Ford have just announced an upgrade to the Focus range in the shape of the Focus Zetec S.

The ‘S’ upgrade takes a standard Zetec and adds a body kit, 17-inch alloys and ‘S’ badges on the front wings, with aluminum foot pedals and handbrake cover appearing on the inside.

It can be ordered with most of the engines available on the standard Zetec – 1.6 (114bhp), 1.8 (124bhp) and 2.0-litre (143bhp) petrol engines and 1.8 (114PS) and 2.0-litre (133bhp) diesels. For some reason the 62mpg 1.6-litre (109bhp) diesel is not available on the Zetec S – it’s probably not considered sporty enough, although in performance terms its very close to the 1.8-litre diesel. All engines come with a 5-speed manual transmission, with the exception of the 2.0-litre diesel which gets a 6-speed ‘box.

The ‘S’ upgrade costs £750, but you can spend a bit more on a couple of additional upgrades. The first of these is the Sport pack, which adds rear privacy glass and 18-inch wheels for £500. The second is the WRC pack, which adds chequered WRC decals over the paintwork and scuff-plates to the door sills for a cost of £200. It’s fine if you want to look like a rally geek, but its a very tenuous link to Ford’s successful WRC team.

The Focus Zetec S is available in Ford showrooms now.