Ford Out Of Focus

Cammy Corrigan
by Cammy Corrigan

Don’t you just hate it when a band or stand up comedian you like is doing a show in your area but the second tickets go on sale, they’ve sold out? Then, if you’re really desperate, you enter the world of the ticket tout, where you could pay exorbitant prices for tickets which might not be genuine. Then, if that fails, you fall back on the “Oh, I’ll wait till it comes out on CD/DVD.” train of thought. Then, when you do get it, you’ll always listen/watch it with a sense of emptiness, knowing you missed out on that live performance. Are you feeling depressed now? Well, think how the people of Europe are feeling. At least those who yearn for a certain Ford Focus.

Autocar reports that Ford of Europe is sending the current Ford Focus RS out with a bang by creating a limited edition line called the Ford Focus RS500. The clue is in the name as to how “limited” this edition is. Only 500 will be manufactured. It will have 345BHP (as opposed to the 300BHP in a current Focus RS). It will have a torque of 339lb/ft (as opposed to 325lb/ft in the current model) and the 0-62mph time will be reduced from 5.9 seconds (in the current model) to 5.6 seconds. In the interior, a plaque will be applied on the center console with the car’s limited edition number on it. As I write these words, the chavs in my neighbourhood are almost wetting themselves in anticipation of this car. Well, they can get in line with the rest of them.

Within 12 hours of this being revealed (not launched, revealed – big difference), over 500 expressions of intent to buy Al Gore’s headache came from the UK alone. This means there will be a more than a few disappointed hoonmeisters in the UK as the car is available for sale in the whole of Europe.

The revealing of this car was wrought with problems. A website was set up to control the press releases of this car, but the website was hacked and official pictures of the car were released 48 hours before they were due to be released. Further problems came when after these pictures were leaked, people went into Ford dealerships to buy the car, only for dealers to have no idea what they were talking about as they weren’t briefed by Ford yet.

Still, never mind, you lot won’t get this car. Do you honestly think CAFE would allow it…?

Cammy Corrigan
Cammy Corrigan

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  • Ion Ion on Apr 06, 2010

    2 things have made me lose intrest in the RS: 1 Lily Allen has one. 2 I found out there are kits to convert a 1st gen focus into RWD.

  • Porschespeed Porschespeed on Apr 07, 2010

    How many dollars do you have? For the right amount I'll be more than happy to build you the exact same thing Stateside. It just won't have the factory VIN on it. I'll even build it with (imported) factory parts. This isn't the 70's. If you really want anything, it's readily available, if you have the funds.

  • Theflyersfan I know given the body style they'll sell dozens, but for those of us who grew up wanting a nice Prelude Si with 4WS but our student budgets said no way, it'd be interesting to see if Honda can persuade GenX-ers to open their wallets for one. Civic Type-R powertrain in a coupe body style? Mild hybrid if they have to? The holy grail will still be if Honda gives the ultimate middle finger towards all things EV and hybrid, hides a few engineers in the basement away from spy cameras and leaks, comes up with a limited run of 9,000 rpm engines and gives us the last gasp of the S2000 once again. A send off to remind us of when once they screamed before everything sounds like a whirring appliance.
  • Jeff Nice concept car. One can only dream.
  • Funky D The problem is not exclusively the cost of the vehicle. The problem is that there are too few use cases for BEVs that couldn't be done by a plug-in hybrid, with the latter having the ability to do long-range trips without requiring lengthy recharging and being better able to function in really cold climates.In our particular case, a plug-in hybrid would run in all electric mode for the vast majority of the miles we would drive on a regular basis. It would also charge faster and the battery replacement should be less expensive than its BEV counterpart.So the answer for me is a polite, but firm NO.
  • 3SpeedAutomatic 2012 Ford Escape V6 FWD at 147k miles:Just went thru a heavy maintenance cycle: full brake job with rotors and drums, replace top & bottom radiator hoses, radiator flush, transmission flush, replace valve cover gaskets (still leaks oil, but not as bad as before), & fan belt. Also, #4 fuel injector locked up. About $4.5k spread over 19 months. Sole means of transportation, so don't mind spending the money for reliability. Was going to replace prior to the above maintenance cycle, but COVID screwed up the market ( $4k markup over sticker including $400 for nitrogen in the tires), so bit the bullet. Now serious about replacing, but waiting for used and/or new car prices to fall a bit more. Have my eye on a particular SUV. Last I checked, had a $2.5k discount with great interest rate (better than my CU) for financing. Will keep on driving Escape as long as A/C works. 🚗🚗🚗
  • Rna65689660 For such a flat surface, why not get smoke tint, Rtint or Rvynil. Starts at $8. I used to use a company called Lamin-x, but I think they are gone. Has held up great.
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