With 350 horsepower on tap and a trick set of differentials that send those ponies to the wheels most in need, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Focus RS is one of the hottest of hot hatches. Let’s see if this dealer-offered example is priced to get us all hot and bothered.
When it comes to Toyota’s Camry, the expectation is that they won’t require much in the way of wrenching—they’re just expected to work. Conversely, when it comes to any used car that does need some work, the expectation is that such an effort would be expended on something with a little more flair than a Camry.
The 1998 Toyota Camry LE we considered yesterday needed work, as the seller noted in the ad the presence of an oil leak substantial enough to be… well, noted in the ad. It also had a ton of miles on the chassis, although both that onerous odometer and the oil leak were countered by the car having a fairly rare manual transmission and an overall clean appearance. According to the seller, that uneasy balance was to be tipped by a $3,400 sale price. Most of you weren’t having that, however. Ultimately, you sent the Camry packing with a 59% No Dice loss.
Mind the hatch. It’s hot
It feels rather fitting that the last car standing in Ford’s American lineup is the Mustang. That perennial pony car is the company’s standard bearer, and it will be a sad day when it is discontinued or its nameplate and galloping horse logo are bastardized onto something like an electric car or crossover wagon. What’s that you say? Oh, shoot!
Ford used to have a whole lineup of cars, covering the gamut of size, price, and purpose. But, like all manufacturers, Ford has followed the market, and what the market apparently wants is tall wagons and pick-em-up trucks.
The biggest losers in this market shift have been small, affordable cars and, by extension, their more expensive and muscular siblings, the hot hatches. Once rife in the U.S. market, today, there are only two: VW’s Golf GTI and its bigger brother, the R.
Ford once competed with the latter, producing this 2017 Focus RS that matched the Golf R in size and beat it in specs, gaining a reputation in the process of being the most capable hot hatch Ford has ever unleashed on the American public. Sadly, though, said-public had already shifted when Ford released the RS, and not even its introduction could stem the bleeding in sales of Ford’s small car line. U.S. sales of the RS sales stopped in 2018 after about 7,000 left dealer lots. The Focus line as a whole was done in North America a mere year later.
Dealer shenanigans
This RS is dealer offered, and that dealer has screwed up its description, copy-pasta-ing in the details for a 2012 Focus Titanium five-door it also has on sale. The dealer site has the correct details along with the wrong ones, but both the ad and site correctly note the car’s mileage being a mid-range 132,507 and that its title is clean. A quick VIN search shows the car is painted in Stealth Grey over a black vinyl and Alcantara interior. It also indicates that this RS may have been hot-potatoed across other dealerships before landing at its present purveyor, a small lot north of Seattle.
The paint scheme may not be the most exciting choice for an RS (that would be Nitrous Blue) but, as its name implies, it certainly will be stealthier. The bodywork under that paint seems to be in great condition overall, although evidencing some peppering on the nose, which also happens to be missing its tow hook cover. Aftermarket Monte Titano MT7 wheels underpin and are wrapped in Continental meats of undisclosed age or condition.
Focus, Pinkie
As noted, neither the ad nor the dealer site gives much info on the car, much less its mechanicals. Power for the RS comes from a 2.3-liter turbocharged four that was taken from the Mustang and bumped up from the pony car’s 320 horsepower to 350 horses. Handily, that is number-matched to the torque rating. Those are all funneled through a six-speed manual to all four wheels through an innovative torque-vectoring AWD system with a limited-slip diff in the back. Massive Brembo brakes clamping drilled and slotted discs rein in all the madness.
The command center for all this is fitted with a pair of real Recaro buckets up in the front and an upholstery-matched bench in the back. Other tidbits in the cabin include a leather-wrapped steering wheel, an eight-inch center stack infotainment screen, and a small add-on blister featuring a trio of ancillary gauges above that. Aside from some obvious wear on the driver’s seat bolster from too many entries and exits, as well as on the steering wheel, it all looks to have held up well for its age and the miles.
Fording ahead
One big issue the RS faced back in the day was a poorly spec’d head gasket that could and would fail. That led to coolant ingestion, head warping, and sometimes total engine failure. Ford replaced a lot of gaskets, a few engines, and mollified quite a few owners before enacting a fix in mid-2017. Will this engine suffer such a fate? Has it already had the fix? No one directly seems to know. That’s all part of the gamble with buying any used car, especially one as high-strung and eager-beaver as this RS. Would it be worth the dealer’s $20,991 asking price to roll those dice?
What do you think? Is this hot Focus worth that $20,991 (plus tax and license, blah, blah, blah) as it sits? Or does that price blur the lines?
You decide!
Nice Price or No Dice:
Seattle, Washington, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Peter Moynes for the hookup!
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