Wow, what was that?
That burst of colour and wall of noise? That was the new Ford Focus RS doing its 4.7-second 0-62mph thing, and running on to a top speed of 165mph.
Crikey, that's a bit quick.
Indeed. It means that this £28,940 Focus is quicker to 62mph than, say, a Lamborghini Diablo VT, a Maserati Quattroporte GTS, a Porsche 911 Targa, a Porsche Boxster S, a Nissan Skyline GTR R34, an Audi RS4, a Rolls-Royce Ghost and a 1954 Jaguar D-Type. That's a lot of expensive metal to be outpacing in a family hatchback.
"The all-new Focus RS delivers stunning performance and innovative technology at a price that will make both our customers and premium automakers look twice," said Jürgen Gagstatter, chief program engineer for Focus RS. "After experiencing the acceleration and cornering capability of the Focus RS, drivers will question the sense in spending almost £10,000 more on a premium competitor."
It's one of the first cars to have both a manual gearbox and launch control. The driver selects Launch Control from the cluster menu, engages first gear, applies full throttle and then releases the clutch. The system then delivers optimum drive - including distributing torque through the all-wheel drive system, maintaining maximum torque using an overboost function, managing the traction control system, and even setting the dampers. There are upshift lights too that warn the driver when the redline is getting close.
The four-wheel-drive system has twin clutches that can split the engine's torque from front to rear, and it can also control power between the rear wheels for torque vectoring. That's backed up by the electronic stability control that can also squeeze the brake of an individual rear wheel to help things along.
There are four selectable driving modes to choose from: Normal, Sport or Track settings are available, alongside a special Drift Mode, which should make things interesting when you want to show off.
The 2.3-litre EcoBoost turbo engine, related to that found in the Mustang, delivers 350hp and 440Nm of torque, with 470Nm available for brief bursts of overboost.
Sales, and I bet you can't wait, start in early 2016.
Neil Briscoe - 16 Sep 2015