A New 'Hydraulic Handbrake' Option Makes The Ford Focus RS Even Driftier

If there was one thing we definitely weren’t complaining about on the massive fun 2.3-litre turbocharged Ford Focus RS, it was its tail-happiness.

Drift Mode helped turn the Focus RS into a cult hero pretty much overnight, and we loved it right from the word ‘go.’ Now, though, Ford has revealed the Drift Stick, a handbrake mod that mimics the effect of a hydraulic handbrake and locks the rear wheels.

The trick electro-manual setup sends 180bar of pressure through the ABS pump in an instant. That helps the car pull drift angles that would leave Pythagoras scratching his head. Sadly, it won’t stop RS owners getting it wrong sometimes.

Developed by Ford Performance and tested by Ken Block in the video at the top, the Drift Stick seems to work quite well. It turns the Drift Mode-enabled Focus RS into a full-bananas Tarmac rally stage weapon. Nice.

It’s priced at $999 in the US, but it’s not clear whether we’ll get it on this side of the Atlantic. We’d imagine it depends heavily on customer demand. The kit, which has to be retro-fitted, comes with the machined aluminium lever, all mountings and fixings and a USB calibration tool that apparently updates the ECU so that it doesn’t panic when the rear wheels suddenly lock.