Motors North

Make

ANY AC AIXAM ALFA ROMEO ASIA ASTON MARTIN AUBURN AUDI AUSTIN BENTLEY BMW BRISTOL BUGATTI CADILLAC CATERHAM CHEVROLET CHRYSLER CITROEN COLEMAN MILNE DAEWOO DAIHATSU DAIMLER DATSUN DAX DE TOMASO DODGE FERRARI FIAT FORD FSO GINETTA GMC HILLMAN HOLDEN HONDA HUMMER HYUNDAI INFINITI ISUZU JAGUAR JEEP JENSEN KIA KOENIGSEGG LADA LAMBORGHINI LANCIA LAND ROVER LEXUS LIGIER LINCOLN LOTUS MARCOS MASERATI MAYBACH MAZDA MCLAREN MERCEDES-BENZ MERCURY MG MICROCAR MINI MITSUBISHI MITSUOKA MORGAN MORRIS NISSAN NOBLE OPEL PAGANI PANTHER PERODUA PEUGEOT PILGRIM PLYMOUTH PONTIAC PORSCHE PROTON RELIANT RENAULT RILEY ROLLS-ROYCE ROVER SAAB SEAT SINGER SKODA SMART SSANGYONG SUBARU SUNBEAM SUZUKI TALBOT TATA TOYOTA TRIUMPH TVR ULTIMA VAUXHALL VOLKSWAGEN VOLVO WESTFIELD WOLSELEY YUGO

Model

ANY

Area

ANY Badenoch and Strathspey Caithness Inverness Inverness Area and Loch Ness Lochaber Moray Nairn and District Ross and Cromarty Sutherland Other

Price From

0 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000 100000

Price To

500 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000 100000

Your Local Newspaper

Inverness Courier Highland News
North Star Lochaber News Northern Scot
Ross-shire Journal Caithness Courier
John O Groat Journal Northern Times
Forres Gazette Banffshire Journal
Strathspey and Badenoch Herald

Copyright SPP Group

our test drives or view them all

Ford Focus RS

FOR me it started with the Lotus Cortina Twin Cam in the 1960s – and ever since Ford has been turning out stonking performance machines based on modest family fare.

The latest offering is the 2009 Focus RS – an incredibly responsive front-wheel-driven hot hatch that’s packed with value for anyone lucky enough to have £27,000 to spend.

There’s little to criticise. It still has some torque-steer under provocative throttle openings both with and without the traction control engaged – but you’d have to be brain dead or totally insensitive to drive the RS like that on a regular basis.

Ford’s chassis engineers have done an excellent job to tame the massive 324lb.ft of torque that you can funnel through the 35-section 19-inch covers between 2300rpm and 4500rpm.

There is so much pulling power from this five-cylinder single turbo powerhouse that a ship’s engineer should be called in to manage its effects.

But Ford has developed a system called RevoKnuckle that takes almost all of the torque-steer out of the system – what’s left is so close to the top end of control that it will not bother any sensible performance driver.

The car is spectacularly impressive on the road. Traction is phenomenal, control surgically precise and throttle response instant.

I found the excellent support offered by the Recaro RS seats was spoiled by their rather high-set position in the car, but once you get the steering column set for your height it’s easy to compensate. If you have to lower the seat you need to get your toolkit out and move some bolts – not a hard task, but irritating if you are a tall driver who dislikes being "perched" too high.

You could argue that the dash and interior is not special enough to grace a car like this – but all Ford performance machinery and RS family members are the same and recognisably part of the wider Ford family.

It’s 40 years since the RS (Rally Sport) badge appeared on Blue Oval cars. Each has been a significant model with some superb highlights like the 201bhp 4x4 Sierra Cosworth.

But the latest RS is up there with the best. That’s because of the excellent job Ford has done in passing its power and torque through the front wheels without having the inconvenience, cost and extra weight of a 4x4 system.

Ford likes to keep things relatively simple – it’s a strength. This is a blisteringly hot hatch that comes with a three-year or 60,000 miles warranty that only needs servicing every 12,500 miles. Not bad for a ground-hugging missile that will top 160mpg, burn to 62mph from rest in under six seconds and charge through the important 50mph to 70mph overtaking time faster than almost anything else on the road.

It’s all down to that amazing torque delivery and the closely-spaced six-speed manual transmission and RevoKnuckle system that manages it all.

Select any gear and you’ll not be left wanting for pulling power. It’s breathtaking.

The torque delivery is so great and smooth, the clutch so able and the transmission so biddable that you can drive off in sixth gear with hardly a shudder and continue all the way to the car’s maximum speed. A pointless exercise maybe, but it underlines the engine’s incredible flexibility.

The secret is the car’s one-piece, precision-cast, thin-walled iron Borg-Warner K16 integrated turbo system mated to a new intake system and exhaust manifold.

The larger Borg-Warner K16 turbo fitted to the Focus RS produces a maximum steady state boost pressure of 1.4 bar – double that of the Focus ST’s 0.7 bar. That delivers a rather obvious 35 per cent power increase compared to the previous RS.

To maximise responsiveness the RS power development team integrated the turbo with the exhaust manifold to allow subtle manifold tuning and strategically locate the turbo in the engine bay to keep the older car’s exhaust system and associated oil and water pipes.

By carefully sizing the new car’s larger turbo the RS has incredible bottom end responsiveness that matches the 222bhp Focus ST and induction and exhaust losses have been minimised.

So often higher-powered models like the RS can be intractable and awkward to drive smoothly when compared to less muscular siblings. Not this time. The RS is a pussy to drive with all the power and delivery of a mild rally car under your right toe.

What that means is blisteringly fast acceleration, instant response and effortless performance. A masterpiece.

Armed with what has to be the finest mass-produced hot hatch in Britain I set off for the west Highlands and my favourite roads.

Fitted as standard with Ford’s excellent electric windscreen-clearing Quickclear system, the early-morning dew was disposed of in seconds after a chill start.

Despite temperatures inside and out hovering around a damp 2 degrees C, the car did not hesitate and the heating system quickly began delivering warm air.

With the contour-hugging Recaro seats, and despite that rather high driver’s position, I settled in quickly for what was to be a 230-mile dash through some of Britain’s finest scenery.

North of Lairg and along Loch Shin the levels of grip from this front-drive flier were astonishing. Speed could be crammed on quickly thanks to the responsive turbo and rapid gear change – and shed just as fast thanks to massive disc brakes. Roll was negligible and the ride not nearly as filling-rattling as I had expected.

This is one well-sorted performance hatchback.

Not every motoring hack, or owner for that matter, is as lucky as I am to have roads like the A838 to Scourie and on to the A894 and A835 through Ledmore and Ullapool.

Here the RS is a driver’s delight – precise, responsive and with the exhaust and engine acoustics of a thoroughbred.

There are few cars in this price range that can deliver such a skin-tingling deep-throated growl under power, and the grip to go with it. Not once did I feel this hot hatch was too much to handle.

And what’s even more impressive is that when you’ve had enough of winding in the miles at a brisk pace, there is so much torque in the lusty 2.5 turbo that you can waft along effortlessly at Sunday afternoon run speeds. Just wonderful.

Driving hard I averaged 27mpg – but easing back on the loud pedal saw my average climb to a very respectable 38mpg.

This is quite a car – possibly Ford’s best attempt to date – and it has had some crackers.

What’s more, when the heat of the brisk drive has cooled, it’s still a practical hatchback. Visit the supermarket and this 1.5 tonne flier’s boot will swallow 385 litres of shopping and expand to 1247 litres with the rear seats folded.

A cracker – in every respect.

Rating: 9/10

FINAL THOUGHT: As a hot hatch they don’t come any better. Powerful, instant response and surprisingly refined. Some torque steer under heavy throttle, but great fun for any red-blooded performance car fan.

Ford Focus RS

• Price: £26,995
• Capacity: 2522cc
• Power: 301bhp
• 0-62mph: 5.9 seconds
• Maximum speed: 163mph
• Economy: Combined 30.5mpg; Urban 21mpg
• CO2 emissions: 225g/km
• ESP: Standard
• Insurance: Group 19