It’s no shocker that we at Jalopnik are fans of the new Ford Focus RS. Just look here, here, here, here and here. Oh! And here, too. Definitely look there. But compared to a worn and weathered rally car, how does an almost—yes, there are a few modifications—stock Focus RS stack up in the snow?
If you don’t have time to watch the full video from Team O’Neil Rally School below, the answer to that question is: quite well. But don’t let the run time of nine minutes on this video scare you away, because it’s a fun watch. It’s also a really good look at the interior of a 2016 Focus RS, if you’ve been too busy drooling about everything else to have a good study of it.
The Focus RS takes on an old-school Subaru FIA World Rally Championship car in this video, with Team O’Neil’s YouTube channel saying that the Focus RS’ modifications include downsized brakes, Bilstein performance shocks, 15-inch wheels, ABS deleted and a skid plate. Other than that, the channel says, the car is completely stock.
The Focus RS is admittedly less fun to watch than the traditional rally car, even in drift mode. That reservation could come from a number of factors: weight, the fact that Team O’Neil is still in the process of preparing the Focus RS for competition, and perhaps even sheer driving style because that thing is shiny and brand new.
But both drivers—including the founder of Team O’Neil, former rally driver Tim O’Neil—were incredibly impressed with how the car performed. It was also quieter and more comfortable in the cold, naturally.
Our Raphael Orlove and Mike Ballaban recently drove a slightly modified Focus RS at Team O’Neil, only to find out that its wildly popular Drift Mode is way faster than expected. If you’re looking for one comment that doesn’t sing the praises of the Focus RS, it may not be the best for daily driving.
But hey, who needs perfect daily driving when you can take on a competition rally car straight out of the factory? Well, almost straight out of the factory.
Hat tip to /r/cars!