The new Ford Focus RS has been crowned 2016 Car of the Year by the UK’s biggest-selling auto magazine.
The 165mph performance car was hailed a “fantastic achievement” in Top Gear’s awards edition.
First named Top Gear’s Hot Hatch of the Year, the acclaimed £29,995 Focus RS went on to beat off sports cars, supercars and limousines to also earn the magazine’s top title.
Charlie Turner, Top Gear editor-in-chief, said: “The Focus RS really is the complete package and claims our top award ahead of other category winners costing ten times as much. It delivers accessible performance and entertainment, with looks and practicality thrown in, and proves you don’t always need to spend big money to have a huge amount of fun.
Top Gear praised the Ford’s responsiveness and handling talent, adding: “What makes the RS so special is that it combines vivid personality with real practicality and serves it up at such a tempting price. We have a new hero.”
It is the second time in three years that Ford has snagged Top Gear’s ultimate accolade – Fiesta ST was Top Gear’s 2013 Car of the Year.
This year’s praise for Ford did not end with the Focus RS: the new Ford Mustang GT350R was named Muscle Car of the Year and among the 2016 ‘Top Gear Heroes’ were Ford GT’s Brit designer, Chris Svensson, and Ford Performance director and Mustang chief engineer David Pericak.
The first of 3,000 pre-ordered Focus RS are now being delivered, with early adopters set to take advantage of the car’s array of technological features such as Ford Performance All-Wheel Drive with Dynamic Torque Vectoring and Launch Control, which helps rocket the RS from rest to 62mph in just 4.7sec.
The new 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine shares its fundamental structure with the all-aluminium four-cylinder engine in the all-new Ford Mustang and is significantly upgraded for the Ford Focus RS to deliver 10 per cent more power.
Focus RS boasts a long list of standard equipment including 19in multi-spoke alloy wheels, 350mm ventilated front disc brakes, RS rear spoiler, twin-pipe high-performance exhaust, Bi-Xenon headlamps, Recaro front seats and Thatcham Category 1 alarm.
Ford of Britain chairman and managing director Andy Barratt, said: “For new Focus RS to become Top Gear’s Car of the Year before volume deliveries get started is testimony to the car’s development team members and the RS legacy they have so successfully sustained. The award further heightens anticipation for this once-in-a-lifetime Ford.”
