Ford announced today in Geneva that it will build a "global high-performance" version of the new Focus.
This won't come as any surprise to Europeans who have been treated to a steady stream of hot Focus ST and hotter RS models over the life of the model. To Americans, who have watched a once-promising little hatchback turn into a cheaped-down Chevy Cavalier competitor, the announcement of a new hot-hatch Focus is something to celebrate.
Ford isn't confirming that the new high-performance model will come to the United States. But it will. Don't expect that the new high-performance model will be a clone of the glowing-green, 301-horsepower killer that is the current European Focus RS. In fact, we expect that Ford will put the SVT badge on the vehicle when it arrives here. And don't start holding your breathe just yet. The regular Focus 5-door hatch and 4-door sedan won't even go on sale here before the end of the year. So you've got some time to wait before this thing hits.
Oh, and that photo above? We simply tweaked a picture of the 5-door Focus so we'd have something pretty for the top of this story. Ford has not released any photographs or sketches of the new high-performance model.
When it does, likely wearing the 5-door bodywork, it will be powered by a turbocharged, direct-injection four-cylinder motor, known to Ford as EcoBoost. That leaves two options: Either Ford could use a hot version of the 1.6-liter EcoBoost that will be part of the European-market regular Focus line-up or Ford might use the 2.0-liter EcoBoost that will also be offered in the Ford Edge. With the 263-horsepower Mazdaspeed3 out there tearing up the pavement, it's hard to imagine Ford would come with less than 250 hp.
And if that kind of power is to be routed solely through the front wheels, then we hope Ford uses a version of the "RevoKnuckle" front suspension it pioneered on the current Focus RS, which significantly reduces torque steer.
This won't come as any surprise to Europeans who have been treated to a steady stream of hot Focus ST and hotter RS models over the life of the model. To Americans, who have watched a once-promising little hatchback turn into a cheaped-down Chevy Cavalier competitor, the announcement of a new hot-hatch Focus is something to celebrate.
Ford isn't confirming that the new high-performance model will come to the United States. But it will. Don't expect that the new high-performance model will be a clone of the glowing-green, 301-horsepower killer that is the current European Focus RS. In fact, we expect that Ford will put the SVT badge on the vehicle when it arrives here. And don't start holding your breathe just yet. The regular Focus 5-door hatch and 4-door sedan won't even go on sale here before the end of the year. So you've got some time to wait before this thing hits.
Oh, and that photo above? We simply tweaked a picture of the 5-door Focus so we'd have something pretty for the top of this story. Ford has not released any photographs or sketches of the new high-performance model.
When it does, likely wearing the 5-door bodywork, it will be powered by a turbocharged, direct-injection four-cylinder motor, known to Ford as EcoBoost. That leaves two options: Either Ford could use a hot version of the 1.6-liter EcoBoost that will be part of the European-market regular Focus line-up or Ford might use the 2.0-liter EcoBoost that will also be offered in the Ford Edge. With the 263-horsepower Mazdaspeed3 out there tearing up the pavement, it's hard to imagine Ford would come with less than 250 hp.
And if that kind of power is to be routed solely through the front wheels, then we hope Ford uses a version of the "RevoKnuckle" front suspension it pioneered on the current Focus RS, which significantly reduces torque steer.
