Ford Focus RS500: the 500 matt-black cars, specs and values

The Ford Focus RS500 is the limited edition that ended production of the second-generation Ford Focus RS in 2010: 500 numbered cars for 20 European markets, 101 of them for the UK, each wrapped in matt black film and given a 350PS (345bhp) version of the RS's turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine. It cost £35,750 in Britain and sold out within days. At auction the best have since made £99,000.

Evo counted nine still registered for the road in the UK in April 2026. PistonHeads called it the most powerful front-wheel-drive RS Ford ever sold, and its name comes from the Sierra RS500 Cosworth of 1987.

History of the Ford Focus RS500

Ford announced the Focus RS500 on 29 March 2010 as a run-out edition, to mark the end of the Mk2 Focus RS. Ford of Britain's press release, issued from Brentwood in Essex, gave the car's public debut as the Leipzig motor show on 9 April 2010 and said production would start at Ford's Saarlouis plant in Germany in May. The last Focus RS cars of any kind were due to leave Saarlouis in September 2010.

The Mk2 Focus RS it was based on

The standard Mk2 Focus RS went on sale in the UK in March 2009 at £24,995, according to Ford's price announcement of 15 December 2008. It had a 305PS turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder Duratec engine, a six-speed gearbox driving the front wheels, a Quaife limited-slip differential and Ford's RevoKnuckle front suspension, which separates the steering axis from the movement of the spring and damper to cut torque steer. Ford had planned to build 7,000 to 8,000 units of this second generation of the Ford Focus RS; the RS500 release said total output would pass 11,000 units, and Peter Tomalin's buying guide for evo puts it at about 11,500, of which about 4,000 were sold in the UK.

Teasers, the reveal and the Leipzig debut

Ford ran a teaser website with a countdown, titled "Ford Focus RS – The Story Continues", in the last week of March 2010. A SkiddMark report from that week recorded the rumours around it: a price of about £35,000, 500 cars with 101 for the UK, and 350bhp from an engine developed by Mountune. The same report said the RS500 had been listed in the layout notes for the Geneva motor show in early March but did not appear there. Ford's announcement a few days later confirmed the numbers, and the car was shown at Leipzig on 9 April.

Why it is called RS500

The name counts the cars: 500 were built, each with its number on a plaque. It also reused the badge of the Sierra RS500 Cosworth, the 1987 evolution model built to homologate the Sierra for Group A touring car racing. "This vehicle joins a long line of iconic RS Fords and is a worthy recipient of the RS500 name, which became synonymous with success on the road and track with the legendary Sierra RS500 Cosworth that dominated saloon car racing during the late 1980s," said Joe Bakaj, Ford of Europe's vice president for product development, in the launch release. According to Goodwood Road & Racing, Ford sent 500 Sierra three-door bodyshells to Tickford for conversion to RS500 specification, and a new one cost £20,000 in 1987.

Sold out in days

Buyers placed orders before Ford had set prices. Autocar reported on 17 April 2010 that the RS500 had "effectively sold out within 12 hours of being revealed", and evo's buying guide says the car sold out within a week. Evo's news report on reveal day, 29 March 2010, said the whole 101-car UK allocation was already spoken for.

Some countries shared out their cars by lottery. In France, L'argus reported on 27 April 2010, buyers registered between 12 and 31 May and a bailiff supervised the draw on 7 June; one car went to a member of the Club Ford Cosworth and the last French car was auctioned for charity. In Belgium and Luxembourg, 300 people registered for 50 cars. Ford Belgium sold the last three Belgian cars at auction at BCA in Wavre on 17 September 2010 for €50,000, €49,800 and €48,500 against a list price of €42,900, and gave the €19,600 difference to the Red Cross for flood relief in Pakistan, according to its press release of 20 September 2010.

How many Ford Focus RS500s were made?

Ford built 500 customer cars, numbered 001 to 500 on a hand-engraved metal plaque on the centre console. All were made at Saarlouis between May and September 2010, and Ford of Europe shared them among 20 European markets.

Press and development cars outside the 500

Ford's release said a small number of pre-production cars, used for development and as press demonstrators, would carry "their own unique numbering scheme, to ensure the exclusivity of the 500 customer cars". The French marque guide Automobile-Sportive says the press cars wore plaques marked "PR" and numbered 01 to 12, so that 512 RS500s were built in all.

How many Focus RS500s are left in the UK?

Few are on the road. Writing in April 2026, evo counted nine UK RS500s actively registered and almost 80 declared off the road with a SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification). PistonHeads wrote in June 2026 that "the vast majority are SORN'd".

Engine and chassis

The RS500 had more power than the standard RS and an unchanged chassis. Ford raised peak power from 305PS to 350PS (345bhp) at 6,000rpm and torque from 440Nm to 460Nm (339lb ft), available from 2,500 to 4,500rpm.

What changed in the engine

The engine is Volvo-derived: evo notes that the five-cylinder of the Focus RS and Focus ST was based on a 2.5-litre Volvo unit, which Ford rebuilt for the RS with stronger connecting rods, new pistons and camshafts and a larger Borg-Warner turbocharger. The RS500's changes were to its breathing: a much larger air-to-air intercooler, a larger air filter box, a larger-diameter exhaust downpipe, an uprated fuel pump and new engine software. "The engine's improved breathing has allowed us to increase power without having to raise turbo boost pressure significantly," said Gunnar Herrmann, Ford's global C-car vehicle line director. The internal parts already fitted to the 305PS engine (a revised head gasket, metal-sprayed cylinder bores, revised pistons and new connecting rods) needed no further change, Ford said.

Developed with Mountune

Engineers from Ford TeamRS developed the engine with Revolve Technologies, the engineering company that sells Ford-approved upgrades under the Mountune brand. The same parts went on sale for the standard RS as the Mountune MP350 kit (see related models).

The Nürburgring endurance test

Ford tested the RS500 for 10,000km non-stop on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, with TeamRS engineers and three Ford-employed racing drivers driving in shifts. Ford compared it with ten Nürburgring 24-hour races back to back. "After 500 non-stop laps of the Nürburgring, we are very confident of its durability and delighted at the way it performed, with an 8-minute lap time within reach," said Matthias Tonn, the RS500's chief programme engineer.

Suspension, brakes and wheels

Ford left the chassis as it was: the wider track, RevoKnuckle front suspension and Quaife helical limited-slip differential, the brakes and the 19-inch wheels with 235/35 R19 tyres all carried over. The RS's brakes, from Ford's 2008 release, are 336mm ventilated front discs and 300mm rear discs. Only the colours changed: the RS500's calipers are red and its wheels black.

Ford Focus RS500 specifications and performance

The Focus RS500 is a three-door, front-wheel-drive hatchback with a 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder engine of 350PS and a six-speed manual gearbox, and it reaches 62mph in about 5.6 seconds.

How fast is the Focus RS500?

Ford's preliminary figure was 0–100km/h (62mph) in 5.6 seconds, three-tenths quicker than the standard RS's 5.9 seconds according to Autocar. Evo timed 0–60mph in 5.6 seconds. Ford's own specification sheet gave 0–60mph in 5.4 seconds and 0–100mph in 12.2 seconds, figures What Car?, evo's reveal-day news and the RS Owners Club repeated.

Top speed is quoted two ways, both by Ford. The text of its release said it was similar to the standard RS's 263km/h (163mph), and Autocar and Top Gear printed 163mph; the release's specification sheet gave 265km/h (165mph), as did What Car?, Motor Sport, Car Enthusiast and Ford France in L'argus.

Motor Sport ran its own acceleration test at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed. With 345bhp through the front wheels, the writer reported, "the Ford cannoned straight and true up to the first corner, not using a single inch of unplanned extra road."

Design: the matt black wrap and the interior

Every RS500 is matt black, and the finish is a film. Ford painted each body in its standard Panther Black metallic at Saarlouis, then shipped it to a 3M site near Frankfurt where the matt film was applied. Ford said the film resisted light marks and scratches, and that a Europe-wide network of 3M agents would replace it on damaged panels.

Exterior details

The lower front grille, the splitter, the twin-blade rear spoiler and the rear venturi kept a gloss black finish, and the wheels are a metallic black. The red brake calipers, blue RS badges and a blue and red RS500 badge on the tailgate are the only colour on the outside. "With its dramatic black finish and imposing stance, this car really is mean, moody and magnificent!" Tonn said.

Interior and equipment

Inside, red replaced the standard car's blue: red stitching on the steering wheel, door trims and gear lever gaiter, and on the floor mats. The centre console has the numbered plaque and a carbon-effect bezel with an RS pattern. On top of the standard RS's equipment, every RS500 had dual-zone climate control, a heated windscreen, rear parking sensors, tyre deflation warning, automatic headlights and wipers, an auto-dimming mirror, keyless start, Bluetooth with voice control and a USB port, a Sony six-CD stereo and Recaro front seats partly trimmed in leather.

Options

There were two options: a touchscreen DVD satellite navigation system and full red leather on the Recaro seats. In the Netherlands, Autozine reported on 28 April 2010, the red leather cost €200 and the navigation €2,300.

Focus RS500 vs the standard Focus RS

The RS500 has 45PS more than the standard Mk2 Focus RS, the same chassis, a matt black wrap and fuller standard equipment, and it cost £8,000 to £10,500 more in the UK, according to evo and Car Enthusiast.

Sources: Ford releases of December 2008 and March 2010; Autocar, April 2010; evo buying guide.

Focus RS500 price when new

The UK price was £35,750, the figure given by Motor Sport in 2010, by evo's buying guide and by PistonHeads. Evo's report on reveal day gave £35,250 and Car Enthusiast later quoted £35,500; Motor Sport noted that the price was more than a Porsche Boxster's.

Autoblog.it noted that the German price was about €10,000 above the standard RS, and Auto.cz reported the Czech allocation and price.

What is a Ford Focus RS500 worth today?

A Focus RS500 with reasonable mileage is worth about £70,000 in the UK, according to evo in April 2026, and the best low-mileage cars have sold for £99,000 at auction. Mileage and the state of the wrap make the difference: a car rewrapped in matt yellow, with 22,200 miles, sold for £48,214 in 2025.

Source: the lot pages for each sale, read 28 October 2026, including No. 174, the 13-mile car and No. 456.

Dealer prices

Dealers ask more than auctions make. PistonHeads found a 7,000-mile, two-owner car for sale at £76,995 in May 2021, and No. 131, with 39 miles and an MOT history of never more than five miles a year, at £120,000 in June 2026.

How the price has moved

Prices rose sharply after 2019. Motor Sport predicted in 2010 that the RS and RS500 would "become cheap in the short to medium term", and in February 2019 a 25,259-mile car made £30,375, less than its UK list price. Two cars made £99,000 in 2022 and 2024. For comparison, a 5,192-mile Sierra RS500 Cosworth sold for £596,250 including fees at Stoneleigh on 25 February 2023, the record for that car, according to Goodwood Road & Racing.

Owning a Focus RS500: known faults and running costs

The RS500 shares its engine, gearbox and chassis with the standard Mk2 RS, so it has the same known faults, plus one of its own: the matt wrap.

The 3M wrap

Evo wrote in 2026 that the 3M wrap "didn't age well, so most of those will have had replacement wraps at some point", and PistonHeads said the wraps "often need replacing". Automobile-Sportive advises against close-range pressure washing and harsh cleaning products, and says a damaged panel has to be rewrapped whole. Of the cars in the auction table, No. 456 had been professionally rewrapped in yellow.

Engine and idle

Evo's 2026 review warns of an uneven idle, which a failing spark plug, coil or mass air-flow sensor can cause. Its buying guide reports that the Mk2 RS engine surges at light throttle, which makes it hard to drive smoothly. H&H's catalogue for an October 2022 sale called the inlet plenum "a known fragility of RS500s"; the description of that car, No. 129, records that its owner had replaced it.

Cambelt and servicing

Ford's timing belt interval for the Mk2 RS is 125,000 miles or ten years, which evo calls "a little optimistic". Low-mileage cars have their belts changed on age: No. 129 had a new cambelt, water pump and auxiliary belts in 2020 at 7,396 miles, and No. 131's belt was changed at 36 miles. Evo also advises checking for rust, which has affected some Mk2 RSs.

Fuel economy

Motor Sport quoted 30.1mpg and 225g/km of CO2; Car Enthusiast quoted 28.5mpg and 235g/km. Ford said the RS500 matched the standard RS's economy and emissions.

Related models

The RS500 has two relatives: Mountune's MP350 kit, which gave the standard RS the same power, and a Mk3 RS500 that Ford considered and did not build.

The Mountune MP350 upgrade

Alongside the RS500, Ford approved Mountune's MP350 kit for the standard Mk2 RS. It used the RS500's engine parts and cost £1,995 plus fitting through approved Ford dealers, and it kept the factory warranty, according to evo's buying guide. An MP350 has the RS500's 345bhp but neither the wrap, the plaque nor the red trim.

The cancelled Mk3 Focus RS500

Ford worked on a faster version of the four-wheel-drive Mk3 Focus RS in 2016. Autocar reported on 24 October 2016 that the project, with close to 390bhp, had only a 30% chance of production because of a weak business case: in the United States it overlapped the Mustang, and the Mk3 Focus was due to end in late 2017. Ford ended the Focus RS instead with the Heritage Edition, 50 cars in Deep Orange at £39,895, and Motoring Research reported that Mk3 production would stop on 6 April 2018.

Rivals

The RS500's rivals were other hot hatches of 2008 to 2011, of which the Renault Mégane R26.R and the Audi RS3 Sportback were the closest in price or purpose.

Renault Mégane R26.R

Renault's run-out Mégane of 2008 took the opposite route: the same 230hp as the standard R26, 123kg less weight, and a Nürburgring lap of 8 minutes 17 seconds on 23 June 2008, a record for a front-wheel-drive production car. Renault's release limited it to 450 cars, 230 of them for the UK. In evo's 2009 test of the standard Focus RS against the R26.R on the Col de Vence, the Renault narrowly won.

Audi RS3 Sportback

Audi's first RS3 went on UK order in December 2010 at £39,900, with a 340PS turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder, a seven-speed S tronic gearbox and quattro four-wheel drive. Audi UK's release quoted 0–62mph in 4.6 seconds, a limited 155mph and a kerb weight of 1,575kg; deliveries were due to begin in April 2011, seven months after the last RS500 was built.

Reception

Road testers liked the RS500's speed and noise and warned about wet roads. Ollie Marriage wrote in evo in 2010: "As long as it's dry the Focus is devastating. Yes, the wheel does tug, but it's manageable," adding that in the wet "the RS500 will happily, readily break traction in third". Motor Sport's verdict after its Goodwood test was "arguably the most entertaining hatchbacks that have ever been built", for the RS and RS500 together.

Car Enthusiast's week with the car found its gearchange "significantly sharper than that of the standard Focus" and said torque steer was not absent but "well maintained"; its one complaint was the grey plastic on the lower part of the cabin. PistonHeads wrote in 2021 that the RS500 "basically secured itself classic status at launch".

Questions

Is the Ford Focus RS500 four-wheel drive?

No. Like the standard Mk2 Focus RS it drives the front wheels only, through a six-speed manual gearbox and a Quaife limited-slip differential. Four-wheel drive arrived with the Mk3 Focus RS in 2016, according to evo.

Was the Focus RS500 sold in America?

No. Ford of Europe offered all 500 cars in 20 European markets, and none was sold new in the United States.

What colour is under the RS500 wrap?

Panther Black metallic. Ford painted every RS500 in that standard colour at Saarlouis before 3M applied the matt black film near Frankfurt.

Did the Focus RS500 have red seats?

Red leather Recaro front seats were one of only two options; the standard seats were black, partly trimmed in leather, with red stitching elsewhere in the cabin.

What number is my Focus RS500?

Each customer car has a hand-engraved metal plaque on the centre console numbered from 001 to 500. Press cars wore separate plaques marked PR 01 to PR 12.

Can a standard Focus RS be upgraded to RS500 power?

Yes. Ford approved the Mountune MP350 kit, which used the RS500 engine parts to give 345bhp, for £1,995 plus fitting through approved dealers, with the factory warranty kept.

Sources

• Ford of Britain, Focus RS500 press release, Brentwood, 29 March 2010 (as published by Cars UK): numbers, allocations, engine, chassis, test programme, wrap, equipment, quotes.
• Ford of Britain, "Prices announced for 2009 Ford Focus RS", 15 December 2008: standard RS price, engine and brakes.
• Ford Belgium, "Veiling Focus RS500: 19.600 euro voor Pakistan", 20 September 2010: Belgian allocation, price, charity auction.
• Peter Tomalin, evo, "Ford Focus RS Mk2 buying guide", 17 December 2014: Mk2 production, RS500 price and sell-out, measured 0–60mph, MP350, surging.
• Joe Alexander and Ollie Marriage, evo, "Ford Focus RS500 revealed", 29 March 2010: reveal-day price, UK allocation sold out.
• Sam Jenkins and Antony Ingram, evo, "Ford Focus RS500 (Mk2, 2010–2011) review", 20 April 2026, with Ollie Marriage's 2010 test: UK registrations, values, wrap, idle, cambelt interval, rust.
• Motor Sport, "Ford Focus RS500", September 2010: Goodwood acceleration test, price, factfile.
• Autocar, "Ford Focus RS500: new pics and video", 17 April 2010, and "Ford Focus RS500 super-hatch could be canned", 24 October 2016.
• What Car?, "A unique engine", 29 March 2010: 0–60mph and top speed.
• Top Gear, Focus RS500 reveal and video reports, March and April 2010: 0–62mph and top speed.
• Car Enthusiast, "Week at the Wheel: Ford Focus RS500": 0–100mph, economy, verdict.
• Ford RS Owners Club, "Focus RS Mk2 – RS500": capacity, top speed, 0–60mph.
• L'argus, "La Ford Focus RS500 : 56 propriétaires tirés au sort", 27 April 2010: French allocation, price and draw.
• Automobile-Sportive, "Ford Focus II RS500": press cars PR 01–12, French draw, wrap care.
• Autozine, "Prijs Ford Focus RS500 bekend", 28 April 2010; Autoblog.it, German price, 12 April 2010; Auto.cz, Czech allocation and price, 2010.
• Iconic Auctioneers, lot pages for the eight sales in the auction table (Silverstone 2017 lot 715, Stoneleigh 2019 lot 347, Sywell 2022 lot 452, NEC 2022 lots 628 and 743, Silverstone 2024 lot 368, online 2024 lot 40003, online 2025 lot 50011), read 28 October 2026.
• Racecar.com, "Ford Focus RS500 joins the H&H Fast Road Sale roster", October 2022: H&H's description of No. 129.
• PistonHeads, "£77k Ford Focus RS500 for sale", 18 May 2021, and Matt Bird, Focus RS500 spotted, 4 June 2026: dealer prices, SORN, No. 131.
• Goodwood Road & Racing, "This Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 just sold for nearly £600,000", March 2023: Sierra RS500 build and record price.
• Renault UK release on the Mégane R26.R, July 2008, as published by Autoblog; Audi UK release on the RS 3 Sportback, November 2010, as published by RS246.
• Richard Aucock, Motoring Research, "Ford Focus RS Heritage Edition is a £39,895 orange crush", 14 February 2018: end of Mk3 production.
• SkiddMark, Focus RS500 teaser report and reveal report, March 2010: the teaser site, rumoured price and allocation, Geneva.