Ford Focus RS RX behind-the-scenes video released

Ford's snuck everyone behind-the-scenes of development for its Focus RS RX contender in the latest instalment of its Project RX series.

In a string of videos detailing the exhaustive process of building the car, episode four takes us back to the car's very first test. Here we’re given much more insight into the racer than first teased to us in Ken Block’s Gymkhana 8 video.

Succeeding Block’s Fiesta WRX-spec vehicle, the new Focus RS is built to the competition’s 2016 specifications. So that means it packs a 447kW 2.0-litre turbo four up front. But scarily, its power isn’t the most impressive stat.

Feeding off massive boost the car’s engine also makes 900Nm. And matched to all-wheel drive, and a six-speed sequential 'box, it devours 100km/h in less than 2sec. Little wonder it’s plastered in Group B rivalling aero, something needs to keep it from leaving the ground.

Built in collaboration between the UK’s renowned M-Sport, Ford Performance, and Block’s Hoonigan Racing Division (which campaigns it in the current series), a huge amount of rally experience has been poured into the car.

So it's easy to believe Matthew Wilson, M-Sport’s test driver, and his thoughts on the RS RX. “Everything feels good. It changes gear, it changes direction, and it brakes. So all the fundamentals are looking really good.”

Ken Block and Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud are driving the car this year. And five races in the RS RX has claimed a win in Bakkerud’s hands at his home race.

You can next catch the Focus RS RX swapping paint with similarly juiced-up hatches– like the Audi A1, Peugeot 208, VW Polo, Citroen DS3 to name a few – piloted by big names when the championship visits Sweden on July 1.