: is the Ford Focus RS (2009) any good? It’s a corker, but the new RS does have its flaws… So, if you're a hot hatchback fan in general or a fast Ford afficionado in particular, you'll want to act fast. Remortgage the house, rob a bank, sell yourself, sell your own grandmother, just do whatever it takes to put an RS on your drive. The way in which the car neither under nor oversteers, but just hangs on is, well, breathtaking. Yet it’s what happens at the other end of the car that provides you with the biggest confidence booster. The steering is just delicious in the way it telegraphs so clearly what’s happening beneath the fat Continental front tyres. The way the RS puts its grunt down is truly incredible, but beyond that it’s also a lovely car to hussle along a good road. It has gone at least one, if not two steps better this time round. With the previous RS Ford may have dropped a whoopsy on the finance front, but it also made one of the sharpest handling front-wheel-drive cars there has ever been. On the other hand, the chassis more than makes up for this most minor of issues. The same can’t quite be said about the gearchange, unfortunately, which is shorter and sharper than the ST’s but not short or sharp enough to do the rest of the drivetrain justice. It really is a key part in the transformation from relatively humble ST to altogether more meaningful RS. If anything the Focus RS feels faster than the raw numbers suggest, partly because of the huge wallop of torque so low down, but also because of the noise. In sixth you need to wait until just over 2000rpm before the whirlwind of torque begins to blow you, and then throw you, towards the horizon. Even with as little as 1800rpm showing it goes, and goes hard, in all of the first five gears. What we are talking about is a car that really does shred the rule book on front-wheel-drive dynamics, but one that’s also civilised and well mannered enough to live with every day.Īnd when you do go for it, do not expect to be disappointed. In the event this is just one of many tricks which the extraordinary new Focus RS has up its sleeve. You even wonder whether they’re fibbing about how many wheels are being driven. Considering how much raw thrust there is – Ford claims 0-60mph in 5.9sec, 0-100mph in 14sec dead and a top speed of 163mph – it’s quite weird to begin with. What happens when you select second gear and give it full beans in the RS frankly feels like some form of miracle, because even on a rough or wet surface the car takes off without drama, feeling for all the world as if it is four, not two-wheel drive. And we’re glad to report that the answer is a resounding, faintly befuddled “you bet”. The big question, of course, is whether Ford really has managed to develop a front suspension system that enables the RS to deploy its 301bhp and 324lb ft without feeling like an unguided Exocet missile. From its gaping grille to its 19in wheels and tyres and enormous wing, the RS leaves you in no doubt about its intentions. In the raw the RS looks like a proper thug-mobile.
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