Tuner Special: Wolf Racing RS360

NEUENSTEIN, Germany — The Ford tuning house Wolf Racing has released a preview of its modified Ford Focus RS that is set to debut at the 2009 Essen Auto Show at the end of the month.

The stock RS rolls out of the factory with 305 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque, and the tuner increases those numbers to 360 hp and 412 lb-ft with this kit. The extra power comes thanks to optimized engine and turbo management on the vehicle's 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder engine and is priced just under $2,000.

Other performance features include a limited-slip differential ($3,700) that will get those additional horses to the ground at lower rpm. A coil-over suspension ($2,000) can be added along with lowering springs ($323) to improve handling and drop the ride height by 1.2 inches. The new stance is accented by the 20-inch wheels ($590), which come in even lighter 18- or 19-inch variants as well.

Wolf gives customers the choice of blue, yellow, black, red, orange, charcoal or white decorative graphics for $144 and also equips the vehicle with some interior goodies like aluminum pedals for $285.

The Wolf RS360 will be on display for the first time at the Essen tuner show, which kicks off on November 28.

Inside Line says: The Wolf Racing RS360 puts down impressive numbers early in the torque and horsepower curves. Just look at the dyno sheet. — Mike Lysaght, Correspondent