Don't bother trying to read that book called 'How to Win Friends and Influence People', just buy a Ford Focus RS. You may not win that many real friends but you'll gather a host of friendly acquaintances and you'll influence the dreams and aspirations of thousands.
No car I have driven, or parked, has been the centre of such attention. While I went on a sun-filled summer- day walking trip down memory lane, they lined up to circle it, stand back in awe, ring their friends and take pictures of it. And that was in just one small, if famous, Midlands town.
It didn't matter where I went, it was the same. Conclusion: There is a serious amount of interest in and knowledge about cars such as this.
And no, they are not all twentysomethings with more dreams than cash, though in the main they are the majority. One eightysomething professed herself quite taken by her short drive in it.
All fine and dandy with the window shopping, but what are we really talking about? The RS is seriously powerful. Putting an unprecedented 224kW five-cylinder engine in a car this size is a bit like a welterweight boxer having the knockout punch of a heavyweight.
It's way more powerful than the VW Golf, for example, and has about 60kW more clout than the previous RS.
They are able to do so, thanks to a unique combination of technology and suspension. That seriously sets it up to exploit, contain and transmit the excitement and drama generated by the massive pushes and pulls all those engineering inputs can extract.
If you like a softish, comfortable run in your cars, then by all means take your picture and walk away.
But if you like to feel your body being jammed into the back of a scooped-out Recaro seat by 224kW of turbo-boosted acceleration and power as the suspension and tyres disperse the tension of every tiny road ripple traversed, then climb in.
This is for you, if you have a dream, or better still the €43 000 (R475 000) or so to spend on realising it.
Basically, you get a four-seater hatch, 19" alloys, enhancements and adornments commensurate with a rally car coiled to spring to life at the touch of its push-button starter.
SEAMLESSLY QUICK
But there's a lot more. It's in the mix of brawn, bustle, poise and pep that a unique sort of drive is conjured and conveyed. When you let it glimpse the road ahead, it simply bristles with pace. On a few occasions, it weaved and webbed under the unleashed gush of power spurting immediately my right foot plunged on to the pedal.
In fairness, while it scrabbled (they call it torque steer) a bit in the early stages, as soon as it stretched into mid-range acceleration it was just seamlessly quick.
How quick? Don't mind the 0-100kmh figures. My real check was when I had a few people (a dad and his two children, or mum and daughter, for example) on board and we were coasting along.
They, boldly going where they had never gone before, urged me to 'put the foot down'.
I obliged (within legal limits of course) and had them pleading for mercy within seconds.
Yes, it can be hair-raising, but for me, as a driver, the pace was not the thing (be warned: this is potentially a magnet for speeding penalty points).
STIRRED BY WONDER CAR
No, the gush of power and the taut, low, level-nosed cornering and bend-hugging made this memorable. It's the ability to hit a corner hard, brake, steer and zoom out that makes this what it is: a road-going rally car. And that sensation is enhanced by the throaty exhaust's trumpet.
It is a wonder car all right, but maybe I'm getting old. It stirred the enthusiasm, indeed the awe, but the intensely taut suspension and hard Recaro seats left me longing for just a little more "softness".
Such a word should never be mentioned in the same breath as a car like this, but that's my feeling after crossing a fair few surfaces where I longed for a little respite from the 'real' feeling of momentum.
No, it is not a car I'd buy, or even aspire to. But I would have had to be blind not to see the stir it created anywhere I went. It has the looks, the massive energy and that X-factor appeal that sets it apart. The committed will love it.
Others, like me, will just remember the experience of channelling 224kW into a hugely enhanced Focus. - Irish Independent