Photos and Article by James Stanley
I really hope this is not too good to be true! A 500 horsepower RS straight from your dealership? The styling isn’t over the top, but it’s considerably more aggressive. As with Roush packages in the past on the focus, I suspect that there would be different stage packages available, again, IF it comes to dealers. It’s finally nice to see one of the muscle car performance brands get a sport compact right. Henessey ST (adding rear wheel hp…..) was a failure and the current RS HP400 (388hp) is just a tune, Saleen is a long gone, Roush in the past was a whole lot of show with little go, and the Shelby ST was a bad Bojix knockoff with a price tag that anyone that could do simple math would laugh at. This Roush RS (RRS) looks like a streetable rally car that could hold it’s own on the freeways and the track, but still looks very streetable as a daily. I like the front spliiter as its very unapologetic. Many times with front splitters, manufacturers go small a less aggressive, and many times omit the turnbuckles. This splitter is all race car. It was also refreshing to see that all of the aero parts looked like a mold-injected thermoplastic versus the stereotypical carbon fiber. NOT ALL TUNERS ARE CARBON WHORES and they understand this. The hood extractors look great are are unique to this car and not just a translated vent from an older RS or Mustang, this one is unique and fits perfectly.

The style is completely backed with upgraded brake calipers and rotors, fully adjustable suspension, lightweight wheels, great tires, and I’m very happy to see that Roush didn’t try to reinvent the wheel with the interior by plastering their logo over everything and kept it to pedals and shift knob. It’s a very well rounded build that looks closer to what many tuners strive for now-a-days versus what they ‘think’ we want. Bad sticker graphics that make no sense, an exhaust note turned up to 20, and a complete interior redo that makes a great looking interior look like am exersize in color theory are now laid to rest with this car. Roush has truly stepped up their game. It’s form AND function!

Here’s my gripe with this build though….. Upgraded cooling, and a tune = 500 horsepower? Roush isn’t the type of company to make false claims, but I’d still like to see more into the “Ford Performance shortblock assembly**” to see where all the extra power is coming from.

I hope that this really is the end of the era of the performance brands dipping their musclecar hands into a turner market and creating vehicles that couldn’t even get into a Fast and the Furious knock-off made-for-TV video.

Base Vehicle

2016 Ford Focus RS
2.3L I4 EcoBoost engine
6-Speed Manual Transmission

Powertrain

Ford Performance shortblock assemply**
ROUSH Peformance enhanced cooling system
ROUSH Performance TrakPak three-way adjustable suspension with camber plate

Chassis

PFC Brakes slotted brake rotors
ROUSH Performance TrakPak three-way adjustable suspension with camber plates

Wheels & Tires

ROUSH Performance TrakPak lightweight weld-forged wheels
- 19″ x 9″
Continental Ext4remeContact Sport
- (255/35/19)

Exterior

ROUSH Performance TrakPak:
- Front splitting
- Rear splitter
- Side splitters
- Diffuser
- Custom graphics
- Front tow hook
- Hood heat extractors
- Ambient grille lighting
- Custom painted side rear view mirror caps
XPEL STEALTH paint protection film

Interior

ROUSH Performance black shifter ball
ROUSH Performance pedals

Created by

ROUSH Performance Products, Inc.
Plymouth Township, MI
www.roushperformance.com

SEMA Build Review: Roush Focus RS