Tuesday 10th April 2018

Prior Convictions: Heavy metal

The next Ford Focus RS will likely be a hybrid and, therefore, heavier than it is now. Expect that trend to continue...

---

Word from the other side of the PH office is that the next-generation Ford Focus RS will have electrical assistance, giving a development of the 2.3-litre petrol engine it runs now 400hp. Autocar reckons it's due in 2020.

Which says a bit about the next-generation Ford Focus RS, but even more about performance cars from big carmakers.

As you'll know, upcoming emissions regulations mean carmakers need to cut the average CO2 outputs from their model line-ups. If they don't make too many cars a year, there are some exemptions and easier-going reductions, but Ford - like other big OEMs - will have to have a fleet average output of 95g/km by 2021.

Which is dandy. Difficult, apparently, but achievable, albeit at the cost of ancillaries to make diesels clean enough, and battery tech to make petrols efficient enough, CO2 versus air quality being the debate of our age.

And this won't come without connotations for performance cars from big manufacturers. Time was they'd stick a big engine in a hatchback to make it hot. These days they still can, but the resulting CO2 output might push their average over the edge, so they won't.

Which means a performance car from a big carmaker will have to be one of two things: not so powerful and simple (read, light) or more powerful and clever (read, heavy). Either way, it mustn't tip a range's CO2 emissions into the red.

I wonder if that's how we've ended up with the Alpine A110 (light) and Honda NSX (clever). If the Autocar report is accurate - and I think it is - for the Focus that means it gets a 48v electrical system, encompassing a 'shoe-box sized battery' under the rear seats and an electric motor to boost the engine's power, particularly at lower revs, where it can fill any torque gap. Sounds complicated. Sounds fast. But sounds heavy.

The alternative is that it makes less power than today, and weighs less, and perhaps would even revert to front drive. But who would sit in a planning meeting and suggest that a new car costs less and has less power than the old one? Sounds like something purists might love, but that few people would buy, and unlike with the Mk1 Focus RS, all such cars from all carmakers are expected to wipe their feet and return a profit these days.

So, the part-electric hot hatchback. Ideal? Perhaps not. But inevitable? Certainly.

[culpz]

Overall increased size/length/dimensions on new cars obviously doesn't help either. I think manufacturers will find a way to make them lighter eventually though, or at least keep them a similar weight to what they are now.

This next Focus RS, for example. If they do go for a hybrid route, the extra weight made by the electric motor could be offset by making the rest of the car lighter. So, in theory, they could make it about the same weight as the current model.

I'm sure as electric technology moves forward and starts to eventually become mainstream, the battery tech will also improve and drop in weight. I did read about a Tesla Model S that destroyed it's brakes and tyres completely within a few laps on a track.

[culpz]

paranoid airbag said:

There already is a lighter, cheaper, 2WD focus RS... called the ST. The fiesta is lighter and cheaper still.

I'd humbly suggest that if you want light, simple and fun, spending >£30k on one car that does everything is a terrible tactic. Such a car will inherently be complex and heavy.

I'd like to point out the UK is a comparatively VERY easy place to build your own car, cheaply enough to run alongside a daily. If the compromises such a car brings are not for you... maybe lightness and simplicity aren't.

A Fiesta ST is no substitute for the Focus RS though. I agree that the Fiesta is the perfect size, weight and power for a modern car on our roads. I've actually been saying that for a while now. They're two very different cars.

I don't agree with your ease of a two-car garage theory. I see the Focus RS as a good single car to have, especially if running more than one car is out of the question. Running more than one car is rarely cheap either way.

Nickp82 said:

I will take the 'less powerful and simple' option please

Funnily enough, the new MK8 Fiesta ST is more complicated and not as simple as the previous MK7 model and actually adopts more complex tech from the Focus RS, such as the various selectable driving modes.