With a new performance engine calibration kit for the Mustang EcoBoost, Ford Performance has already demonstrated how a simple software upgrade can take the turbocharged, 2.3-liter I4 engine from punchy to potent. And while a number of different firms offer software upgrades promising similar results for the new Ford Focus RS, we’d imagine that few are as capable of delivering as Hennessey Performance Engineering.
Above, you can see what happens when the folks at Hennessey put a Focus RS, equipped with the firm’s HPE400 upgrade package, on the dynamometer. The result: an extra 18 peak horsepower and 56 lb-ft more at peak torque (measured at the wheels). More impressively, Hennessey says that the HPE400 upgrade will tack on an extra 60 to 80 lb-ft of torque at the wheels from 3,000 to 5,000 rpm.
These are awe-inspiring gains for what amounts to a bunch of ones and zeros being fed into the engine control module from an easy-to-use, handheld tuning device.
Hennessey’s HPE400 kit for the 2016+ Ford Focus RS costs $695, and it includes a few exterior badges to let other road users know they should stay clear. Peak figures at the crankshaft are estimated to be about 388 brake horsepower and 445 lb-ft.
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