At ModBargains and our install shop ModAuto, we strive to be on the cutting edge of modding, which is why our guys tend to be among the first to be driving fresh to the market vehicles. Just days ago, our Warehouse Inventory Control Specialist Eric Nelson took delivery of one of the first new Ford Focus RS to hit the streets of SoCal. New car time is always exciting here at ModAuto, because we get to think about just how we’ll take the car’s stock form and make it even better. Eric’s no stranger to modding, given his history with the Fiesta ST and the turbo-banana Focus ZX3, so we can only imagine what he has planned – and the RS is an amazing platform to be working with.
More than your average Ford hatchback, this thing is a whole other animal than even the Focus ST. With 350hp on tap, that’s a solid hundred more than the ST model, and that increase comes from a larger turbocharger and an angrier 2.3L 4-cylinder rather than a 2.0L.
That 350HP is now distributed across all four wheels via an all-new AWD system, meaning it drives totally differently than the ST, and the AWD brings the car into a whole other class of competition.
It’s fitting that the RS is coming to market as the Lancer Evolution X ends its production run, allowing the RS to take its place challenging the Subaru WRX STi. One of our favorite things about the RS is the much more aggressive rear end, which appears to take a page from the styling of the fifteen52 Focus ST TrackSTer we had here at the shop, sporting dual slash cut exhaust tips in an aggressive rear diffuser.
What could the future hold for Eric Nelson’s Focus RS? A set of Focus RS wheels would be a great place to start with Focus RS Mods, after all, we already know a set of fifteen52 Tarmac Wheels for Ford Focus look great on the car.
We know this because fifteen52 already went to the trouble of fitting a set of Rally White Tarmac 19’s on Ken Block’s Nitrous Blue Focus RS above. Eric has some plans for the car’s future, but right now everything’s up in the air.
Thanks for joining us, we hope you enjoyed the photos. Stay tuned for more on Eric’s Focus RS as time goes on, right here on the ModBargains blog.
Need parts for your Focus RS, Fiesta ST, Focus ST or Mustang? Talk to the Mod Experts, call 714-582-3330 or stop by the shop to place your order. Need something installed? We can do that too! From lighting to intercoolers to coilovers, we can install just about any bolt on mod at the Mod Auto shop.
Story & Photos by Nick Gregson