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FastestThings

Cars

Ford Focus RS

Ford states 266 km/h for the 2016 Focus RS. Top Gear and Car and Driver print 165 mph for that governor.

Also known as Focus RS, Mk3 Focus RS
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Top speed

Published as 266 km/hPublished as 266 km/hPublished as 266 km/h

Manufacturer claim for the 2016 Ford Focus RS (350 PS, all-wheel drive). Ford states 266 km/h (165 mph). Top Gear prints 165 mph and Car and Driver prints the manufacturer estimate of 165 mph, governor limited. 266 km/h is 165.3 mph. A limiter-removed autobahn video is not stored.

ClaimedFord (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 2.5× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • A football field in 1.2 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)
  • London to New York in 20 h 56 minConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

This list

Why it's so fast

A car is fast when the force pushing it forward still beats the air, and when the tires and the gearing can use that force. A limiter is a different fact from an unlimited run.

  1. Drag and gearing

    Top speed is the balance point: thrust equals aerodynamic drag. The gearing has to still be pulling when the car gets there, or the engine falls off its power.

  2. What the sources signed

    A manufacturer claim, a magazine test and an electronic governor are not interchangeable. The measurement line says which one this page ranked.

A limited example is the Bugatti Chiron.

This is how the category works. A note written for this entry appears here once it is in the database.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 266km/h165mph73.9m/s144knRanked figure

    Manufacturer claim for the 2016 Ford Focus RS (350 PS, all-wheel drive). Ford states 266 km/h (165 mph). Top Gear prints 165 mph and Car and Driver prints the manufacturer estimate of 165 mph, governor limited. 266 km/h is 165.3 mph. A limiter-removed autobahn video is not stored.

    Claimed
    Ford (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Model
2016 Focus RS, 350 PS
Layout
All-wheel-drive hatchback
Limiter
Governor, 266 km/h

Spot a wrong number?

Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.