Ken Block puts the 2015 Ford Focus RS through its paces at Goodwood

Ford heats up Goodwood Festival of Speed with the new Focus RS, Shelby Mustang GT350R and GT supercar. 

Ford has unleashed its new range of performance cars at the U.K’s annual Goodwood Festival of Speed exhibition.

Headlining Ford’s display at the show was an appearance from drifting sensation and rally driver Ken Block who piloted the new Focus RS hot hatch up the Goodwood hill climb.

Ken Block was a consultant during the development of the 257kW all-wheel drive Focus RS and played a role in defining how the car handles. 

We suspect Block who is famous for his viral drift videos may also be behind the ‘drift’ mode that has been integrated into the hot hatch’s selectable drive modes.

Ken Block was a consultant during the development of the 257kW all-wheel drive Focus RS and played a role in defining how the car handles.

"I've had so much fun helping Ford develop this next generation of ultimate hot hatch and I'm stoked about the thought of blasting up Lord March's Hillclimb with 350 PS and all-wheel drive at my disposal," said Block before the run.

During the run, Block kept it pretty tame adopting a fast and straight style instead of the sideways and smokey we're used to seeing from him and the Focus RS. 

The RS’s clever all-wheel drive system can send up to 50 per cent of the available grunt to the rear torque-vectoring differential which can then send up to 100 per cent to either wheel. 

Ford says this all-paw system in conjunction with the active stability control allows for controlled oversteer.

The new Focus RS also incorporates a launch control function – a first for an RS – though Ford remains tight-lipped about any acceleration figures.

Block made full use of the Focus RS’s tail-happy handling balance, sliding his way up the hill climb in the bright blue monster.

Ben Collins, formerly known as ‘The Stig’ on Top Gear, also drove up the Goodwood hill climb in the hardcore U.S-spec Shelby Mustang GT350R track car.

The Shelby ‘Stang features a 5.2-litre naturally aspirated flat-plane crank V8 pumping out over 373kW and rides on lightweight carbon fibre wheels sourced from Australian company Carbon Revolution.

At this stage Ford is keeping the high performance coupe for left-hand drive U.S markets only, however the dynamic display in the U.K (a RHD market) could indicate the brand is considering a right-hook Shelby for the future.

The new 447kW mid-engine Ford GT supercar also made its first official public appearance in the U.K but the carbon fibre stunner did not hit the track for a flat-out blast up the hill.

It’s the second time this month we’ve seen the Ford GT in Europe with a race car version starring at the Le Mans 24 hour race a few weeks ago when Ford announced it would compete in the endurance event next year.