Ford must really like the word “drift,” as well as the vehicular sliding it describes, a lot. The all-wheel-drive, turbocharged Ford Focus RS hot hatch has a Drift mode, in which more power is sent to the rear axle than typical and apportioned between the left and right rear wheels to enable silly, smoky oversteer. Now, RS owners can add more drifticality in the form of Ford Performance’s all-new “Drift Stick,” introduced during the 2017 SEMA show.
Essentially an electronically controlled, quick-releasing parking brake, the widget enables Focus RS drivers to pull a lever and lock up the rear wheels to initiate a drift. If you’ve ever seen one of Ken Block’s Gymkhana videos, the concept should be familiar, only Block’s cars utilize a heavier-duty hydraulically actuated rear-axle brake. Since installing a similar setup in a normal car is arduous, Ford came up with a different, easier-to-implement solution.
For the most part, the Drift Stick consists of additional code that’s loaded into the RS’s electronic brain via the diagnostic port. The included aluminum lever is installed at the end of the RS’s existing mechanical parking-brake handle, though the two operate independently and act on separate systems. To wit, pulling the Drift Stick not only locks the rear brakes, it decouples the rear axle from the front. Presto, you have the beginnings of a drift, a spin, or simply really unstable straight-line bra...