An eagle-eyed reader has snapped this, the rear-end of what looks suspiciously like Ford's monster Focus RS out for some near-final testing. The hot hatch was spotted in Southend, with a spoiler and rear splitter that look identical to the almost production-ready RS that got its debut at the 2008 British motor show.

The RS, which is rumoured to have around 300bhp (all through the front wheels, by the way), is due to surface in production format early in 2009, and if it's anything as striking as the concept - which has already taken a healthy amount of orders for Ford - it should be a big hit. And in the iconic RS blue colour of this mule, it looks a cracker.

Are you excited for the RS? Have you eagerly put down a deposit? Or is the OTT bhp-chasing a bit dull? Tell evo.co.uk, and in fact, the world... here.