Nutjob: Why I Care About The Focus RS And Why You Should Too


Nutjob: Why I Care About The Focus RS And Why You Should Too

Yesterday, Bryan ran a video of Ken Block hooning his way around the floor of a Ford factory with the brand-new Ford Focus RS. If you missed it you can check it out HERE.

Sure, the new RS a mad wee beastie with a force-fed 2.3 Ecoboost four-pot pumping out “in excess of 315 horsepower” (Some reports say 315+, other say 320+. Either way, it’s more than the Ecoboost Mustang).

Sure, it has a six speed manual.

Focus interior

Sure, it puts all of this power down to the ground via all four wheels and some electronic torque vectoring wizardry that may or may not be based off of technology sourced from a UFO that may or may not have crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico in the 40s.

Focus AWD

Sure, it may be one of the most exciting vehicles to come out of the Blue Oval camp in the last few decades that wasn’t named “Cobra”, “Raptor”, or “GT”.

All of the above are reasons why you MIGHT care, but there’s one reason why you SHOULD care, and it’s two letters: RS, short for Rallye Sport.

While that name may not mean much to us Americans, over on the other side of the pond rally racing is a big deal and the various Ford RS models have been a big part of that scene, a legacy that started with the brilliant Ford Escorts in the 60s and 70s (Not to be confused with the weak sauce Escort that was introduced to North America in the 80s), continued with the 80s-cool Sierra RS Cosworths, was reclaimed by the Escort RS Cosworth again, and now lies with the Ford Focus RS, of which there have been several versions over the last decade or so.

I could write a blog item on each of these variants of the RS explaining how we’re collectively poorer as an automotive culture here in America thanks to Ford never offering them stateside (Okay, okay, we DID get the Merkur XR4Ti, but no one in their right mind was buying a car that sounded like some obscure species of water rat.), but that’s for another day.

Instead, let’s just end this with the knowledge that we finally get a road-going version of a Ford rally car here on American soil, one that’s turbocharged, AWD, and equipped with enough air ducts, side skirts, and spoilers to instantly satisfy everyone’s inner twelve year old  to boot.

 

…Wait, that’s a bit lame. How about a badass video of some old-school Escorts rallying in Europe? Yeah, that’s better.

Let’s go with that.


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18 thoughts on “Nutjob: Why I Care About The Focus RS And Why You Should Too

  1. ColoradoKid

    So lets see now . The RS moniker . Relevant in the 2010’s in Europe or here in the US ? In light of the rapid decline , the depletion of audiences both live and TV , not to mention sponsors , TV coverage etc of WRC/ERC not to mention the wide gap in Fords participation with the sport ? Irrelevant doesn’t even come close . Here in the US ? Hell ! Most of us in the US haven’t even got a clue WTF rally is . Never mind why it might be important .

    As to the importance of this potential EcoSnooze powered pos ? Seeing how all Ford’s previous RS attempts overseas recently have failed miserably sales wise – the fact that the WRX is alive and well – Audi’s about to dump their S3 on our shores – the Golf variant is already on its way – along with a soon to come RS3 from Audi as well – Ford aint doing ___ in the WRC ( which is now VW’s sole domain ) – added in the fact that Audi and Subaru all but dominate the AWD categories here in the US and abroad . Especially the performance AWD category etc .

    Does this pathetic and too little too late lame attempt by Ford to appeal to a generation that couldn’t give a rats ___ about cars matter one single iota ?

    No !

    So should we care ? Only if there’s nothing better to do with our time and thoughts like say , wash the dog , clean out the garage , have a good dump etc

    ” Much Ado About Nothing ” summing it up quite nicely

    So BangShift is now also promoting Ford propaganda on its pages ? Whats up with that ? Too little time for genuine journalistic efforts ? Such as this ?

    http://selvedgeyard.com/2015/02/05/legendary-chevy-ii-fiberglass-fastback-bill-thomas-badass-build-for-ckc-racing/#more-37783

    Kind of pathetic if you ask me that a blatantly ‘ Hipster ‘ website ( apologies Jon Patrick ) like TSY puts more time and effort into finding interesting and obscure Hot Rod & Custom culture stories rather than reposting corporate propaganda that a site supposedly specializing in the genre 😉

    And yeah … I’m back . Deal with it !

    1. PJ

      You really like to cry about every thing.

      Is there anything you do like? Anything at all? Every single post you make is some over typed Bull-poop meant to make you sound smart.

      Please stop posting. Please go away. Go away for good.

      Your back? I think every other person who reads this blog was happy you were away.

      Now to comment. Subaru and Audi dominate AWD, of course they do! Both of those manufacturers have built there line ups around the AWD drivetrains in their cars. Or wait should we just accept that since there is 2 already doing that we shouldn’t bother trying an AWD sporty car in anything else.

      The RS3, while an awesome car, is certainly not an affordable hot hatch. The base A3 starts in VW R20 money and the S and RS go up from there.

      The 2010’s RS attempts in Europe have failed? Well other then Ford not offering an AWD hot version in a few years and focusing on the fiesta (which is the only car that fits in current WRC rules) I can see it being a “failure”

      As far as Ford Propaganda? I guess all the media outlets have been on a Ford Propaganda wagon since the have been releasing some pretty awesome news about some pretty awesome cars.
      Or would you prefer they cover things like Dacia or some Chinese cars?

      What do you want them to cover oh great donkey from hermit hole in Colorado?

    2. Fiatdude

      “”” Most of us in the US haven’t even got a clue WTF rally is . Never mind why it might be important .”””””

      See,,,, here you are commenting about something you admit you don’t know shit about…. STFU

      For there are a few of us out there that do GAF about this type of stuff, and anytime we can get a major player to give us any kind of Hi-Performance platform to play with we are grateful!!!!!!!

      And I’d personally appreciate it if you won’t bring a great blog like TSY into anything your spewing out of your pie-hole

      Now back to the regular programing……

      1. Fiatdude

        Oh Yeah,,, the TSY article was an almost word for word reprint from Super Chevy — — so much for that “Corporate Propaganda” stuff ……

    3. subimost

      You, sir, are a BLATHERING IDIOT. I am a two time WRX owner. I love them. However, Subaru seems to have alienated us. They no longer offer the four door, and unfortunately the automated trans is now an option, meaning soon the manual will not be an option.

      Ford, the company I was raised to love anyway being of a Mustang family, has swooped in at the eleventh hour to rescue me from my next purchase woes.

      Turbo, 5-door, manual, awd. And cheap. Most bang for my buck. These were WarX. Now they’re RS.

      And you are still a blathering idiot.

  2. ColoradoKid

    … and by the way . In case this little fact has passed y’all by . Ken Block(head) is considered to be an absolute effing beer addled idiot in the opinions of those who matter worldwide . A disloyal money grabbing headline begging desperate for his 15 minutes of fame regardless of what it does to his overall reputation thats living off the back [ and money ] of his @&$hat father in law idiot to boot

    Yeah Ford . You picked a real winner to promote your products . Or should that be … wiener ? Ford’ll find out the hard way when sales go absolutely nowhere after the initial rush is over . Just like GM with the recent SS and Z/28 . Hmmmn … wonder if Ford’s been drinking from GM’s water supply lately ?

    Ecosnooze powered GTs .. this pos … Ken Block(head) as corporate spokesman ? Whats next in Fords quiver ? 10,000,000 recalls perhaps ?

  3. Jeff

    Anybody ever see that episode of South Park where Stan begins to grow up and gradually everything he comes into contact with turns to sh!t? Literally. Music sounds like shIt. Movies are all shIt. Food tastes like shIt. I think this guy is living that. Poor bastard.

  4. don't be a hater

    How many aliases does this guy have anyway? It’s easy to skip the obvious ones, but now I find myself skipping any post longer than 5 lines because I figure it’s just more coloradokid crying. Coloradokid please only post under one name, so I don’t waste time reading your whining.
    Love the car, but I need something bigger. How about the same engine/driveline in a fusion?

    1. Patrick U

      I’ve been hoping for an all wheel drive Fusion for quite some time. Though, I’d prefer to see the 3.5l v6 in it….

  5. stoned_ritual

    “So should we care ? Only if there’s nothing better to do with our time and thoughts like say , wash the dog , clean out the garage , have a good dump etc”

  6. jerry z

    Give me one of those old Euro Escorts, the original drift machine!

    Sounds like those 4 bangers were packing some snot!

    Could care less about the new RS, probably cost around $40K.

  7. mooseface

    I care about the Focus RS. I’d been waiting with baited breath for the announcement ever since the rumor mill started churning.
    The reality is that I’ll never own one, but I’m going to enjoy the hell out of watching other people having fun with their cars.

  8. Bob

    @ColoradoKid or whatever you want to call yourself today, If you dont like what you read here on Bangshift, stop reading it! And stop commenting on it! You are a free man!

Comments are closed.