Fiesta RS?

[Wretched]

What’s this? Well, it’s a dusty, sort of cobbled-together-looking Ford Fiesta hatchback. But look more closely. See that altered front bodywork with the giant air inlets? The tacked-on fender flares? The apparent intercooler peering out from behind the grille? This, friends, is no ordinary Fiesta—it’s almost assuredly a test mule for a hot-rodded Fiesta RS that Ford could be cooking up for 2017.

Ford’s RS game is strong recently, what with the 2017 Focus RS bringing its all-wheel drive and 300-plus turbocharged horsepower to the U.S. and the rest of the world. And when Ford unveiled the slightly larger Focus RS, the company hinted that the RS nameplate would become a long-term performance-oriented sub-brand. A fire-breathing Fiesta would sure fit nicely with that notion.

Our spy’s sleuthy photos of this Fiesta test mule seem to support that assumption. Running around in a convoy that included two camouflaged Focus RS prototypes, the wee Fiesta appears to have a wide-mouthed (and likely temporary) grille echoing the big air inlets of the bigger Focus RS behind it. It has also sprouted tacked-on fender flares and some temporary rear bodywork, both of which were seen on Focus RS prototypes when they were in the early test-mule stages.

If this is indeed a Fiesta RS, we suspect from previous conversations that it will feature an uprated version of the 197-hp 1.6-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder already seen in the current Fiesta ST, perhaps tuned to make north of 230 horses. We also expect a widened track, a thoroughly reworked suspension, a limited-slip differential, and perhaps some weight savings, along with a manual transmission as the sole gearbox. We’re not so certain, however, that the Fiesta would get big-brother Focus RS’s all-wheel-drive setup.

Given how out-and-out fun the Fiesta ST is, an even hotter RS version could be a dream. And with Ford Performance promising 12 new high-performance vehicles by the year 2020, the Fiesta ST would definitely be welcome in the new family.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/spied-2017-ford-fiesta-rs/