Remember those first heady weeks when the Ford Focus RS started showing up on the road? Blue rockethatches, bright and innocent, right up until that one dude drift-moded his way into the side of a mountain. Apparently this is what that car looks like now. (Update: different car, dude!)
While we’re sitting around and drumming our fingers, waiting for the McLaren 650S replacement next month, we’ve also learned of some news: McLaren is jumping on the bandwagon and will offer a Drift Mode in the upcoming supercar. Are all the things getting Drift Moded? It would appear so.
We recently got our hands on a Ford Focus RS to see if the much-ballyhooed Drift Mode is actually any faster than the car’s more normal high-performance Track Mode, or if Drift Mode was just a bunch of pointless powersliding. As it turns out, on loose surfaces, Drift Mode is way, way, way faster than we expected.
Audi launched its updated 2017 Audi S3 this week in Durham, North Carolina, claiming that the new car would be a little more playful in the corners. When pressed on whether or not the brand would ever consider a full-on “Drift Mode” for its cars, well, don’t get your hopes up.
Prepare yourself, because you’re about to see a metric shit ton of crashed AMGs. Yes, Drift Mode is coming to Mercedes.
The 2016 Ford Focus RS has a “Drift Mode” feature that sends more power to the back wheels and softens the dampers so you can more easily catch the slide. The results, however, are not guaranteed, as you can see in this video.
The magically sideways gift to Ford Focus RS hoons everywhere, Drift Mode, almost didn’t happen at all. The easiest marketing tie-in with Ken Block ever created was actually discovered by accident.
Please enjoy the following 40 seconds of American celebration including: AC/DC, drift mode, tire smoke, a V8, and red, (white) and blue between a Ford Mustang GT and a Ford Focus RS at Silverstone Circuit.
For all their fancy all-wheel drive gizmos, the new 2016 Ford Focus RS boasts one thing the other hot hatchbacks just don’t have: it has a mode that basically lets it drift on command. And it turns out it’s really easy to use.
Ford should have no concern for demand of their new super-hot hatch 2016 Focus RS. According to UK pre-orders, the company has sold over 1,000 models since the car’s unveiling just last month. That’s what happens when you fit a button labeled “Drift Mode” to a car.
