Sector: Lower Medium Price: From €30,500 Fuel: 7.7l/100km CO2: 175g/km

A new Focus RS is something to look forward to if performance and handling are your top priorities. Ford launched the third generation model earlier this year and, for the first time, it will go on sale in North America and China, so customers there can find out for themselves what all the fuss has been about. It's not a car for everyone, but I shall risk upsetting purists and say that it is probably the best Focus RS to date.

It's also the first all-wheel-drive Focus RS – its predecessors have been front wheel drive, but the challenge of controlling 350hp through the front wheels would have meant compromising what the revised chassis can do.

CO2 emissions of 175g/km and consumption of 7.7l/100km are not the kind of figures you would expect from a C-segment five-door hatchback for fleet drivers, but on a performance per Euro basis, it is difficult to think of many cars that could rival the Focus RS for the money. The starting point was the impressive Focus ST, into which Ford has dropped a modified version of the turbocharged 2.3-litre four-cylinder petrol engine used in the Mustang, hence the 350hp. The all-wheel-drive system uses GKN hardware developed originally for the Range Rover Evoque. It can send up to 70% of the drive torque to the rear wheels and up to 100% to either the left or right side through rapid reaction clutches which offer very high levels of control.

Ford has also built in four drive modes. Normal is the default setting and Sport is the alternative road setting. Then there are two track settings, either Track or Drift mode which automatically transfers torque to the outside wheel when cornering to induce drift, then switches it to the inside wheel to maintain the slide.

There is much more that could be written about the car and its systems, but we would run out of space. Compared with the Focus ST, the chassis has been stiffened, the suspension has been tightened and the brakes designed to cope with track use.

The result is impressive. As you would expect, the car is quick, sprinting to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds from rest on the way to a top speed of 266km/h. The Michelin tyres and AWD provide phenomenal levels of grip, traction and control. Despite the stiffened suspension and 235/35 19-inch tyres, the ride quality is more forgiving than I was expecting, partly because the damping is adaptable.

There's also Launch Control, the first RS model to be fitted with it. Switch it on and it will optimise the AWD system, power delivery, traction control system and dampers. Then you can do what road testers have traditionally done – rev the engine to high rpm and slide your foot sideways off the clutch. The system is designed to make sure that such brutal behaviour optimises traction and performance, which it does. It's not something to try at traffic lights.

And – though perhaps it’s not a key selling point ­– it still has seats for five.

Verdict:

There are few cars that can deliver such performance at such a price. The Focus RS is hugely competent, great fun and you won't mistake it for the Focus 1.6 diesel.