Development mules have been lapping the 'Ring
An early development mule of the new Ford Focus RS with between 250-260bhp has been lapping the Nurburgring in 8min 27seconds, PistonHeads has learnt. The car has around 45bhp less than the production version and was driven by a Bentley test driver on a very hot day.
A source has told us that when the full fat version arrives with 295bhp, and with a racing driver at the wheel, we should expect a lap time of 8min 15sec or maybe less. We have also learnt that whereas Ford originally announced the RS will have 302lb ft when it is launched it will in fact have 324lb ft.
Meanwhile Renault’s new super-Megane, the R26R, has apparently been unofficially clocked around the ‘Ring at 8min 12sec but that was on Toyo Cup tyres. The RS is understood to have been riding on totally standard Continentals when it did its time, and now Ford is seriously thinking about offering Cup tyres as a brochure option for the car.