The Focus RS lays claim to the crown of the hot-hatch king – but in order to get it, it must first beat each and every one of its competitors.
Autotrader gathered them all, and it’s a wild bunch. With the Mercedes A45 AMG, Honda Civic Type R, Seat Leon Cupra 290, Audi RS3, Subaru WRX STI, BMW 135i, Renault Megane 275 Cup-S, Peugeot 308 GTI 270 and VW Golf R, the RS has to be quite a piece of kit to come out trumps.
Hot hatches have come a long way and now it looks there more variety than ever: the traditional front-wheel drive is not the only option out there, with plenty of AWD models on offer too. Even RWD fans have an option in the hot hatch segment, thanks to BMW.
The all-new Focus RS sends its power to all four wheels now through to a trick AWD system that even features a Drift mode. The turbocharged 2.3-litre EcoBoost four delivers 345hp and 440Nm (324lb ft) of torque, allowing it to sprint from zero to 62mph (0-100km/h) in 4.7 seconds and on to 165mph (266km/h).
With a competition as fierce as this one though, can the Focus RS become the king of hot hatches? To find out, all you have to do is sit back, relax and make sure no one disturbs you for, oh, nearly half an hour.