Americans! Meet your special edition 2018 Ford Focus RS

By topgear ,

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Reading comments on The Internet isn’t really advisable and brings its own inherent danger. Ford, however, has thrown caution to the wind and listened to the forum chatter and online response to the Ford Focus RS to create a run of limited edition hot hatches.

And the headline news is thus: the 2018 Ford Focus RS will be fitted with a proper, mechanical Quaife limited slip differential.

Apparently, Ford analysed what its hot hatch fans were crying out for, and the mechanical LSD was a common request. So in it goes on the front axle, to help limit engine torque on the wheel with less traction, and transfer it to the wheel with the most grip. Bingo – now you can go apex hunting.

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“Improving on the thrilling driving dynamics of the Ford Focus RS is no small task,” explains Ford Performance’s chief engineer Jamal Hameedi, “but our Ford Performance engineers have delivered a drivetrain capable of wringing every drop of performance from the engine.”

The engine output remains the same – so 350bhp from a 2.3-litre, turbocharged four-cylinder – together with a six-speed manual and all-wheel-drive (the rear gets a special electronically controlled pair of clutch packs) with a rear-bias. The 0-100kph time is still pegged at 4.7s, which is plenty fast enough thank you.

Elsewhere, these special edition Ford Focus RS models get gloss black roofs and mirror caps, a gloss black finish on the spoiler (and blue RS logos on the wings), standard 19in black forged alloys, and the option of red or blue.

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Inside, all the equipment from the RS2 pack is standard – black leather heated Recaros, a heated steering wheel, voice-activated sat nav, and carbon fibre surrounds for the door handles, handbrake and turbo boost gauge.

Now for the bad news – only 1,500 of these special, LSD-equipped Focus RSs will be built, with 1,000 heading to the United States, and 500 to Canada, marking the end of the car’s run in North America.