
Jalopnik has published it's Buyer's Guide for the Ford Focus RS. It's fairly detailed and gives a good overview for someone who has a cursory interest in the Ford Focus and is wondering if it is right for them. Here I've picked out some interesting bits from the article, and below you will find a link to the full piece.
The RS is super easy to use in everyday traffic despite its rather huge turning circle. The clutch is light, the steering is just as it should be and the gearbox is a one finger exercise. The noise is there in the background, but the ride is very forgiving in normal mode, and all this makes the RS a true daily driver alternative. A fast one.
Once you get it up to speed outside the city and start playing with the driving modes, it will get louder and harder on the bumps, but also remain very well balanced without much understeer or oversteer thanks to all that torque vectoring.
But the new 2016 model is a big deal, not just because it’s a global model shared by both Europe and the U.S., but because it’s all-wheel drive. In the U.S., the Focus RS is completely new and slots above the ST as the Focus’s ultra-performance variant.
On which one they'd buy (which conveniently leaves out the issue of limited supply and dealer mark ups)...There are lots of big-names on the RS’s spec sheet. Brakes are Brembos, seats are from Recaro and tires are either Michelin Pilot Super Sports or Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s. All that results in a drift-monster that can handle like a champion, rocket to 60 MPH in 4.7 seconds and get to a top speed of 165 MPH.
http://buyersguide.jalopnik.com/ford-focus-rs-jalopniks-buyers-guide-1748845723The standard RS costs $35,730 plus an $875 destination fee, bringing you to $36,605. That base RS comes well equipped, too. You get partial-leather Recaro seats, a six-speed manual, SYNC 3 infotainment system with eight-inch display, a 10-speaker audio system, dual-zone climate control, 19-inch painted alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport summer tires, a rearview camera and HID automatic headlamps.