Car and Driver: Is a 247-hp Ford Fiesta RS Still on the Way? The Rumors Persist

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-Even in the absence of official confirmation or indicators to the affirmative, rumors that Ford will build a high-output Fiesta RS hot hatch refuse to die. We’ve spied prototypes that look like the future Fiesta RS, turned our artists loose to render what the hot Fiesta might look like, and now AutoBild is speculating that Ford Performance could be on the cusp of delivering just such a model to top off the mostly pedestrian Fiesta range.

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We’ve been bugging Ford for over a year as to whether or not the company will follow up its scorchingly anticipated, 350-hp Focus RS with something smaller but just as bonkers. No dice from our end, but AutoBild seems fairly sure that a Fiesta RS will happen and that it will pack 247 horsepower from a modified 1.6-liter turbo four and make do with front-wheel drive. This makes sense; while 247 ponies is strong for something the Fiesta’s size, it isn’t so mind-blowing as to justify the added weigh, cost, and complexity of all-wheel-drive hardware. For reference, the front-drive Fiesta ST, which sits one rung down on Ford’s performance scale from RS, has a 197-hp, turbocharged 1.6-liter four.

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• 2016 Ford Focus RS: We Sit Shotgun in the Hotly Anticipated Megahatch-
• The Story of RS: A Visual History of Every Ford RS Model-
• Ford Fiesta Research: Full Pricing, Specs, Reviews, and More-

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If the car does come to fruition, do Fiesta volumes in the U.S. justify bringing the RS here? We’re not sure, so we could be left standing on the shore of the Atlantic, watching from afar as Europe is given yet another incredible hot hatch. If that hypothetical leaves you feeling down, remember that we are getting the Focus RS very, very soon.

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