A tale of two very different off-road heroes
Focus RS and F-150 Raptor tackle terrain differently, but with similar results
MECAG L I SSE, QU E . They couldn’t be more different — each intended for a totally different customer — yet the Ford Focus RS and Ford Raptor pickup share DNA, demonstrated at an ice-racing track about an hour north of Montreal.
Up here at Mecaglisse, Que., this 2017 Ford Focus RS is cracking the quiet as it claws for traction via all four wheels, sending snow into the air and drifting through each corner, as easily as Ken Block does on pavement.
That’s mostly because the RS has four drive modes, and ours is set to the one synonymous with the most fun — Drift — and the RS takes care of all the paperwork. Really, all the driver has to do is point and shoot this car. It’s that easy.
The RS achieves its ability to pivot so gracefully through a clever AWD torque-vectoring system. Unlike traditional AWD systems, there’s no centre or rear differential in the RS to evenly divide torque duties. Instead, a three-piece driveshaft runs from the front-mounted transmission to a “rear-drive unit,” or RDU. Flanking both sides of this RDU are electronically controlled clutch packs. They open or close, to deliver torque to either the right or left rear wheel, depending on which wheel has more traction, based on sensors and software that monitor each wheel for slip.
The RS’s different drive modes alter the amount of torque and the rate at which torque is increased or decreased, as well as how the torque is biased, left and right or front and rear. A brake-based torque- vectoring system complements the torque-vectoring AWD system.
What that means is the RS, when equipped with winter tires, is more than a three-season sensation. Whether the RS was on this ice course or one of the twisting back roads baked in salt and ice and sand, it maintained its balance and composure at all kinds of high speed.
More important, it maintained its grip — regardless of surface conditions — even on sand-covered asphalt. While the shifter to its six-speed manual transmission could be tighter with less slop, the 2.3-litre turbo-four spools out 350 pound-feet of torque. With that much power driving all four wheels, it’s the recipe for happy times.
The RS is quick through the countryside and confidence-inspiring. The technology behind this car, coupled with its drive modes, suspension settings and tremendous power, make it one of the most pleasing and adaptable back-road storm troopers I have driven for un- der $50,000 — indeed, even better than some costing more.
One that does cost much more, the 2017 Ford Raptor that starts at $68,400, proved at Mecaglisse that it, too, will embrace winter when given the chance. Mecaglisse, a motorsports park in the heart of the Laurentians, is a year-round facility with more than 15 kilometres of tracks of varying descriptions and surface qualities, including a backwoods course.
While the big Raptor might excel at being a Baja ninja, it’s clear from some high-speed jaunts between the pines and spruce that dominate the landscape that the Raptor wants to be a rally car. While its specially made BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires are not winter tires per se, they managed the snow with considerable confidence. That’s impressive given the Raptor claws its way forward with 450 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque, all the while sounding like a detuned NASCAR stocker.
Equally impressive is how well the Raptor positively absorbs roads or paths that could destroy the suspension on a lesser truck, while providing a comfort level that should not be possible given such harsh conditions.
Even out on the paved back roads of Quebec’s countryside, the big Raptor stayed relatively squat in the corners at high speed, especially so in Sport mode, one of six new “terrain management” modes that adjust suspension, throttle, steering and shift points, as well as keep control over the transfer case and locking rear differential.
Sure, the Raptor can feel heavy at times, and the brakes didn’t have anywhere near the same bite as those on the RS, of course, but the new Raptor and the RS still showed how seriously Ford has embraced performance in its vehicles intended for such use, no matter the weather, the season or the road conditions.