For those of you waiting with baited breath for a small car packing some punch, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Gunnar Herrmann, Ford’s global boss for small cars, has confirmed that a Ford Focus RS is in the works. While the car is to remain front-wheel drive, the engine is going to jump from 160hp to somewhere around 350hp. Herrmann said that the RS prototypes that have been tested hit an absurd 380hp. The engine will most likely be a modified version of the 2.0L EcoBoost engine they threw in the 2012 Ford Focus ST.

To compensate for not having all-wheel drive to control the massive amounts of torque this engine will produce, Ford will most likely use its RevoKnuckle suspension system and Quaife automatic torque biasing limited-slip differential. This should provide the grip and traction necessary to control a car with such low weight and high torque without having to go with a heavier AWD option. It should also keep weight and cost down as well.

While the AWD and hybrid rumors are false, it’s good to see that a Focus RS will finally hit the streets of America. From the sounds of it, the Ford Focus RS will take the streets by storm, as America hasn’t seen a small production car like this before.