Ford Focus RS: We Snag Details on Its Development, AWD Trickery, and More

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Ford Focus RS: We Snag Details on Its Development, AWD Trickery, and More

Newest Innovations In Consumer Technology On Display At 2015 International CES

Welcome to the latest incarnation of a series that we should probably officially call "Five Minutes with Raj Nair." Previous installments with Ford's VP of product development have covered the new Mustang and the Ford GT, and we've now cornered him at the official unveiling of the mighty new Focus RS in Cologne, Germany, to ask him about the new global superhatch.

C/D: Talk us through the decision to turn the Focus RS into a global product.

Raj Nair: We saw a lot of enthusiast response to the previous RS models around the world, and we heard a lot of "when can we get one?" I think this car really resonates with a generation, with what's happening in extreme motorsport and with what Ken Block has been doing with Gymkhana. That's raised awareness, it's brought it to the level where taking RS global feels like the right thing to do.

Was the new Focus RS always going to be all-wheel drive?

Pretty early we were having the discussion about the drive configuration. And, yeah, we determined all-wheel drive was going to be the way to go.

So was any consideration given to staying front-wheel-drive like the previous Focus RS models?

Some, but there's the limiting factor of getting all that power through the front axle. The RevoKnuckle [front strut] was fantastic, but it was still a struggle to get all the power through the front wheels. And improvements in the technology have meant we've been able to do a very different all-wheel-drive system.

Talk us through that system—the rear axle has a continuously turning propshaft and then two clutches that can engage each side separately?

It has. You can almost look at it as like an active limited slip, you're actively working the clutches and so obviously doing the typical varying between front and rear torque splits, up to 70 percent to the rear. But at the rear, 100 percent is available to go to the outside wheel, that's what's different. We're still using brake torque vectoring at the front, which is great for helping turn-in. But for coming out of a corner and laying power down you don't want to lose anything. So we're able to electronically control the clutches and infinitely vary the torque, make sure it's all being delivered.

Who do you consider your competitors with this car?

There are aspirational vehicles we use, certainly the Volkswagen Golf R and Mercedes Benz [CLA45 AMG], to a lesser extent cars like the Subaru [WRX STI] and Mitsubishi Evo, which are still really great cars.

The official line is that the RS was engineered both in Europe and the U.S. How did that work? Who was in charge?

We really have a global product development organization right now, and more than 50 percent of our resources are outside of Dearborn. Overall lead for the vehicle was here [in Cologne]. But they certainly leveraged a lot of the work that's being done, on the engine and driveline side, in Dearborn.

And the other thing that we talk about is our Performance group, which integrates the SVT team that did the GT350 and the Raptor with Team RS here, but that was already under one group—we just had it under two different titles, but it was one group already.

So is RS going to become a global brand with more than one production model?

I'm not ready to talk about any other product beyond the Focus RS. We'll see how that goes.

But you see the RS as a global brand?

Absolutely a global brand. Absolutely.

Do you have a favorite previous RS model?

I had an Escort Cosworth, one with the full wing. I had that when I was here working in Europe. That was by far my favorite, that was the one I had the most personal experience with. I had it and I wouldn't turn it in, they kept calling me up and saying I had to send it back but I wouldn't because it was the last year of production and I couldn't get another one, so I just kept it.

And was it entirely coincidental that was the last four-wheel-driven RS model?

Yeah, it's got a special place in my heart, that all-wheel-drive system. It was pretty good.