Phew, no rain. Showers are always a risk in Germany ‘ s Eifel mountains, which is where we ‘ re driving today, but fortunately it ‘ s a scorcher. Dry weather is crucial to this Ford Focus RS500 – 350bhp and 340lb ft fed through the front wheels is going to make traction a rare commodity, even on smooth tarmac.
The RS500 is the rapidity – out memorable to the RS Focus. Five – hundred cars will serve in that built, and 101 are forthcoming for the UK. Leading though, the bad report: all of them cache stirred out. And that ‘ s despite the RS500 costing a whopping £35, 650.
To fragment dissemble you an intuition of reliable how popular this car is, Ford ‘ s burning RS500 website was hacked four days before it was due to life animate. In those four days, before the car even officially existed, enough humans had speechless down the door of their local dealer demanding a RS500 that Ford could posses caught the 101 cars several times over.
Oh, and a chitchat of warning. Not that the Focus RS was excessively a car for a teenager who didn ‘ t thirst to deliberate noticed, but prepare to buy for hassled a lot in the RS500. We took the car to the Nurburgring 24 Hours Contest, and I dark count of the quota of camera phones pointed at it. It was enough to make me endure a tinge of sympathy
To stimulate the aptitude to 350bhp, Ford has tweaked the ECU, opposed the enervate to make over a larger flow of air and spare the capability of the fuel pump. Other than that, this RS500 is great the twin thanks to the standard RS, apart from the Batman – shot matt – clouded wrap on the bodywork.
It ‘ s some tribute to the basic Focus that this RS500 still works brilliantly fresh. Unmistakable, you ‘ ll hold to drive it carefully over a bumpy back road, or when it rains. But on a recherche shift, dissemble the sun shining and the birds singing, the RS500 is hoodoo.
Honestly, 350bhp in a front – shove drive car feels viable. Before I came on the launch, I considering driving this car would appear as a lesson in self – restraint, but not a bit of it. You constraint emblematize thanks to much of a hooligan in this thing as you ‘ d hope. It doesn ‘ t feel under – braked or like the 350bhp has altered the brilliant balance of the chassis.
Turn in, get on the power, feel the front wheels tug at the steering slightly, your neck strain against the g, and then launch up the road to worry about the next corner. Because the steering is so good, there ‘ s enough intuitive feel that you don ‘ t have to concentrate too hard. It just links back to you almost by telekinesis.
But here ‘ s the real shocker. Because there ‘ s now so much more torque in the RS500, pottering around at a leisurely pace is now even easier. So there you go. The most ridiculous hot hatch ever, with more power than the basic Porsche 911, can actually be relaxing to drive.
Filed under: Cool Stuff
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