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By all accounts, the VW GTI-based R20 looks to be stonking good fun. Unfortunately, it is just a rumour right now and is, at best, years away. The lime green beast you see above is the Euro Ford Focus RS and it entered production this week, albeit in Europe only. So not only is available today across the pond, but with Canada getting the Euro Fiesta and Euro Focus in the next year or so, a high-performance version can’t be far behind. It’s been years since Ford had a hot hatch competitor in North America to go up against VW, Mazda, and Mini so we are looking forward to some American-ish flavour. All the details on what we have to look forward to and a high-def gallery after the jump. 

The Focus RS is a two-door hatchback that puts the power from its 2.5L turbocharged 5-cylinder through the front wheels. We all know that there’s only so much power that you can put through the front wheels without getting molested by torque steer, but Ford has managed to put 300 hp and 325 torques through the front wheels! That spells trouble, you say, why not use an AWD set up? Well Ford decided that an AWD set-up would add too much weight and complexity, which is exactly what Mazda decided when developing the Mazdaspeed3. The speed3 only makes 260 hp and 280 torques though, and even with all of Mazda racing experience, there’s still a degree of torque steer.

So Ford is off their rocker putting 40 more hp down without AWD, no? Not thanks to RevoKnuckle. What’s RevoKnuckle? I don’t really know, but here’s a diagram to help explain.

I hope that the diagram made more sense to you than it did to me. Other things that we know about the RS is that it will make the sprint from 0-100 km/h in 5.9 seconds, which is sprightly. The RS will top out at 263 km/h. For features, the RS has Recaro buckets and a 6-speed manual transmission. And that’s all your need to know for features because this car is all about the driver. As for the all important weight statistic, this Focus variant isn’t too bad at 3,227 lbs. Good thing Ford didn’t toss on another 200-300 lbs for an AWD kit. 

Combining a huge amount of horsepower and handling ability at a reasonable price is the pinnacle of engineering, in my opinion. The new Ford Focus RS hits all of these marks. It’s no LP 560, but you can still get it in Ithaca Verde from the looks of it. 

[Motor Authority]