“The Ford Focus is an excellent base for a high performance car — agile, responsive and stable,” explained Capito. “We studied at length how best to enhance these qualities for a high performance model. Our work has shown clearly that our approach in combining a tuned RevoKnuckle with the Quaife differential is an ideal solution for a high performance front-wheel-drive road car like Focus RS.
“As you would expect, we gave all-wheel-drive careful consideration, but by combining and tuning these elements and learning from Ford's expertise in industry-leading handling, we have managed to eliminate the weight of AWD from the car and still have been able to target a class-leading balance of traction, handling and performance.
“The result is a lightweight set-up, that will deliver the right blend of traction and razor sharp controllability — in a way no one would have expected from front-wheel-drive, and we believe we have made the right choice,” Capito concluded.
Dynamic, agile and responsive
A genuine Focus RS must maintain and enhance the reputation for responsive, precise handling for which Focus is acclaimed and considerable engineering effort has ensured that the new Focus RS will do just that.
Driving quality developments for Focus RS include a 40mm wider track, stronger, longer driveshafts, revised springs and dampers and a thicker, longer rear anti-roll bar. At the same time, the steering system has been retuned to provide an even sharper steering response and very precise feedback.
Brakes also have been uprated, with 336 mm ventilated front discs and 300 mm rear discs generating vice-like stopping power on road or track. Large calipers peek out from behind unique 19-inch wheels, wrapped in 235/35 low profile Continental tires.
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- © Ford Motor Co.
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- © Ford Motor Co.
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- © Ford Motor Co.
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- © Ford Motor Co.
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- © Ford Motor Co.
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- © Ford Motor Co.
