Final Exam

Ford Performance’s documentary wraps up as the RS hits the racetrack

By Steve Turner
Photos courtesy of Ford Motor Company

While cars like the Ford GT and Shelby GT350 garner most of the headlines in the Ford performance world, the Focus RS is definitely deserving of some attention. Sporting 350 horsepower, all-wheel drive and a host of driving modes—including Drift Mode!—this hot hatch looks to bring a whole new performance dynamic to North America. Fortunately, Ford was willing to share an inside look at this car’s development, and the final installment of its eight-part docuseries hit the Web this week.

Ford’s eight-part documentary, Rebirth of an Icon, followed the development of the 2016 Focus RS, and in this installment the rubber meets the road. After being charged with tweaking some minor deficiencies, Ford Performance engineers have to stand up to management scrutiny before the car can be released for production.

In fact, Ford Motor Company’s group vice president and chief technical officer, Global Product Development, Raj Nair, gets behind the wheel at Grattan Raceway to ensure the 2016 model is worthy of the RS nameplate.

You can watch the final episode right here…

In case you missed any of the previous episodes, you can go back and check them all out here:

• Episode 1: Project kick-off —Ken Block and Raj Nair debate what the car should deliver, from behind the wheel of an early prototype
• Episode 2: Design and development—Crunching crashes put the new design to the toughest of tests
• Episode 3: Hitting the road—A 1,600-kilometre (1,000-mile) drive through epic terrain takes prototypes from high in the Rocky Mountains to the Arizona desert
• Episode 4: Test-track trials—Ken Block heads for Ford’s top-secret test facility, and indulges in some “hooning”
• Episode 5: Arctic extremes—Winter testing in Sweden, and the team is under pressure to improve performance
• Episode 6: Power struggle—It’s all about performance, as the Ford manufacturing plant in Saarlouis, Germany, gears up for production
• Episode 7: Close scrutiny—The day of the critical sign-off drive follows Block’s headline appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

We are sad to see this well-executed docuseries come to a close, but that means we are getting closer to driving a Focus RS, so it’s a fair trade. However, we will cross our fingers that Ford Performance fires up a new video series dedicated to the Ford GT or F-150 Raptor!

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