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<\/p>\n<\/div>Conveniently located off Old Telegraph Road in Clarkston, Waterford Hills Raceway is one of Metro Detroit\u2019s hidden gems.<\/p>\n
Bordered by woods, its 11 turns spilling over grassy knolls offer some of the best road racing in Michigan. For 58 years Detroiters have enjoyed this great American racetrack next door.<\/p>\n
Buyers of the ferocious, 2017 Ford Focus RS will want to get to know it.<\/p>\n
And Grattan Raceway in Grand Rapids. And South Haven\u2019s Gingerman Raceway. And M1 Concourse\u2019s Champion Motor Speedway in Pontiac. Because the RS is as track-focused a production car you\u2019ll find this side of a Camaro Z28 or Porsche 911 GT3. Yet for just $36,775 it\u2019s within reach of the average motorhead.<\/p>\n
In this Second Golden Age of motoring the RS joins the formidable Volkswagen Golf R and Subaru STI as all-wheel-drive, $35K-something hot rods with back seats. The STI is a legend with its Sopwith Camel rear-wing and nice-Subie-gone-bad swagger, while the classy V-dub boasts divine German engineering and hatchback utility.<\/p>\n
Previous performance versions of the Focus haven\u2019t been in the class of the Golf, the undisputed hatch benchmark<\/a> for four decades. Compared to VW\u2019s 210-horse Golf GTI, for example, the front-wheel drive, 250-horsepower 2016 Focus ST that I recently drove <\/a>is a dinosaur, its torque steer so violent when under the whip it wants\u00a0to rip the wheel out of my hands.<\/p>\n Like ST, the RS\u2019s power dwarfs the Golf R on paper \u2014 but this time Ford harnesses it with appropriate engineering.<\/p>\n Engineered in Germany and assembled in Spain alongside other Focuses on Ford\u2019s global C-platform, the RS (Rally Sport) initials are revered in Europe. The badge has graced off-road rally contenders \u2014 from Escort to Sierra to Focus \u2014 for years. Its appearance on these shores is a long-overdue first.<\/p>\n Golf R is the ultimate stealth hatch, its conservative lines not betraying my predatory intentions until I\u2019m on top of you. Focus RS, on the other hand, looks like I bought it from Darth Vader Automotive.<\/p>\n Check out those gaping, shark-like jaws. RS alters three body panels from its brother Focus: front fascia, roof winglet and rear diffuser. The facial Extreme Makeover satisfies the little beasty\u2019s ravenous appetite for air. Engines, a wag once said, are simply air machines. Apropos the RS with every front crevice devoted to ramming more oxygen down its 2.3-liter turbo\u2019s neck. It bumper is thinned for more air through the grille. An enlarged lower opening feeds a turbo intercooler the size of Manhattan. What, no hood scoop?<\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen this turbo 4-banger before in the current Mustang. Despite making a healthy 310 ponies, the four seems out of place in the muscle car but not the hot hatch. Not only does the RS mill produce a staggering 40 more horsepower than the Mustang, but it gains 58 horses on the Golf R. Mercy.<\/p>\n The wing adds downforce \u2014 and a big \u201cticket me\u201d billboard \u2014 on top of the car. It\u2019s not as outrageous as the STI\u2019s aerofoil, which looks like it came off a World War I fighter plane. But it will make anyone over 30 wince.<\/p>\n