Boys pull your heads out of the sand...

taken from crash.net

When Ford announced that it would be producing an RS version of the first generation Focus, fast Ford fans all over the world worked themselves into a frenzy of anticipation. It had been ten long years since the Escort Cosworth, and it was about time that we saw another truly fast Ford. The car that arrived was eventually accepted by those in the know as being one of the truly great hot hatchbacks – despite the infamous, and ongoing, diff fiasco. However, in spite of its eventual critical acclaim and cult status, I don’t think anyone would pretend that they weren’t gutted that it wasn’t a true spiritual successor to the late, great Escort ‘Cosseh’. Put simply, it wasn’t a rally car for the road – just another very decent hot hatchback. This was no super saloon to compete with the motor sport cachet of the Evo, Impreza and Cosworth-badged Fords.

A generation on and Ford released the successor to the RS, the ST, alongside yet another completely irrelevant WRC machine at the Autosport Show. The dropping of ‘RS’ signalled that Ford was planning another model to slot into the range above this one – possibly one with a Rallye Sport badge. Possibly four-wheel drive. Possibly something to tie the road cars in more closely with the company’s WRC programme. Possibly 300bhp. Possibly a true successor to the last Cosworth.
Just before Christmas, Ford showed a teaser picture of the new RS to whet our appetites and forums across the internet went mental. The existence of the ST – a car that already has over 200bhp and, following an announcement from Ford, will soon be available with 260bhp – meant that the RS was going to have to be properly special. The teaser pic showed swollen arches, a gaping hole in the front bumper and bonnet vents. A few months earlier, Ford put out a press release saying that it had appointed Jost Capito as its new vehicle line director for Ford Performance Vehicles – a man with an illustrious motor sport career history. This was it: the new Escort Cosworth.

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But, yet again, it looks like the prospect of a proper tarmac terrorist with a blue oval on its nose is going to be nothing more than a day dream. This month’s issue of CAR proudly proclaims – in an interview with Capito no less - that the new RS will not be a stripped out road racer and, most disappointingly of all, the new RS will not have four wheel drive.

Which does beg the question: what on earth is the point?

It seems that all we’re getting from Ford is a warmed over ST. Capito says that “The majority of people don’t want stripped-out cars. These days they expect creature comforts.” A fair point, but are the ‘majority’ of people going to buy an essexed-up Focus with a big rear wing, flared arches and no back doors? Are the ‘majority’ of people going to want a car that does 15mpg? Are the ‘majority’ of people going to think, “Yes, I think I will pay a £5-10k premium over the ST for a few extra bhp, a badge and a bodykit”? The answer to all those questions is: no, probably not.

When you put a 300 brake horsepower engine into the front of a family car you are, whether you like it or not, aiming at a very specific audience: the enthusiast. Manufacturers don’t make cars like this to make money – they either do it for motor sport homologation or, the other 999 times out of 1,000, to bath the rest of the range in a warm glow of desirability so they can make more money from the lesser models.

So why not go the whole hog? Capito says, “There’s absolutely no need for four-wheel drive” but I’m afraid that is complete rubbish. Even if he thinks that putting 300bhp through the front wheels of a car is a good idea, or that in engineering terms it’s the most elegant solution, from a desirability point of view (which is what these cars are all about) it makes no sense whatsoever. You only have to look at the success of the Evo and the STi, never mind the fact that a decent Escort Cosworth still sells for £25k, to see that having four-wheel drive adds an exotic element that simply cannot be achieved with only two wheels being driven.
It’s not even a money thing – and that just makes it even more infuriating. The Focus shares its platform with the Volvo C30, which has both the capability to accept a four-wheel drive transmission and a four-wheel drive system that fits it – it would require very little development to put it in a high-power Focus.

I just can’t understand why Ford are taking this approach to the new RS – there is so much potential, both from the point of view of tying the completely irrelevant World Rally Championship into the road car operation and creating another timeless Ford legend.

I had hoped that I was going to missing the Cosworth badge, not everything that the car should have been. Let's hope this is a very ellaborate smoke screen.

The new Focus RS is set to make its debut at the British Motor Show in August.