Ford focuses on turbo demand

The Ford Focus XR5 Turbo is designed for performance.

Ford New Zealand is "looking at" the Focus XR5 Turbo for sale here.

Ford Australia has confirmed it will put the new go-fast model on the market across the ditch, but Ford NZ is still doing its sums to see if there is enough demand for the car.

The Focus XR5 Turbo has been developed by Ford TeamRS, the company's racing and performance arm in Britain.

"We have spared no effort in making this the most exciting Ford Focus road car yet," says Jost Capito, director of Ford TeamRS.

"It is a perfect car for drivers who love the performance motoring experience, but do not want to sacrifice high standards of refinement, comfort and practicality."

The car is powered by a turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine produced by Volvo and mated to a close-ratio, six-speed manual gearbox.

It develops peak power of 166kW (225bhp) at 6000 rpm and a maximum 320Nm of torque between 1600-4000rpm.

"The goal was to give the car more than 150kW," says Capito.

Says engineer Joerg Hoffmann: "When it comes to providing a solid basis for performance and torque, you can't beat extra displacement, so cubic capacity was at the top of our wish list. Fortunately, the extra space needed for this bigger engine had already been taken into account during the initial development of the new Ford Focus.

"Tuning that engine to meet the specific performance targets of the Focus XR5 Turbo was nothing short of a pleasure."

The project team says the car's suspension was so well sorted that no fundamental changes were necessary to the XR5.

Engineering executive Gunnar Herrmann says the team concentrated on enhancements like a stiff new front subframe, which became the foundation for the car's chassis behaviour and underwent extensive tuning for the hot hatch derivative.

"It was crucial for us that the new Focus range maintained its dynamics leadership position," says Herrmann.

"From the outset, the chassis of the new model was engineered to provide very high standards of driving quality, inspired by class-leading dynamics."

The Focus XR5 Turbo uses the new electro-hydraulic power-assisted steering system developed for the new Focus range, but the variable turning ratio was made more direct overall to suit the sporty Focus XR5 Turbo.

"The steering is 8 per cent faster acting than regular Focus models to give the XR5 driver more direct feedback back through the steering wheel," says engineer Paul Wijgaerts,

"This set-up gives drivers two reasons to be enthusiastic: in addition to the sheer joy of real precision driving, the Focus XR5 Turbo exhibits sympathetic road manners too."

Wijgaerts says the steering can also be fine-tuned by the driver to suit specific usage.

The computer-controlled electric steering pump has three settings, or maps, which can be selected via the trip computer stalk.

The settings are comfort, normal and sporty levels of power assistance.

Ford says the XR5's handling has been tailored to reward the enthusiast driver, but at the same time allow for refined driving.

Focus XR5 Turbo front springs have been stiffened by 30 per cent over the standard Focus and the dampers recalibrated.

Rear springs have also have been stiffened by 30 per cent and the anti-roll bar increased by 5 per cent.

"The direct benefit of this is that Focus XR5 Turbo delivers impressive grip and extraordinary road holding. Overall, the lowering of the chassis adds to the great driving experience," Wijgaerts says.