Ford Focus RS heads to 'Ring in search of a class record
2010 Ford Focus RS - Click above for high-res image gallery
Pretty soon, it seems like the start of Nürburgring lap time season will take its place on motorsports calendars the same way you find with Formula 1 and NASCAR. The 'Ring season officially began last week, and the title card pitted the 2009 Ford Focus RS against the Renaultsport Megane R26.R. The Ford's numbers are 297 hp and 324 lb-ft; the Renault posts 230 hp and 229 lb.-ft, and the Megane's time stands at 8:16.9 (not 8:12) on its Toyo track-friendly rubber.
For the first round, the detuned 250 hp Focus RS test car managed 8:27 on "standard Continental tires," so Ford is reportedly looking at the full-fat 297 hp car to do around 8:15. Word is if they can get that close, they'll consider adding the Toyo Cup tires to the customer options list, which could subtract at least three seconds from the Focus' time and allow it to take home the 'Ring trophy for hot hatches. Ford will be back at the 'Ring next week to give it a go. Cheating? Perhaps. Pointless? Maybe. Fun for us to watch? Definitely. Hat tip to yaroukh
Gallery: 2009 Ford Focus RS (blue)
Gallery: Renaultsport Megane R26.R
[Source: Driving Spirit]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Chissvt 1:40PM (3/26/2009)
I can't believe the U.S are not getting this beautiful machine.
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AC 3:05PM (3/26/2009)
too good for us American maybe?
"America is not ready for GT-R Vspec"
the car is beautiful..... just look at that headlight..
with the new mazda 3 design..... Focus RS might just grab a large amount of Mazda 3 owners here in the US if it is ever released...
Joe 4:34PM (3/26/2009)
We will, in two years. Just be patient, grasshopper.
Dustin 1:38PM (3/26/2009)
If they find a tire that creates faster track times, then they offer that tire to the customer, that's not cheating in my book.
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airswingman 2:09PM (3/26/2009)
Looks like Subaru WRX
jcar302 3:46PM (3/26/2009)
While it's not cheating to offer race tires (ya i know they are DOT, but these days that doesn't mean a damn thing), it is a cheap way of winning.
Street car records should be based on tires that have a minimum treadwear rating.
This would be the same as they did with the ACR viper, which may hold the record, but IMO doesn't deserve it.
It just doesn't hold any relevance to the street, nobody drives around on a daily basis on 4 road race tires. I've driven around on drag radials for brief periods in my life, and honestly, it's just unrealistic to do it for a cars entire life span.
As a ford fan, i hope they do it on regular tires.
R 4:20PM (3/26/2009)
@jcar Not that I'm totally disagreeing with you, but I just wanted to point out that treadwear rating is almost a worthless standard to uphold against. It barely is a standard in fact. The government barely regulates it, and tire mfg's can pretty much set what they think their tires' treadwear rating is at their whim.
Not to mention that tire tech is always changing. Today's street tires were yesterday's slicks, figuratively speaking. Therefore, the best way of going about it is to familiarize yourself with current tires, and to have companies publish exactly what tires they are using. For performance lap times, that's as important as any other major figure like curb weight or torque, if not more.
Matt 10:05PM (3/26/2009)
The only lap times that should count are ones done on the same rubber as you drive the car out of the dealership with
Zeus.:God 1:43PM (3/26/2009)
Awww, ain't that cute- Ford's trying to get in on the party.
Really though, that's a pretty slick looking car. Too bad it's front wheel drive.
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fixitfixitstop 5:04PM (3/26/2009)
Do you have no knowledge of Ford's rally history?
Chris 1:53PM (3/26/2009)
What'd the Cobalt SS do, again? I know it's not a hot hatch per-se, but class-wise, for all intents and purposes...
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Franz 1:59PM (3/26/2009)
I think the Cobalt did an 8:22.
Chris 2:22PM (3/26/2009)
Thanks! I couldn't remember, and wasn't sure if it was kicking ass or getting it's ass kicked ;)
Chase 2:24PM (3/26/2009)
The Renault is basically a road-legal race car. It has a cage, lexan windows, carbon fiber roof, hood, and bucket seats. To top it off, it has road-legal track tires. The Cobalt has none of those things, so I can only imagine the amount of fine tuning and finesse that went into making the SS as spectacular as it is.
R 2:46PM (3/26/2009)
8:22. Does no one else (fan boys need not apply) find that a bit quick? That's 4 seconds slower than an ISF, and the same as an E46 M3. The GM video of their 'ring run actually clocks in closer to 9:22 than it does 8:22.
Not jumping on you, noticed those times listed on the 'Ring wiki, too (one unverified, one referring to the GM video).
Mino 4:06PM (3/26/2009)
It was never verified by any video etc. was mostly heresy by GM to promote the car? who knows it is quite a nice car but many are skeptical. Don't think anyone would import a cobalt SS to verify GM's claims. The public is mostly interested in the Halo cars, not the econo boxes.
R 4:14PM (3/26/2009)
@Mino Yeah I'm thinking either it was an error, or they just made a blatant attempt to pad their numbers by a huge number, and no one called them out on it (AutoBlog, where are you??). As said, 8:22 beats out/matches an E46 M3, a 335i, a 350z, an S2000, an Exige S, a Cayman...etc, etc.. von Saurma was no slouch either, so I'm a little skeptical.
I forgot to link their official vid (which was posted a day before their SEMA article that listed the 8:22): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urwJVnWHjiI
Even if I shave off generous seconds to account for the standing start, plus the usual early cutoff ring-runners usually take at the end, it's still about a 9:02 run at best which puts it closer to a Focus RS ('05). It's almost like they said, "Hey the track's a little wet, so really, it would have been a minute faster."
Matt 4:33PM (3/26/2009)
The Cobalt SS's performance in the Lightning Lap comparison makes 8:22 somewhat plausible.
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/the_lightning_lap_2008_feature
naggs 4:55AM (3/27/2009)
you are such fools
video of record time was put out by GM
actually legit unlike some other automakers
LankySean 1:57PM (3/26/2009)
It's like Ford hates America... and money, they won't release the Focus RS here and we got to wait for the Fiesta *sigh*.
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