Accidents aren’t always bad. In 1928, Alexander Fleming accidently discovered penicillin after a petri dish was left exposed near an open window. And while the new Ford Focus RS probably won’t be wiping out any deadly, civilization-threatening bacteria any time soon, it will be fun as hell to play around with, especially with the ass-out AWD antics of Drift Mode activated – a feature that was apparently just an accident.
In a recent report from Australian publication Motoring, Tyrone Johnson, vehicle and engineering manager at Ford Performance, revealed that the crossed-up handling setting was originally discovered during the development of the RS’ AWD system, and was not part of the hot hatch’s original design plan.
Johnson said that it all started with a test session conducted by two engineers, one behind the wheel, the other in the passenger seat tweaking the AWD with a laptop.
“And they are talking and he says ‘oh let me try this out’ and he tries it and he says ‘oh that’s cool can you give me more of that’ and he gives him more and he says ‘that’s really cool’ and then it starts working,” Johnson said. “I guess it’s just because we are a bunch of crazy guys. We just do things.”
After exhibiting the benefits of Drift Mode to global technical and development chief Raj Nair, the feature was officially slated for production.
Ford says Drift Mode is not for use on public roads, but that hasn’t stopped safety groups from voicing their outrage at its inclusion on the new Focus RS. Some have even demanded that it be outlawed.
Unsurprisingly, we here at TopSpeed think the controversy is simply ridiculous. What’s more, it reveals an equally absurd (and potentially dangerous) double standard.
Read on for our defense of Drift Mode.
Continue reading for our take on Drift Mode.
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