AFTER two years of teasing and speculation, the Ford Focus RS has arrived, touted by its maker as being “the closest you can get to Colin McRae’s WRC Challenger”.

With a 212bhp, 2.0-litre, turbo-charged engine, the new Focus draws on a 32-year pedigree for high performance cars, during which time there have been 20 Fords wearing the RS badge. This is one of the most powerful road-going RSs yet and since conventional wisdom has it that power equals fun, it should be one of the most compelling. At least, that’s the theory.

Overall, the Focus has garnered more than a little success for Ford, its daring styling, practicality and terrific road-holding winning customers across the globe. The Focus RS is the first to wear the badge since the four-wheel-drive Escort RS Cosworth of the 1990s and is intended to offer driving enthusiasts rally-bred excitement and some exclusivity. Ford will build only ten a day, though for an indefinite period, each one carrying a “limited edition” number. Inside, the dash remains the same and the standard, rather “mumsy” Focus steering wheel has acquired garish, bright-blue sections to either side (matching the RS’s unique Imperial Blue paint job). A further small blue band is set at the 12 o’clock position, emulating the piece of tape real rally cars have to remind the overloaded driver which way the wheels are pointing in the heat of the moment.

Most of the go-faster bits are deliberately sourced from the same suppliers as the works cars, so competition seats are from Sparco (more bright-blue leather) and so are the foot pedals (shiny metal). The instruments are embellished with more blue paint and there’s a shiny knurled handbrake lever, some carbon-fibre trim and RS logos sprinkled about the cabin.

Outside there are huge, 18in OZ racing alloy wheels over which the Focus squats on lowered suspension. And of course, there are front and rear spoilers.

Starting is a trifle complicated because the keystart has been partially disconnected to work only the ignition and a trendy green starter button has been added to the floor. No need to worry about comfort in the extreme Ford, the seats are lovely and it soon became apparent on the chunky Cumbrian test route near Ford’s fantastic new world rally headquarters that the super-firm suspension is nevertheless supple enough to soak up unpleasant road shocks.

There’s no doubting the power of the massively modified, two-litre Duratec engine though. Turbo-charged engines have a special characteristic, which is that the engine’s pulling power is more robust than that of an engine sans turbo, especially at low revs.

Squeeze the throttle and the RS does not so much canter away, or even break into a gallop. It attempts to smash your frail body into those generous Sparco seats with a brutal charge, interrupted only by the need to change gear.

On that score, a pseudo competition-style gearchange indicator light sends you urgent reminders from the rev counter dial as the engine bellows to be given its head. Select the next gear, and it starts all over again, dispatching 60mph in a ludicrously quick 6.4 seconds and, were you to let it, tearing all the way to 144mph.

Cumbria has some wonderful driving roads, so there is ample opportunity to sample the Ford’s cornering ability, which is considerable. The power steering, also used on the Focus ST170, sometimes makes it easy to place the car where you want it and has a tactile, springy feel to it. The rest of the time it does not, because under hard acceleration, and despite a special transmission, the RS still fails to fully resolve the conflict between driving through the front wheels, and steering with them at the same time.

The condition becomes much worse on irregular road surfaces. Pull out to overtake while accelerating hard, and the Focus may dart out more quickly than you anticipated. Accelerate hard in a straight line, and the wheel will squirm in your hands, assuming a dead, stodgy feel. The sensation is not appealing and the reason why most really serious sporting cars with this much power are either rear-wheel-drive, or four-wheel-drive. It is a shame, because the Focus has inherently fine road-holding, handling and fabulous brakes, spoilt by more power than it can comfortably take.

Changing gear is boring too, the gear lever lacking a short, crisp movement that smacks of a true competition-bred car.

For those reasons, if you are in search of the definitive driving experience, this is not it. The new RS may be “WRC inspired” and cost £19,995, but the lack of four-wheel-drive means it falls a long way short of the real thing. Subaru and Mitsubishi get much closer to their works competition cars with the more expensive four-wheel-drive Impreza and Evo families.

In detail

Model: Ford Focus RS
Engine: Four cylinder, 2-litre turbo
Gearbox: 5-speed manual
Power: 212bhp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 310Nm @ 3,500rpm
Top speed: 144mph, 0-60mph 6.4sec
Fuel consumption: 28mpg (combined cycle)
CO2: 237g/km
Price: £19,995

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