Starting at 41,995 (which includes an 875 destination charge), the undisputed king of the Focus range. In the pocket-rocket class, the value isn’t in the plastics. The 2018 Ford Focus RS is a hatchback on steroids. While that’s excellent for whenever the road-or road course-turns squiggly, the seats are constricting for long highway drives. Those Recaros are constructed every bit as aggressively as the RS’s engine, and tall bolsters on both the seatback and the lower cushion grab you in a firm bear hug. They come covered in a mix of cloth and leather as standard, while full leather can be ordered as part of a $2785 package that includes heating for the front seats, a heated steering wheel, heated mirrors, and a navigation system.
FORD FOCUS RS UPGRADE
A pair of thickly bolstered Recaro bucket seats is the sole major upgrade made here to the Focus cabin. It’s fair and truthful to complain that the RS’s interior is just as cluttered and cheap as that of the $18,100 version, but that’s par for the course in this class-no one ever bought a Subaru WRX STI for its interior. (Since we first published this story, Ford has informed us that bigger, longer, smokier slides are possible if you press and hold the stability-control button after selecting Drift mode.)ĬHARLIE MAGEE It’s Not What’s Inside that Counts In the Focus RS, you can attempt to understeer by accelerating at the limit of cornering grip, but the car calmly continues to rotate, rather than plow toward the outside of the corner. Transverse-engine, all-wheel-drive vehicles typically carry the bulk of their weight on the front axle-the Focus RS has 59.4 percent of its weight on its nose-and prefer to bias the torque to the front tires. In that sense, the system does provide a service.
We were expecting Drifting for Dummies instead we got an understeer-mitigation system.
FORD FOCUS RS DRIVER
As soon as the driver even thinks of dialing in opposite lock-a key element of a controlled drift-the ghost of a fun-hating lawyer shuts down the party. The RS rarely skates around corners in smoky, sustained oversteer. This isnt a perfect car, and at a starting price of 36,000 theres a serious 10,000. When you do manage to break the rear tires free, Drift mode manifests as a brief wag of the tail before the brakes haul things back into line. While it was a long, painful wait, the Focus RS was well worth it. All that traction is at odds with the RS’s Drift mode.