This weekend I'm making good on my promise to take the Focus RS to the racetrack. I already have an intimate sense of how the RS drives on the street, yet the car's limits continue to elude me. The circuit is the best place to approach those limits. Thus, early on a cool and cloudy… Continue reading Long Term: 2016 Focus RS on Track
It's no secret that the Focus RS ships with a slew of drive modes that promise to transform the car from a lightly-sporty family hauler to a hair-on-fire drift mobile (and everything in between). Does the Focus make good on its promise? After logging more than 2,000 miles on California's excellent back roads, I've come… Continue reading Long Term: 2016 Ford Focus RS
Today and tomorrow, I am a fly-on-the-wall at an Everyday Driver video shoot. It's a comparison test the co-hosts Todd and Paul have been excitedly planning for months: the new Focus RS versus its USDM rivals, the Mitsubishi Evo X, Subaru STI, VW Golf R. Luckily for me, the "wall" from which I'll be observing… Continue reading Comparison: 2016 Ford Focus RS, 2016 VW Golf R, 2016 Subaru WRX STI and 2016 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X
I now have two German cars in my garage. My sleek gray 2011 BMW M3 sedan has been joined by a raucously blue 2016 Ford Focus RS hatchback. If you are scratching your head and thinking that Ford is an American nameplate, you are, of course, right. But the Focus RS is manufactured in Germany… Continue reading Long Term: 2016 Ford Focus RS
To paraphrase Nino Karotta, I’ve just driven the Fiesta ST quite hard. I get it now; I understand why the media is goo-goo over this red hot hatch. But I haven’t run home and bookmarked Craigslist or Autotrader searches for the cleanest, prettiest example in a 500-mile radius; no, the Fiesta ST has not captured… Continue reading Review: 2014 Ford Fiesta ST
The Ford Focus ST was a media sweetheart when released, winning comparison tests against the Mazda Mazdaspeed3 and VW GTI. Given all the accolades, I've been curious to see how this affordable one-car-to-conquer-all (by which I mean one car which can handle both daily duties and sporting drives) would feel from behind the wheel. When… Continue reading Review: 2013 Ford Focus ST
Mike's Steering Column 