However, in my deliberations concerning the continued reasoning of these opportunists, I’ve come to the conclusion that they are perhaps after the Focus RS. As a result, I made a rather hasty decision and sold it back to Perry’s Ford.

Hindsight always does cast a rose tinted projection of the past as I’m already missing it, despite hardly having used the car in the past few weeks.

I still maintain that it was one of the best and most dramatic looking cars on the road. It is positively overflowing with aggression and machismo with it’s bulldog like stance and flared and winged decorations. I wonder if it actually shares any panels with a normal Focus.

I do have a disadvantage, however, in comparing this to other cars of this genre. Fact is, the last hot hatch I owned was back in 1992 when I owned a Mk2 Vauxhall Astra GTE 2.0 8v so as a result, I have no experience in casting any benchmark comparison. I do, however, understand the concept of driver involvement and fun and for that reason, allow me to place judgment…

There seems to be a lot of press lately about the gross exageration of the Focus RS power figures. Although stated at about 305BHP, many journalists are claiming to have dyno’d no more than 275 – bringing it down by 30BHP. Coupled with a 1500kg weight, you’d expect a minor struggle, but it simply isn’t case with a ferociously addictive lunge that reels in cars in the horizon far quicker than any figures should give it credit for. It feels powerful, weighty and absorbed and does not let any of those qualities deter its delicious turn in. Even in the wet, sharp, quick turns of the wheel are followed by obedient, crisp adjustments. It feel dialed in completely, even with my tyres part worn.

But it’s also in the wet where the frustrations start to creep in – unfortunately, it’s pretty much rained the entire time I owned this car. Anything over than 50% throttle will spin the wheels in 1st, 2nd and sometimes 3rd gear – even with traction control on. Now, I don’t normally mind wheelspin, in fact I find it challenging. But in a FWD 300BHP car, it’s simply annoying. You see, the wheels don’t just spin away, the entire front section of the car jumps up and down like an agricultural pile driver. It makes an awfully embarrassing show of itself and I often wonder if people on the outside hear the massive bangs the suspension arms perform as the chin of the car makes out like Bruce Forsythe. It really is unseemly and all it does is stop you from accelerating hard again which kind of ruins the fun.

Another really annoying thing is the bloody mindedness of the entire lux pack 2 system. For a start, why oh why does it not come with the iPhone connecter cable from the begining? I mean what’s the point in providing all the technology and then leaving the owner to then subsequently go out to Ford and buy a £20 cable? No sense. However, that’s only the start of the problem as you try to define some logic in the arbitrary success of the unit. Sometimes it recognises your iPhone, sometimes it doesn’t. Today I spent 30 mins trying to fix the bluetooth, then realising that I’d arrived at my destination. Except the sat nav dropped me off 10 miles away from where I wanted it.

Finally, there’s the build quality, which is appalling. First, I had a large piece of plastic fly out from under the sat nav and land on my lap. I couldn’t fit it back on again so back to dealer. Except this time, the whole dashboard kinda punched itself out by about 2 inches on the left. So it went back to the dealer again, but not before deciding to vomit out all the screws that keep the inner wheel arch linings together (apparently a Ford recall).

However, get a few choice moments behind the wheel where you’ve connected up a couple of tight bends and it simply doesn’t matter anymore as the Focus RS bathes you in waves of comedy character. It’s boisterous fun, it sounds superb and just knows how to show you a good time.

I’m certainly going to miss its immense practicality, with its full 4 seats and massive boot space, with reversing camera, keyless ignition, pray-and-beg bluetooth and ipod connectivity, sat nav and telephone module. If I was in the market for a £25k hot hatch, there would be no contest! But I’m not. I’m in the market for a GT3 aight?

Huge thanks, meanwhile, to Perry’s Ford in Aylesbury who were cracking to deal with.

That’s a saying we laughed about as kids when we were young. It came after a period of relative wealth during my early teens which had us in BMW’s, Jag’s and Merc’s for a few years. Leading out of the recession of the 90’s, I was in a 4 gear Corsa 1.2.

So it was with some frame of reference I was able to refer back to the Equidaen saying from 20 years ago. Having nurtured a GT3 for the past two years to a point where I experienced Zen every time out on the track, venturing out in the Focus RS was…….enlightening.

Forgive me. For many people, the Focus RS represents a real world aspiration wrapped up in a real world car. A sub £30k hot hatch that wraps up violent design, murderous ambition and uncontrolable urge in a socially unacceptable package. It really is a comedy sketch.

The day at Silverstone started wet, which meant the Focus RS really doesn’t know what to do apart from ensure that its driver is shrieking at every minor indescretion. Understeer, oversteer, drifting, torquesteer, bumpsteer, scrub, grind and many other popular latino grooves. You name it, it will throw it at you. Thankfully, it’s still a lot of fun and any of those crazy dance moves are delivered with full notice as you’d expect from any fwd hot hatch.

It feels a little cumbersome with its full 1500kg weight apparent on the high speed bends such as maggots, but otherwise has a delicious turn in that works well until you need to drive out of it. In the dry, you can moderate throttle and adjust steering each time the wheels start spinning to pull you out of a turn but in the wet, it’s just a hopeless balance of throttle and a few prayers.  Otherwise you just witness the revs shoot up and the car drift way off line, sometimes dangerously off the tarmac.

Which brings into question the traction control. Ford have done a fantastic job with this. On the road, I’m often looking at the dashboard for any signs that it is intervening, it’s so subtle. On the track, it’s obvious. With traction control on, it works pretty well accelerating out of the wet bends, but get the car into oversteer or any drift, it’s intrusive and stops you from pulling the car back into line again. With TC off, you can play with some ridiculous angles, but forget about those bends.

As the day dried out, so did grip and all 300BHP can be put to effective use. It’s a really fast hatch, no question. Naturally, it loses its punch after about 110MPH when things start to slow down a bit. On Silverstone, that’s noticed as all the GT3’s start to thunder past, providing me with reasons for not wanting to be in the Focus. The odd tussle with R26.R’s were great fun though, with the Focus RS more than a match for the track focused hatches. The closest to a fight was with a car chipped, giving it more power than the Focus RS.

A comment needs to be made about the brakes though, they were fantastic. They offered great peddle feel, did not fade at all and maintained their consistency throughout. The car behaved wonderfully in fact. But it still left me longing for my GT3 as I came out of it feeling as though I’d taken the car as far as I could – there really was nothing further to learn.

Henry, having seen the look of melancholy in my face, handed me his keys to his GT3 and said “Go knock yourself out”….. I really didn’t need convincing and what followed was 10 laps of pure, undiluted, non-filtered bliss. It was an utter joy and within minutes, I was again exploring the many depths, peeling layer after layer from the GT3, only to find new aspects of its character that had previously as yet been undiscovered. “Do you mind if I showboat a bit, Henry?” preceeded some 60deg drifting, naturally for the crowds, in what is the greatest car ever made (TM).

Driving the GT3 after a whole day with the Focus RS was like finding your children after having lost them in a shopping centre. The Focus RS is a magnificent hot hatch, but the GT3 is a touch of divine glory.

Have always loved this car from launch. Even after having seen it at the Geneva motorshow for the first time, I was smitten by how ridiculously agressive the design was, from its drooping fat chin, to its over exaggerated spoiler on the boot. It was basically a charicature of the hot hatch and in no way could it be launched in concept trim!

Except it was.

I need a car to enjoy over the winter and what better way than a White Focus RS. Nearly new with 2k miles on the clock, the Focus RS is a pretty special play toy. With over 300 BHP and 325 ft/lb torque, any hard acceleration can simply be regarded as nothing other than comedy! I know for a fact that I’m going to be chewing through tyres in this car. Slam your foot down in 2nd, 3rd or even 4th and your arms suddenly start wrestling with the wheel as it tries to break free from its shackles and throw itself out the window in a glorious escape to freedom. It’s also ridiculously cheaply made. I’ve already had bits of plastic trim from the facia fall off in my hand. But then, this is a £26k car. It’s basically a Ford Focus 1.4 underneath, only with anabolic steroid abuse.

Have you ever seen such an aggressive front before?! It’s positively drunk and off its face and you look it in the eye and you’ll be guaranteed to house a bottle in your temple before the nights out.

So, agressive looks, hyperactive steering – is there anything that is vaguely normal about this car? Actually, no. Weirdly enough, it’s about 100kg heavier than the GT3, weighing in at about 1500kg. So it’s not light, but without appearing blatantly predictable, it’s actually pin sharp in delicacy and pointedness. Even in damp conditions, roundabouts are adhesive and it’s only with aggressive use of mid-corner throttle does the car look you in the face and shout ‘LOL PHYSICS’.

There’s something wonderfully endearing about owning a £25k hot hatch. With a 90k GT3, you can’t talk to people about it without them thinking you’re a wanker. The Focus RS is the Barry McGuigan of the car world, a people’s champion, not concerned about false pretences but merely tasked with getting a job done without compromise.

It’s also got a wealth of toys that put the GT3 to shame, especially given its price tag. Reversing camera, touch screen sat nav, keyless entry and go, ipod connector etc. Those seats are also pretty darn rad.

I’m at Silverstone this weekend with a bunch of others in hot hatches – the GT3’s are being left at home. This time, I don’t mind so much :)

Oh and watch this bleeding video!