Peter Palmer: Mountune Kit Ramps Up Ford Focus RS Power

Originally appeared on Automoblog.net

With 350 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque from a turbocharged 2.3 L Ecoboost four-cylinder, the 2016 Ford Focus RS is already the most powerful hot hatch available.

But if you live in Europe and want a little more out of your all-wheel drive hatchback, there is the Ford Performance upgrade by Mountune. This upgrade, approved by Ford, ups the power output to 370 horsepower and 376 lb-ft of torque.

Contents & Performance

Ford Performance, along with U.K. based Mountune, developed the Focus RS power package. The dealer-installed kit includes a reprogrammed ECU, high-performance air filter, upgraded air re-circulation valve, and an alloy crossover duct with silicone hoses. The overboost function can be used up to 12 seconds at a time, which is enough to propel the Mountune-tuned Ford Focus RS to 62 mph in an estimated 4.5 seconds.

Maximum velocity remains unchanged at 165 mph.

Factory Warranty Compliant

For U.K. customers, the upgrade costs 899 GBP (approximately $1,175) and is also available in select European markets. The upgrade kit can be installed at any Mountune authorized Ford dealer and takes about an hour and a half to complete. Since this tune is approved by Ford Performance, it does not void the factory warranty.

Besides this ECU upgrade, Mountune also offers a host of other performance upgrades for the Focus RS on their website. At the moment, this is only available for European customers, but Ken Anderson, President of Mountune, confirmed to some automotive press outlets a U.S. version is under development.

We hope a similar kit gets approved for the U.S. Ford Focus RS because we just cannot stay quiet while watching our European cousins enjoying all of the fun.

*Rahul Raman is the Founder of CARS 360 Mke, an automotive news outlet. He is a regular contributor to Automoblog and the author of our First Look series.