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When you鈥檙e buying a new car it鈥檚 easy to forget that these lumps of metal, cloth, leather and rubber don鈥檛 just magically appear.聽Drive聽even the most sensible聽car on sale and聽you鈥檒l be experiencing the result of thousands of hours of testing.

To show just how much work goes into a car, Ford employed a camera team to tag along at each major stage of the development work for the聽2016 Focus RS 鈥� a car that鈥檚 tipped to be one of the most exciting hot hatches of recent times.

We鈥檝e seen a sneak preview of the resulting documentary, called 鈥淩ebirth of an Icon鈥� and have some secrets we can share about just what goes into making a car safe, fashionable, yet fun to drive.

The Focus RS聽is a global car, so the test drivers came from around the world

The 2016 Focus RS will be the first Focus RS to go on sale around the world 鈥� previous versions聽were predominantly聽sold in聽Europe.

With this new market in mind, the new RS had one of its major tests in the Rocky Mountains. Ford sent 30 of its development engineers from around the world to聽drive 1,000 miles through the mountains and nearby desert in camouflaged prototypes. At the end of each day the team debriefed and聽compared notes on the car鈥檚 suspension, brakes, engine and overall feel.聽They also ate in lots of road-side diners, and had competitor cars on hand (including a Golf R) to see how the Focus compares.

The Focus RS鈥檚 interior has聽a woman鈥檚 touch

Like the car鈥檚 exterior, the interior of the RS has been designed to look 鈥榤ean and aggressive, but in a positive way鈥�. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always fun when we get to work on an ST or RS car, you can use more exciting colours鈥�, said Serife Celebi, Ford鈥檚 Colour and Materials Supervisor. That鈥檒l be why the production car will be available with bright blue flashes on the seats, then.

It looks like it聽needs to breathe

All Ford RS models tend to look aggressive, but the front of the new car is full of gaps that are designed to look like nostrils. 鈥淲e want the car to really look like it聽needs air to breathe,鈥� said Joel Piaskowski, Ford鈥檚 head of design.

28 crashes later

Ford鈥檚 crash test centre in Cologne, Germany, smashed no fewer than 28 Focus RS prototypes during development. That鈥檚 only a month鈥檚 work too 鈥� they tend to crash 250 cars per year, or about one per working day. One of the most brutal tests involves聽sending the car sideways at just under 20mph into a steel pole, impacting just next to the driver鈥檚 door. It鈥檚 designed to mimic spinning off the road into a聽signpost. Luckily,聽the RS鈥檚 four-wheel-drive system should help avoid that. Speaking of which鈥�

Ken Block聽chose the colours

Well, not exactly, but driving legend Ken Block is Ford鈥檚 RS consultant and had a hand in most aspects of the Focus RS鈥檚 development. He was involved in聽everything from helping make sure the Focus RS is fun to slide about (he likes the way the car鈥檚 four-wheel-drive聽system will pull you out of a slide if you accelerate hard while oversteering), to the colours it鈥檒l come in.

We鈥檝e put together a Focus RS colours guide so you can see the shades that are available 鈥� although the documentary did show a nice bright green that isn鈥檛 on sale. Please Ford, can we have a lurid green special edition?

Car designers have to think like fashionistas

Ken Block鈥檚 a bit of a branding expert, and he summed up the overall vision for the Focus RS聽like this: 鈥淭he consumer for this type of car wants聽aggressive looks and aerodynamics that work 鈥� we need to make sure we鈥檙e hitting the current trends.鈥� There you have it 鈥� even though they take years to develop, modern cars are very much designed with trends in mind. Perhaps we鈥檒l see the return of double denim for聽2020鈥檚 hot hatchbacks?

Watch the documentary

Take a look at the first episode of Ford鈥檚 Focus RS documentary below 鈥� and keep an eye out on the company鈥檚聽 for the full eight-episode series. Apparently there was a major hiccup in the late stages of the car鈥檚 development, but Ford is keeping schtum on exactly what that is鈥� at least until the final episode is released.

Once you鈥檙e done, read our Focus RS guide for a full run-down of the high-performance tech that Ford has put into the new RS.