This week executives from Ford officially pulled back the curtain of the 2016 Ford Focus RS, the third generation of ultimate hot hatches bearing the Blue Oval. With 345 horsepower propelling all four wheels through a cutting-edge all-wheel drive system, it not only meets, but exceeds all our expectations for the latest and greatest Focus RS.
The big reveal left some big questions for wannabe American buyers though, specifically regarding price and availability. While we don’t yet know when the 2016 Focus RS will be available stateside, Ford’s website has been updated with information and pricing, putting the Focus RS at $35,730 before tax, title, and destination.
That’s about $9,000 (in ‘Murican dollars) less than in Europe, where the Focus RS is slated to start at £28,940, or just under $45,000. However, that price tag does mean that the Focus RS is more expensive than a base Mustang GT, which starts at $32,900. Seriously. The Mustang is slightly faster to 60 MPH (4.4 seconds to the 4.7 seconds of the Focus), but the hot hatch has two big advantages over the brawny muscle car; all-wheel drive and a claim to great practicality.
For customers living in places where it gets cold and snowy during winter months, the all-wheel drive system is particularly tempting, as many Mustangs go into hibernation at the first signs of snowfall. You also have to take into account that the Focus RS will (probably) come equipped with lots of standard features that require Mustang buyers to step up to the Premium package.
Alas, we don’t know what options the Focus RS will offer yet, nor do we have a timeline on when it’ll arrive in America. We do know the first examples are scheduled to hit Europe in early 2016, so we’re probably looking at a year or more before the American models arrive.
Plenty of time to decide between two remarkable performance machines from the Blue Oval.