New reports suggest that Ford is already working on a limited edition hot hatch that would slot in above the new all-wheel drive Focus RS.

And, naturally, it'd be called the Ford Focus RS500.

Of course, the new Focus RS is just about to land in South Africa (be sure to catch our test in the July issue of CAR magazine), but the performance arm of the automaker is apparently already considering something even wilder.

According to Australia's Motor Magazine, insiders at Ford have confirmed that the proposed RS500 could turn out to be the fastest-accelerating hatchback in history.

That means it would have to complete the blast from zero to 100 km/h quicker than the likes of the Audi RS3 Sportback quattro (4,3 seconds) and the Mercedes-AMG A45 4Matic (4,2 seconds).

Thing is, there's probably not much more power still to be extracted from the 2,3-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder engine (which already makes 257 kW, enough for a 4,7-second sprint to three figures), so any acceleration improvements will likely have to be realised via a radical weight reduction programme.

The publication furthermore reports that the RS500 could gain a front limited-slip differential, and perhaps even the option of a dual-clutch transmission.

Original article from Car