Mountune Focus RS M520

IT’S NOT A SHY AND RETIRING CAR, THE Ford Focus RS. Jump in for a fast drive and it bludgeons you over the head with noise and presence, shaking you by the shoulders, almost literally, and demands to know whether you’re having fun yet. And if you’re on the wrong road, or in the wrong mood, the answer’s just as likely ‘no’ as it is ‘yes’.

That Mountune has extracted 513bhp from the 2.3-litre four-cylinder could go one of two ways. If your name is Gary it’ll be like all your Christmases have come at once, but for everyone else the idea of turning a yob into a full-on hooligan, and for a not inconsiderable amount of money, might seem like adding one too many eggs to an already unpalatable pudding.

Until driving the Mountune M520 I felt fairly certain I’d sit in the latter camp, but after a day