New Ford Focus RS hits the movies

Ford has released an action-packed teaser film featuring a sideways Ken Block in the new Focus RS to herald a new eight-part film documentary outlining the development of its wildest ever Focus.

The new Focus RS will be launched in Europe in November ahead of its Australian arrival early next year and the series of videos, titled 'Rebirth of an icon' follows the highs and lows from design studio to worldwide premiere at the hands of the flamboyant RS consultant and gymkhana superstar.

Encompassing extreme testing in the Arctic and Arizona, the “warts and all” video series is previewed by this teaser video featuring Raj Nair, Ford’s group vice-president of Global Product Development and chief technical officer.

“The Focus RS is a unique performance vehicle with an incredible heritage. This creates enormous expectation and intense pressure that demands teamwork, sheer determination and a single-minded focus on delivering the ultimate Focus,” said Nair. “This access-all-areas documentary perfectly captures what is at times a bumpy ride.”

The first of eight weekly episodes goes live on September 30 and the series includes:

Episode 1: Project kick-off – Ken Block and Raj Nair debate what the car should deliver, from behind the wheel of an early prototype
Episode 2: Design and development – Crunching crashes put the new design to the toughest of tests
Episode 3: Hitting the road – A 1600km (1000-mile) drive takes prototypes from high in the Rocky Mountains to the Arizona desert
Episode 4: Test-track trials – Block heads for Ford’s top-secret test facility, and indulges in some “hooning”
Episode 5: Arctic extremes – Winter testing in Sweden, and the team is under pressure to improve performance
Episode 6: Power struggle – It’s all about performance, as the Ford manufacturing plant in Saarlouis, Germany, gears up for production
Episode 7: Close scrutiny – The day of the critical sign-off drive follows Block’s headline appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
Episode 8: Final chapter – It’s time for the nail-biting management review

As we've reported, the new Focus RS – which is already available order in Europe ahead of first deliveries in early 2016 – will produce a giant-killing 257kW of power and 440Nm of torque (470Nm in overboost) and accelerate to 100km/h in a claimed 4.7 seconds.

That makes not only makes it more powerful and quicker than the 233kW/432Nm Mustang EcoBoost muscle car with which it shares its 2.3-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine, but eclipses some of the hottest all-wheel drive small cars currently available, including the 206kW/380Nm Volkswagen Golf R and 221kW/407Nm Subaru WRX STI.

The new Focus RS will also smoke today's most powerful front-drive hot hatches, including Renault's Megane RS275 Trophy (201kW/360Nm), Peugeot's upcoming 308 GTi (200kW/330Nm) and Honda's next Civic Type-R (230kW/400Nm).

Australian pricing – and performance output, for that matter -- is not yet known but could be as much as $60,000 (about $20,000 more than the $38,990 Focus ST), making it a bargain compared to less powerful European hot hatches like BMW's cracking M135i (235kW/450Nm) $62,900.

In fact, the only small cars more powerful will be the 270kW/465Nm turbo-petrol five-cylinder Audi RS 3, which arrives in October priced at $78,900, and the upgraded Mercedes-AMG A 45, which offers 280kW/475Nm for around $75,000.

Putting its power to the ground is a new Ford Performance All-Wheel Drive system with Dynamic Torque Vectoring, which Ford claims "delivers a new level of handling capability and driver enjoyment by combining outstanding traction and grip with unmatched agility and cornering speed".

It will also be the first Ford RS model equipped with selectable Drive Modes – including an industry-first Drift Mode that allows controlled oversteer drifts – and Launch Control.

Ford says the performance boost over the old Focus RS comes courtesy of a low-inertia twin-scroll turbocharger with larger compressor that delivers significantly greater air flow, along with a much bigger intercooler to maximise charge density.

Engine breathing also is enhanced through a less restrictive intake design, and a large-bore high-performance exhaust system with an electronically controlled valve in the tailpipe that helps optimise back pressure and noise output.

The cylinder-head is produced from an upgraded alloy material, while the cylinder block employs stronger high-tensile cast iron liners. Engine cooling is handled by the largest radiator pack ever fitted to a Focus.

Ford says the engine revs to 6800rpm and maximum torque of 440Nm is delivered between 2000 and 4500 rpm, with 470Nm available for up to 15 seconds on transient overboost during hard acceleration in its European state of tune.

The European and US-developed Focus flagship -- the 30th Ford car to wear the legendary RS badge and the third Focus RS generation after previous models in 2002 and 2009 -- will be built in Saarlouis, Germany.