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The Volkswagen Golf R? The Subaru WRX STI? Ford rooster-tails sand in their faces with the announcement that the awesome new Focus RS will make a staggering 345 horsepower from its 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder. The VW packs 292 horsepower, and the STI 305.
-Ford claimed “more than 315 horsepower” when it first announced the car in February, and this announcement more than fulfills that promise. The word comes ahead of the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed festivities, where Ford rally driver and RS development consultant Ken Block will run the all-wheel-drive super hatch up the hill.
-Also confirmed: the RS’s torque figure, which comes in at 325 lb-ft between 2000 and 4500 rpm. An overboost function allows for a maximum of 347 lb-ft for up to 15 seconds when the driver’s right foot is buried against the firewall. (For further comparison, the Golf R has 280 lb-ft and the STI 290.) The EcoBoost’s rev limiter cuts in is 6800 rpm.
-Every Focus RS will shunt its output through a six-speed manual transmission and onto a new all-wheel-drive system that features clutch packs on each rear half shaft to deliver dynamic torque vectoring. Up to 70 percent of torque can be delivered to the rear axle, and up to 100 percent of that amount can be routed to the outside rear wheel. The car also will feature several chassis modes—including a “Drift Mode” that allows you to hang the tail out—and brake-based torque-vectoring on the front wheels similar to that in the Focus ST.
-Besides besting its AWD hot-compact competition, the RS’s output figures also top those of the Mustang EcoBoost, which uses a longitudinal application of this same 2.3-liter to make 310 horsepower and 320 lb-ft. Versus that version of the engine, the RS’s features a larger turbo compressor, a larger intercooler, a freer-flowing intake, and a bigger-diameter performance exhaust system with an active valve in the tailpipe. (You can hear it in this hype video.) The head uses a different aluminum alloy capable of withstanding higher temperatures, and the cylinders have stronger cast-iron liners. There’s also a mega-sized radiator.
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- The Story of RS: A Visual History of Every Ford RS Model
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- 15 Things You Must Know About the 2017 Ford Focus RS
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- Watch Ken Block Put the Focus RS Through Its Paces
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Now we wait to see what Ford comes up with for the twin-turbo V-6 in the GT supercar—the company has said that monster will exceed 600 horsepower, and we now know that they’re kinda into blowing their own estimates to smithereens.
-from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1eJ0jve
via Agya
