Ford Has Made A “Drift Stick” Handbrake For The Focus RS

The Ford Focus RS is famous for being one of the slidiest cars around, at least if you buy in to Ford’s marketing talk. Its example of an explicit “Drift Mode” was followed soon by Mercedes with the E63 AMG S, and it was noted for having one of the most technically advanced AWD systems on the market. But it never allowed drivers to take part in one of the hot hatch’s most hallowed traditions: the handbrake turn. Until now.

The Drift Stick (yes, that’s actually its name) is a handbrake handle which is bolted to the transmission tunnel and syncs up with the car’s electronic parking brake to lock the rear wheels when it’s pulled. Thus, if you need to slide around a tight corner at low speed, you can–just like if the car had a regular mechanical handbrake. Naturally, Ford brought out the one drifter even non-car people know, Ken Block, to thrash it around an airfield. No doubt part of Ford’s normal testing regimen.

I gotta admit, it looks like a lot of fun, even if it’s not considered a “true” handbrake. You can buy the Drift Stick starting December 1st from Ford’s newly-minted sports division, Ford Performance, for a cool $999. For the price of a new iPhone X, you get the aluminum handle, a diagnostic tool, and all the nuts and bolts required to attach it to the car (since it doesn’t connect to anything mechanically, there’s no drilling required). I don’t know about you, but don’t think the iPhone would be this much fun.