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RSengineeringbossTyroneJohnson:‘This wasalmostlikemovingworlds’``````January 2016|TOPCAR.CO.ZA 61‘It took a lotof late-nightmeetingstoconvincetheseniorsall-wheel drivewas the future’be announced, team RS was experiencing atechnical hi ccup that threw the planned figureinto doubt, and they had to settle fo r a promise of‘more than’ 236kW instead.Hiccup subsequently overcome, the full 257kWpeak at 6000rpm, encouraged along by 440Nm at2000-4500rpm that overbo osts to 470Nm for upto 18 seconds if you really nail it, and a valve in theexhaust combined with ‘an injection stra tegy’ thatmeans it pops and ba ngs like a rally car in itsracier settings. The next problem was how tocontrol it, beyond the obvious recourse to 350mmBrembobrakes. Having already fed this level ofpower through the front wheels of the specialedition Mk2 Focus RS500, Johnson recalls it took‘a lot of late-night meetings to convince the seniorsthat all-wheel drive was the future.’ Beingresponsible for the Mk2’s RevoKnuckle frontsuspension design probably help ed his case. Heknew that innovation’ s limitations, and he knewthat to make the Mk3 ‘handle the way we want itto handle ’ it had to have all-wheel drive, regardlessof packaging, production and cost issues.Complexities include repl acing the boot floorbeca use the standard car’s spare wheel well was inthe way, fitting an entirely new ‘saddle’ type fueltank, and swapping the rear subframe for an itemthat one of Johnson’s engineers original ly designedfor Volvo 10years ago (the Focus still being based onthe ‘C1’ platform developed while Ford, Volvo and