Local fans of the Blue Oval’s finest hot hatch will have to endure more misery with the announcement of this cooking Focus RS500 model. Ford Australia, in their wisdom, have decided that we cannot buy Ford Focus RS. Sure we can get the Focus XR5 (ST), but if Volkswagen is willing to offers its top-end Golf R in addition to its iconic GTI, why won’t Ford play ball also? Of course, that means there is virtually no chance of ever seeing the hot RS500 down under.
In fact, its so damn hot it has chargrilled itself into a very stealth, and very awesome, matt black finish. It’s a combination of Panther Black duco and a specially designed film, described by Ford as being a”foil” finish and has been developed in conjunction with 3M.
It used to be said that 200 horsepower was the maximum amount you could put through a front-driver before things got a bit hectic. Ford have already thrown the rule book out with the 2.5 litre Duratec inline five cylinder found in the regular RS. But this 500 model, throws the rule book even further away with peak power of 350PS. That’s an impressive 15 per cent gain over the “garden-variety’ RS, if there could ever be such a thing. Torque has been boosted as well, up 20Nm to a new peak of 460Nm.
Gains have been made via the usual route for hi-po turbocharged engines, with tweaks such as a more free-flowing exhaust system—including larger downpipe, uprated intercooler, better air intake, revised high-pressure fuel pump and a new ECU tune to maximise those mods. Gunnar Herrmann, Ford’s global C-car vehicle line director says, “The engine’s improved breathing has allowed us to increase power without having to raise turbo boost pressure significantly. This has made it possible to enhance peak performance while maintaining the excellent driveability, fuel consumption and emissions of the standard Focus RS.”