2015/2016 Focus RS Spied
- Thread starter steeltoe
- Start date
That would be too cool if it was brought to the domestic market!
If it's AWD I will buy one in a heart beat.
I'm betting it gets a lot of the upgrades from the Mustang's 2.3L EcoBoost.
I believe the last RS wasn't AWD, so I doubt the new one would be. But if it is, I wonder how much it would cost.
It's getting the whole engine considering the previous RS used a Volvo sourced 2.5L turbo I-5.
No RS has been AWD but reengineering the revoknuckle wouldn't be cheap either. If the 2.3EB makes the 350Hp I was told it makes that's at lot of power to just the front wheels. Its going be every bit of $30K.
As soon as this hits dealerships, my Focus ST is getting traded in for one of these.
I know they are always concerned with weight on the RS hence the use of FWD, but I wish they would take the jump and just do AWD. In Europe there are plenty of hot FWD hatches to compete with, but in the US AWD is seen as king with the compact market. With 350hp I think Ford could afford the extra weight to make that power viable and the car competitive. I'm sure they are fully aware of this.
I don't remember where I read/saw it but it's been stated that 300hp is about the limit when you are powering just the front wheels. I can't think of any hot hatch Euro or American that is that far beyond 300hp.
The special edition RS500 which marked the end of this current gen RS run was 350hp and all 500 sold in a matter of a half hour after launch. They don't think RS will make the next car with less hp based off the end of the last car's run.
The thing with RS is that they have no preferred drivetrain. They've used rwd in the Sierra, awd in the Escort, and then fwd in the Focus. The only reason they never used awd in the Focus was because they never found it viable. I remember when the rumors were coming out about the 2nd gen RS I believe, was that they had a prototype that was an awd, 350+hp turbo inline 6, with electronically adjustable suspension, and a paddle shifted 6 speed. This was over 10 years ago and I remember because I had a picture of the car on my school binder; they dubbed it "the M3 killer". Clearly not production worthy without most likely a $60k price tag, but it shows the level of development RS takes for these cars. It takes them years to develop each car, it's not just a small package they throw together.
The thing with RS is that they have no preferred drivetrain. They've used rwd in the Sierra, awd in the Escort, and then fwd in the Focus. The only reason they never used awd in the Focus was because they never found it viable. I remember when the rumors were coming out about the 2nd gen RS I believe, was that they had a prototype that was an awd, 350+hp turbo inline 6, with electronically adjustable suspension, and a paddle shifted 6 speed. This was over 10 years ago and I remember because I had a picture of the car on my school binder; they dubbed it "the M3 killer". Clearly not production worthy without most likely a $60k price tag, but it shows the level of development RS takes for these cars. It takes them years to develop each car, it's not just a small package they throw together.
Talk about disappointed
About?
Probably because we wont see the RS in the US. IF the RS were AWD and making 330hp it would be highly competitive with the Sti and EVO market, and with the EVO going away after 2015 it would only be the Sti. I sure as shit would buy an AWD RS, hell I'm looking at buying an EVO X right now.
The Evo is supposedly going to return but in a different form. Rumors are a hybrid powertain to make it a contender with the GTR with an expected 500hp at least. That would leave the STI and probably the SRT Dart when it comes out so that could be good for the RS.
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