NEW YORK, Aug 9 — Not content with having created a family hatchback that can drift like a rally car and hit 100km/h in 4.7 seconds, Ford Performance and Mountune have been pooling their combined resources to make the company’s hottest hot hatch even hotter.

The result, the Ford Performance by Mountune engine upgrade, boosts output to 370bhp and 510 Nm of torque and cuts 0.2 seconds off the already impressive 0-100km/h dash.

In other words, once installed, the upgrade pack makes the Focus faster off the mark than a Porsche 911 Carrera, yet it comes with twice as many doors, twice as much room in the back, and acres more luggage space.

But even with the optional upgrade, the car will cost less than half what a 911 does.

"Ford has a proud history of working with Mountune to unleash even more power from our hot hatchbacks for dedicated performance enthusiasts,” said Tyrone Johnson, vehicle engineering manager, Ford Performance.

"Boosting power to 375 PS (370bhp) launches the already class-leading Focus RS even further ahead of the field.”


The uptick in performance, achieved via a mix of new components and new software won’t boost the car’s top speed, which remains a very respectable 265kph, but it will increase the waiting list.

Such has been the response for the new RS, developed with help from cult rally driver Ken Block, that keen drivers with familial responsibilities are already having to wait up to 18 months to get their hands on one.

The good news is that whether you’re waiting or whether you’ve been lucky enough to have already taken delivery of the world’s first production car with a "drift mode” for controlled over-steer when cornering, just like in a World Rally Car, the new option can be retro-fitted or specified before delivery.

And the whole thing only takes 90 minutes at any Mountune-appointed Ford dealer.

Even without the upgrade the Ford Focus RS — the first RS-badged Focus to be launched as a global model — has been whole-heartedly embraced by the motoring press.

Among the awards it’s already picked up since going on sale is one of the most coveted of all — Top Gear Magazine’s Car of the Year. — AFP-Relaxnews