Plus the Recaro seats are set far too high, are far too tight, and are so thick they rob the rear passengers of any decent legroom.Īnd at that point the Focus RS becomes a compromised second car, rather than a hot hatch with a little extra edge. It never hinders you flying down your favourite B-road, but day-to-day it’s dreadful. The big issues are: the awful interior quality (a Ford Focus fault, rather than an RS-specific failing) the woeful range and fuel consumption (250 miles at best, and never better than 30mpg) and the ride, which is terrible. It doesn’t even start to do enough of the hatchback stuff well. Yet however much I enjoyed the Focus RS on the right road, I didn’t much enjoy it for most of the rest of the time. No water splashes, just a pristine piece of plastic covering the engine. And – and this is very geeky – when you pop the bonnet, even after 7000 miles, it’s clean. I love that the intakes (of which the front end is predominantly made up) are all real too. It’s by far today’s best-looking hot hatch, and in black, with black wheels, it’s both subtle and sinister. While a GT3 might be struggling for traction or scuffing its nose, the Focus RS just flies along. Its party piece is the old hot hatch favourite turned up to 11: demolishing any given road with a speed that a low-slung, rear-drive sports car couldn’t ever hope to match. With clever four-wheel drive, 345bhp, and even more torque, the Focus RS is ferociously fast. Better to stick to one end of the spectrum and make something rather riotous… It’s why when Ford’s Performance team first got their hands on the Focus, they probably took one look at the cramped interior and crappy plastics, and knew they’d be on a hiding to nothing if they went chasing the VW Golf R. It’s why Honda and Renault chase ’Ring lap times, why Hyundai’s first hot hatch – indeed, its whole performance division – is named after that German track, as is Toyota’s Yaris GRMN, or at least the N.ĭoing it this way, with a narrower remit, is easier. It’s why so many manufactures go down the route of making a hardcore hot hatch.
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