2016 Ford Focus RS Will Come to North America

Although Ford is thought to be an "American" company, they are about as global of a company as any other these days. Which means that they have had some cars especially made for the European market that they have not sold here in North America. One of these products is the previous limited edition Ford Focus RS. However, Ford has just announced that their new 2016 Focus RS will be a global car and finally make its way to our North American shores.

Powered by a 2.3L "Ecoboost" turbo four cylinder engine, sourced from the new Mustang, the new 2016 Ford Focus RS will produce "at least" 320 horsepower and "at least" 320 b-ft of torque. Ford decided, thankfully, that the Focus RS will only come in a 6 speed manual transmission, meaning that enthusiasts can now rejoice and stop nagging Ford about the death of the third pedal. It will also have, for the first time, an advanced all-wheel drive system with active torque split and torque vectoring. Ford says that this new AWD system can send up to 70% of the torque to the rear wheels, as well as transferring up to 100% of that torque to one of the wheels if needed. This torque vectoring system is not the brake-actuated system found in other cars, this is a true torque vectoring system using the rear differential to send torque side-to-side where needed. The rear differential uses a pair of multi-plate clutches to send the power to the necessary wheel(s).

On the exterior, The Focus RS gets a new, aggressive front fascia, a big rear spoiler, new lightweight wheels, and a new rear diffuser. Thankfully, it still comes in a five-door, so that you can hurl your passengers around every corner in the space that they deserve.

The 2016 Ford Focus RS sounds like it has all the ingredients needed to be a proper hot hatch, a segment that has been largely forgotten in North America. Like many of the other recent announcements from automakers, Ford will officially debut at the 2015 Geneva Auto Show. No prices have been announced, but expect to pay a hefty premium over the $27,499 CAD MSRP of the Focus ST already on sale in Canada.