Ford Performance prototype
Filmed on public and closed roads in Europe and US.
ESP and traction control deactivated.
Always obey speed limits.
This is the inside story of the rebirth of an icon
the Ford Focus RS.
From the design studio to the test track, and
from Arizona to the Arctic
we follow the team
as they strive to revive a famous name.
We're not gonna put out a vehicle that doesn't deserve that RS badge.
And we'll follow Ford rally and Gymkhana superstar Ken Block
as he joins the RS team.
Ford Focus RS
Rebirth of an icon
It's June 2015 and the Goodwood Festival of Speed in southern England
huge crowds have gathered to witness the RS make its debut on the famous hill climb.
Driven by Ken Block.
This is such a great place you know ...
with around 60,000 people out there today
it's very cool to get out and show it off.
The development has come a long way
the engineers have really been able to ...
get more of a feel that I like
with the way that the front end is turning in
there's a lot of response from the car
and the sound and the power has really come a long way too.
I really feel like the car has progressed to a really really good point.
I really look forward to getting one at home
where I could really drive it on the twisty roads that I know.
300 miles away in Lommel, Belgium
the development team are meeting for an all important sign off drive.
Ford's senior executives have flown in from across the world,
to deliver their verdict.
This is one of the first prototype that we have built on the assembly line
and so theoretically everything is done
and it's all here ...
so we are going to go out and test drive it today
and see if we achieved what we wanted to achieve
and see if we truly are done.
As we get ready to get these into people's driveways.
We know the car really very well ...
we've lived with it for two and a half years
We know what it's capable of.
We've been driving with these production representative vehicles for a number of weeks
and we know what they can do.
We believe that the product will speak for itself
so from that point of view I think we are all not so nervous.
The testing begins on Lommel's most challenging track.
Well man I'm really happy with how it ...
... it does have a personality now
it's got it exactly. Yeah.
Something that we, I pushed the team really hard on.
I'm glad you did.
For a long time people didn't know what I meant by "drama".
But you know, you know when you have it.
Yeah right exactly.
But you know, you get in the car ...
you start it up ...
you want to know you're in an RS.
Right!
You don't want to think oh is this a 2 liter? Or whatever ...
Exactly. It's an RS!
Right!
I'm with you.
One of the things that we've been working on really hard ....
is even in normal mode when you get on the throttle in a corner
to give you that sort of feeling like you're really being pushed from the rear of the car.
Right.
Like that rear wheel drive feeling kind of
not front wheel drive.
To get away from that front wheel drive
and I think we've done a pretty good job on that.
I think you have too.
Joining the drive from Cologne, Germany
is Joe Bakaj
In charge of product development for Ford in Europe
he's worked on generations of fast Fords.
RS has always had a great heritage coming out of Europe
and I've been part of that process for the last 20 years,
so it's great to be able to use my experience.
It needs to be fun to drive, not just on the limit, but in normal driving ...
that's always been one of the highlights
or the signatures of a true RS.
This vehicle is very easy to drift
and it feels safe to do it in.
You don't feel frightened of it.
Absolutely.
Some vehicles that just snap out and you can't control them.
Not, not this.
Even if you are not a professional driver.
Even a normal customer
is relatively quickly
capable of doing that.
Feel here in those corners ...
when you have the impression you're a bit too fast ...
you just put your foot on the accelerator pedal ...
and it stabilizes itself.
That's probably enough fun.
[ Laughter ]
It is indeed.
Hot off the plane from Detroit is Raj Nair.
Responsible for every Ford product across the world,
he has the final say.
Will he sign off the new RS?
Oh this is sport mode?
Yeah yeah.
Oh that's much better.
This is just normal sport ...
Oh that's awesome!
Love it.
I mean there's a still ...
Right there is perfect, right there!
That is awesome.
Yep.
How far over is drift mode from that?
Do you want to try it?
Yeah.
Perfect.
Very nice Tyrone.
But not everything is perfect.
This is really not good in normal.
In normal mode yes.
Even this light stuff ...
in normal mode ...
it's not good.
Is that it?
That's it.
Wow that is horrible.
Yes.
The pedal modulation is not good
even under the hard braking.
Yep.
It feels a little weak.
Alright ...
I think I've seen what I need to see.
With his drive complete ...
Raj delivers his verdict.
I'm just really amazed at how well you guys have gotten ...
the drive modes from where we were, that had me really really worried.
To where we are at right now.
Sport was fun.
Track was ... probably not as fun but
actually what you need at the track.
And Drift is just the bomb.
In normal mode ...
steering ...
it's really spongy off center,
but in Sport mode it's perfect.
Brakes I found it ...
really hard braking it wasn't really biting enough
at that pressure level.
So the whole thing is kind of disconcerting
that you're not getting a good feel.
Pops and burbles ...
there just aren't any.
The car just needs to have a little bit of that character
It's all about character.
Not more than a little bit, it needs to exude it.
So those are the areas.
I mean we're really late.
So we really gotta get on this.
So great progress on the drive modes,
get off your ass on everything else.
Thank you team.
Not signed off.
Just to be clear.
We would have been surprised.
Yeah OK.
On a couple of specific issues
and those are really critical to get right for this type of vehicle.
Where we are at on some steering feel off-center
and brake feel under medium to hard braking
and getting a little character into the exhaust noise.
Pops and burbles are actually a sign of you are dumping fuel
and you are not controlling your fuel mixture as accurately as you'd like
it's actually sign of inefficiency ...
but it sounds really cool.
Although the engineering side of me hates it ...
the enthusiast side, I think the car needs it
and the enthusiasts will love it when they hear it.
For the development team there are more late nights ahead.
Well what's gonna happen now is that we're
gonna haul the entire engineering team together
we're gonna work on the few issues that we've talked about
that we've identified
and we'll figure out how we're gonna get them fixed very quickly.
Well Raj is absolutely correct
they are important.
We can't sell the car without those fixes.
We have those fixes ongoing and
we will get it done.
Coming up ...
Next time we're back in the US.
After six weeks hard labor
will the RS finally get the green light?
It's a big day
we really need to be clean today
or we're gonna have some pretty serious repercussions.