Road Test: Ford Focus 2.0 RS 3dr

Ford knew the old Escort was crap. So it took them seven minutes to take our mind off it with an astonishing range topper. The RS Cosworth with its enormous rear spoiler, its four-wheel-drive system, its fat tyres and 200bhp under the bonnet was one of the 20th-century's greatest cars.

It's hard to explain just what an impact this car had. In motoring magazines, you will often read about people falling over themselves to get a better look at some new car or another. But the truth of the matter is that no-one in this country ever looks at anything. Except the Cossie. Everyone called the Cosworth a Cossie. Except me. I called mine Gary.

And I loved it. You could turn up with an automotive Goliath and Gary would kill it dead. The underdog that always won through.

So imagine my delight when Ford announced at the launch of the Focus that history would repeat itself. We'd be getting an RS Cosworth Focus with a big rear spoiler, fat tyres and 4WD. Only this time, instead of 200bhp, we'd get 300bhp.

A month passed. Then another. Suddenly, we were in a new month, which passed. Another month passed, then another... It's hard to say what the problem is. Some say the car just doesn't work. Others explain that, unlike the old Escort, the Focus doesn't need a halo. It's good enough on its own.

Whatever, the upshot is that we now won't get a 300bhp, 4WD Focus flying machine until hell freezes over, or until the next generation of Focus comes along, whichever is the soonest.So to keep us happy, they've launched the RS here. At £20,000 it costs the same as the old Cossie did 10 years ago. With 212bhp, it has the same sort of power too. But then both cars have two-litre turbocharged engines. So comparisons are inevitable.

Apparently, though, they're not. According to colleagues who've driven this car on track, it's astonishing. They say it's better than the old Cossie. More than that, they say it's better than a Honda Civic Type-R and Subaru Impreza. They liken its cornering abilities to those of the Lotus.

There's no doubt it looks great with those flared wheelarches shrouding 18-inch wheels. The badging's good too. In one nine-inch area, you'll find labels from OZ, Brembo and RS. That's quite a collection.

Inside, though, things go a bit wrong. It's standard Focus apart from a splash of carbon fibre around the gearstick, Recaro seats and a green starter button.

But let's skip over the aesthetics and get to the nub: what's it like to drive? Well unlike my colleagues, I drove it on normal British roads and there are problems.

When the surface is smooth and the tarmac wide, it is, as they claim, truly epic. Fast, and seemingly blessed with barnacles rather than tyres. When you go berserk, the nose runs wide, but a gentle lift of the throttle gives you a neutral stance. It's like a normal Focus only the hedgerow is going past faster. I'm told that on a track, any track, the RS is faster than a Subaru Impreza. Better looking too, but that's not hard.

I also have nothing but praise for its ride qualities. It's firm, of course, but never intrusively so. And it's much the same story with the noise. Maybe there should be more of an exhaust bark, but I'm happy to make do with a hard edged induction roar that settles down nicely when you're cruising.

However, on a B-road, things start to go awry. When the diff is fully loaded, the car tramlines like a bastard. When it isn't, there's a looseness and in-between there's torque steer. On twisty roads, you don't drive it so much as manhandle it and hope for the best. Being kind, I'd call it hairy. Being honest, I'd call it scary.

But what's worse is the sense that you're not driving the best that Ford can do. You sense that this is sop, a stop-gap car to keep us sweet until the Cosworth eventually turns up.

You never had that feeling in the old Cossie. Gary was out on his own. You knew that there was never going to be a better one, and there never was.

So, would I buy an RS? It's good value. It's properly fast. It's very handsome. But because of the B-road issue, I have to say, I'm not sure. I'd like more time with it but after an hour or so, I think I'd still have the Subaru, and put up with its pig's face.

Jeremy Clarkson

Second opinion from Angus Frazer at the Lommel Proving Ground in Belgium:

It's true to say that by already having the best-handling car in the class, Ford had a pretty good starting point for the RS with the Focus. That's no guarantee of success, though; after all, the ST 170 is nothing special. This car, on the other hand, is.

Modifications to the Focus's chassis include new hub assemblies to allow larger drive shafts, strengthened A-arms, a crossmember and an anti-roll bar at the front, shorter springs with Sachs Racing dampers all round and a re-designed rear anti-roll bar. Finally, there are lightweight aluminium 8 x 18-inch OZ Racing wheels and low-profile Michelin Pilot Sport 225/40R/18 tyres.

The car's wet weather behaviour is fantastic. Not only are the steering, balance and grip excellent, but the rally-type Quaife automatic torque-biasing differential means you can also get the power down. With this mechanical differential there is no nannying artificial interference of the type you get with electronic traction control. The closest the car gets to that is to employ a system which electronically limits the amount of torque available in first, second and reverse to protect the transmission, but you can't actually feel this system cutting in at any point. While the RS will spin its wheels hard in the rain when provoked, I just could not get it to torque steer.

Power delivery from the two-litre Duratec engine is spot on. After all, the high power and torque output of 212bhp and 229lb ft would prove pretty pointless in this type of car if you had to wait around for them to turn up. You don't. Ford uses a Garrett stainless steel water-cooled turbocharger with an air-to-water aircharge intercooler. The intake system is fitted with a boost recalculation valve to minimise turbo lag. And it works. This engine likes to get up early and serve you breakfast with eggs sunny side up; 0-60mph takes six seconds and the top speed is 144mph.

It's hard to fault the five-speed MTX75 gearbox which now features a shorter, more direct throw and revised close ratios with shot-peened gear cogs for greater durability. Similarly the easy-to-use clutch has been uprated to an AP Racing unit. Braking is taken care of by Brembo four-pot, twin-opposed

piston calipers and 325mm vented discs at the front, with twin pot calipers and 280mm solid discs at the rear. Believe it or not, the Bosch ABS system is a MK25 and the whole braking package is really rather good indeed.

It's a shame that this car didn't live up to Jeremy's expectations on UK roads, for on the track I found much to like about the Focus RS and little to turn my nose up at; apart from the ageing interior, that is.