Ford made a bold move and introduced the RS version in 2002 as the top-performance Focus for the European market, and it stirred the hot-hatch segment.
In those times, Ford was running in the World Rally Championship, but on the streets, it could only offer the ST version, which was a pale shade of its Rally-cousin. It was a good, all-around, hot-hatch, but it was far from what the platform allowed. Ford knew that and asked its racing department to upgrade the Focus. The result was the RS: a car that sported OZ wheels, Brembo brakes, and Sparco seats.

The RS was a stripped-down and rebuilt Focus. At the front, it sported a unique front bumper with a broad grille at the bottom, exposing its intercooler. On its sides, the carmaker installed small fog lights that shared the same area as the parking lights. From the profile, its enlarged wheel-arches and the roof-wing were the only noticeable differences, while at the back, only the RS badge and the oval exhaust were unique to the sporty hot-hatch.

Inside, the Focus RS received high-bolstered Sparco bucket seats at the front, while the bench was the standard one from the rest of the range. On top of the dashboard, the carmaker installed an additional cluster with three big gauges. Strangely, Ford didn’t put white dials on the instrument panel, nor a particular steering wheel.

Under the hood, the RS featured a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine that provided 215 hp. Its biggest problem was that it was slower than the mighty Ford Escort RS.