3.0L I6 engine from Volvo, re-worked by Prodrive to produce 300HP. Expected at the Geneva Motor Show in March '08.

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9071017....focus-rs-spied=

http://www.worldcarfans.com/6061127....-ford-focus-rs

 

Wow......

 

Would be an epic alternative to the EVO/STi twins.

 

too bad US will never get it. US people would never buy a focus that costs more then a mustang GT.

 

Particularly not if it comes in hatchback trim.

 

Not like the US will get one, but why an I-6? Figure a more aggressively tuned I-5 would be enough.

 

Because they can.

I'm tellin ya, SVT's great but we need an FPV-style partnership with Prodrive over here.

 

That would be cool! But yet, another cool overseas Ford we'll never see :-( Instead, we get the pathetic domestic Focus which only gladdens the hearts of rental car execs.

I'm not sure, properly marketed and supported, that an RS Focus as described wouldn't sell in the U.S. STIs and EVOs certainly seem to have a robust market for them.

As for cost, sure, I typical Mustang buyer wouldn't "get it" as to the appeal of an RS that cost as much, but as the aforementioned STI and EVO buyers clearly show, there is a large buyer segment that does "get it" regarding performance cars that go beyond being cheap, flashy quarter-milers. These cars that offer stellar handling dynamics, braking, AWD traction and a dose of daily practicallity (big trunk or, aghast, a hatchback) just on the other side of $30K, which is not that much more than a well optioned GT.

But sadly, given Ford NA's narrow, parochial thinking, we'll never see the RS.

 

Well, why should it?

People who carry on about how "Euro Fords are too expensive to import" forget that when you subtract the 17.5% VAT Euro buyers pay, the price comes down to much more competitve levels.

Meanwhile, we get this barf-o-rama >>



And as Rhumb correctly points out, if Subaru and others can sell hot performance hatches like this (which ain't cheap)...



...why can't Ford sell the below car over here?

 

Make that 19% VAT, on top of other (mostly hidden) taxes. But it's not just that, look at other cars made in EU and being sold in the US for much less than the European price:


BMW 335i Coupé (made in Germany):

Starting price in Germany: $63,900 (EUR 45,000 x 1.42)
Starting price in the US: $40,800


VW Golf GTI (made in Germany):

Starting price in Germany: $36,425 (EUR 25,650 x 1.42)
Starting price in the US: $22,730


Jaguar XKR Coupé (made in the UK):

Starting price in the UK: $143,700 (£70,097 x 2.05)
Starting price in the US: $86,700


If most EU-made cars are presently being sold in the US for 60-65% of their equivalent European prices, that means the EU-made Focus could cost from $13,300 and the Mondeo from $19,500, if only Ford would wake up and join the trend!

But it's never gonna happen, for reasons I'll never know, so I'll stop my rant here.

 

A fast Focus - kool - as long as it doesn't sound like a ricer.

 

They should chisel that on Ford's tombstone.