Ford Focus RS, Hottest hatch

There's little more anyone can add to the Ford Focus RS fanfare without actually driving the thing, such is the level of pre-sale extolment that's been lavished upon it. We could spend the following two paragraphs waxing lyrical about it, but that would be pointless. Oh, go on then.

Hot hatches rarely come as hot or from as rich a heritage as the forthcoming Focus flagship. Still, more than a few eyebrows were raised when Ford people started talking about the numbers involved in this thing - and they moved even further skywards when the first pictures were unveiled.

Of those numbers - 301, 325 and 2 - it was the smallest that shocked the most. They refer (you'll probably already know) to the power, torque and number of driven wheels respectively. So that's 301bhp and 325lb.ft going through just the front wheels; that Ford claims the RS will out-handle anything in its class is only marginally more surprising than finding the steering wheel will be any use at all. It's out in March. We can't wait.

Mark Nichol