A New 'Hydraulic Handbrake' Option Makes The Ford Focus RS Even Driftier

If you're the sort of person that thinks the Ford Focus RS's Drift Mode just isn't drifty enough, Ford has just the answer you're looking for...

If there was one thing we definitely weren’t complaining about on the massive fun 2.3-litre turbocharged Ford Focus RS, it was its tail-happiness.

Drift Mode helped turn the Focus RS into a cult hero pretty much overnight, and we loved it right from the word ‘go.’ Now, though, Ford has revealed the Drift Stick, a handbrake mod that mimics the effect of a hydraulic handbrake and locks the rear wheels.

The trick electro-manual setup sends 180bar of pressure through the ABS pump in an instant. That helps the car pull drift angles that would leave Pythagoras scratching his head. Sadly, it won’t stop RS owners getting it wrong sometimes.

A New 'Hydraulic Handbrake' Option Makes The Ford Focus RS Even Driftier

Developed by Ford Performance and tested by Ken Block in the video at the top, the Drift Stick seems to work quite well. It turns the Drift Mode-enabled Focus RS into a full-bananas Tarmac rally stage weapon. Nice.

It’s priced at $999 in the US, but it’s not clear whether we’ll get it on this side of the Atlantic. We’d imagine it depends heavily on customer demand. The kit, which has to be retro-fitted, comes with the machined aluminium lever, all mountings and fixings and a USB calibration tool that apparently updates the ECU so that it doesn’t panic when the rear wheels suddenly lock.

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Comments

H4R1S_01

Ken block mode

11/01/2017 - 10:32 |
0 | 0
TheRealBouss

Wowow, Ford really knows how to do things right!

11/01/2017 - 10:45 |
10 | 0
Anonymous

They could have called it something less silly than ‘drift stick’ though….

11/01/2017 - 10:48 |
0 | 0
Joel Peñaló

How many more gimmicks are they gonna add to this thing? Can we get a 911 Touring Pack type of version where it’s just simple without all the Ken Block wannabe bullshit on it?????

11/01/2017 - 13:14 |
4 | 6

One of the things I love about the RS, is that it follows this logic:

“Don’t try to fit in, you were born to stand out”

I don’t want to live in a world where a sports car is subtle, I WANT WANGS, I WANT ATTENTION, I WANT CHILDISH BODYKITS, I WANT CHILDISH DRIFT MODE, I WANT TO STAND OUT. Otherwise I would have gone for a Golf R DSG.

11/01/2017 - 13:29 |
6 | 2

holy geez dude
get off of CT

11/02/2017 - 01:20 |
0 | 2
P5 Ford

Good guy ford making cars for the enthusiasts.

11/01/2017 - 14:38 |
8 | 0
Olivier (CT's grammar commie)

“That helps the car pull drift angles that would leave Pythagoras scratching his head”

You mean like, 0°?

11/01/2017 - 16:17 |
0 | 0
BoostedStone

I really love what Ford is doing!

11/01/2017 - 18:17 |
4 | 0
675LT_ftw

Pull hydro e-brake
[KEN BLOCK INTENSIFIES]

11/01/2017 - 19:31 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Now if only the stealerships in the United States would sell the cars without an intergalactic markup…

11/02/2017 - 01:21 |
0 | 0
ModernChaos

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I’m on the west coast and most of the ones I see don’t have any markup

11/03/2017 - 15:45 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

I feel like ken block after buying this.

11/02/2017 - 04:38 |
0 | 0