co55ie

I am of opinion that Ford have fitted the limiter to the gearbox as it may be the weak link. Seems strange that the rest of the car is so performance driver orientated and involving by design and then Ford totally contradict their intentions by adding the torque limiter in 1st and 2nd. I hope I am wrong but don't think I will be.
I am sure I will find out pretty soon too cause mine isn't going to stay standard for more than 1,000 miles. I wont be able to handle the humiliation of getting spanked by a Scoob!!!!!

[Edited by co55ie - 1/29/2003 11:53:11 PM]

Sideways

In the last 18 mths I have owned........
MY 97 UK Turbo wagon
MY99 RB5
MY01 UK300
MY02 STi 7

I now have a Focus RS and believe me guys it aint like an Escort RS Turbo used to be. Everyone is impressed with the handling and performance. A good mate has a TT225 Roadster and he said " I wouldn't have got my car round there at that speed"
Don't forget Subaru's lose alot of power through the AWD system.
I put my Focus against an RB5 which a friend of mine ownes its not standard either, full decat, tek 3 and guess what nothing in it

NickyP

It did make me laugh when the mighty Focus got beaten up the drap strip by a CTR on sunday.

Andy Mid.

acceleration - yup
braking - nope
cornering - nope
lap times - RA probably quicker but RS certainly not "anialated"

try one John....

[Edited by Andy Mid. - 3/2/2003 12:25:55 PM]

NOZZER

Last friday did a track day in my P1 and a friend of mine has a focus rs and i was very impressed with it, handled great and took a lot for me to get by it, not a great deal in it, just 2 seconds a lap

Andy Mid.

must have been raining

JonnyStell@

I'm with Lucky Strike on this one. Have had my scooby over 2 months now, and have loved and learnt so much about what it is to actually own and drive a performance car.

babber

I am the bloke with the RB5 (modded a little) that Jason is referring to. I must agree that on the drive home after Jason picked the car up there wasn't nothing in it. We haven't had a play since, and the focus engine should be looser now

I have to say that I've been in the Focus RS a few times and the performance and handling is..........shocking for a FWD car. Jason is a very good driver however It goes around corners like it on rails. I think Ford have done an outstanding job

Cheers Phill

Andy Mid.

Took my TVR owning mate out in my RS a couple of days ago to see if I could change his ingrained opinions on FWD (the first thing he said to me when I told him I was getting an RS was "I think you'll be disappointed" - lol).

After the first roundabout he was asking why it hadn't understeered and it only took a few more mins before we had a convert

One of the funniest things about the RS is that Top Gear have just voted it "Best Drivers car" and "Car of the year" and Jeremy Clarkson has to hand over the award !

squirm squirm squirm

3times

RS didn't fair too well in EVO!

Andy Mid.

true, but they think the mini is great so.....

johnfelstead

You can in a TypeR/RA too!

Compare like with like, top fo the range Focus RS against Top of the range Impreza TypeR/RA, the Focus would be anialated in every single test.

The Standard UK Impreza WRX is not a fast car, 220BHP in such a heavy car with AWD transmition losses doesnt hack it these days, the WRX PPP should be the absolute minimum, not a £1600 upgrade.

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Saw off a Focus RS the other day with relative ease it was quite quick though

Christ

Oh dear..

Lets face it the Focus RS, or indeed any other car be it a 911 Turbo, Skyline or whatever has no chance of coming top on this forum. The only hard proof is not "I outran a 400hp Cosworth last night", but on a Track, which as I recall has been done.. Diddnt both the RS and the Civic win outright against the scooby?

IMO (and quite a few other members) the only time the Impreza would win would be from a standing start up to around 1/4 mile, after which traction advantage has gone and the Huge transmission losses come into play..

stavros

it doesnt

johnfelstead

I would love to try one, but as Ford are making that imposible, i cant.

Nowt wrong with the cornering or braking on my RA, it would make a FocusRS look very silly in both respects.

johnfelstead

P.S When Ford make a car that can do this, tell them to drop me a line.
Like i say, compare like with like.

Andy Mid.

Well, if you truly believe that then you are living in cloud cookoo land

I'd be interested in your explanation as to why a standard RA will corner faster than a RS ?

Also - correct me if I'm wrong but the RA comes with the same 4 pot brakes as fitted to the MY99 UK cars doesn't it ?

Having driven a MY99 for nearly 4 years there is no way you are going to convince me that your brakes are superior to the Brembo's on the RS. Unless, of course, you've spent a load of dosh upgrading your brakes but then your argument about comparing like with like goes out of the window if you have done that

Actually, it's debatable that your RA should be the Impreza to compare to the RS anyway seeing as

a. They stopped making them years ago
b. It was thousands of pounds more expensive even back then.

I know what you are saying about "top of the range" but if Joe Bloggs has £20k to spend, the only new Impreza he can get is the standard UK car.

p.s. great photo !

si325i

yawn
so true Christ.

johnfelstead

There is nothing wrong with the brakes on a TypeRA in standard form. It uses the same front brakes as an MY99, but it uses diferent pad materials. The rear brakes are much better than a UK scoob, being the 2 pots. The diffs work with the brakes to improve the balance of load front/rear too. My own RA has 330mm AP Racing 4 pots, i put these on to give consistant braking when driving hard on track, the standard setup was perfectly adequate for the road plus not so hard a drive on track.

Why will it corner faster? Well the chassis is much better balanced than any FWD car. Torque split is 65R/35F, the car has 3 LSD's, not just one at the front. I can vary the centre diff LSD ratio to alter the chassis balance depending on conditions. It uses mechanical diffs so gives much higher traction than a UK car too.

Steering input wise it walks all over most cars, having a quickrack as standard, must better for on track in particular.

If you want to stick to a new car, give me a Japanese spec STi8 TypeRA Spec C, that would wipe the floor with a Focus RS too.

It's all horses for courses, FWD high power cars just dont hack it, they are not fun to drive on the limit, they cant come close to the fun you can get out of a properly balanced chassis such as the TypeR/RA Impreza. They are also hard work in the real world in comparison to a TypeR/RA.

Christ

Yes, nice photo.. Great way to scrub off a load of speed.. I see now why you talk about "fun"..

If your talking about fun surely you wouldnt have 4x4 at all, and would be looking at an M3 or an equivalent RWD chassis, after all this is the configuration the fastest cars in the world use...

johnfelstead

With the TypeR/RA you get the best of both worlds, you can adjust the centre diff setting to make the car handle how you like, be that RWD biased or more traditional AWD.

Sure, for ultimate fun you would want RWD, i have a little experience with that but as an alrounder package that is equally at home in all aplications/conditions, you wont find a better car.

Andy Mid.

well, I'll try and keep this brief as it sounds like we are boring the troops but....

I hadn't realised that the Type RA brakes were different to the MY99 UK car so it's now impossible for me to know how it compares to the RS. Seeing as you haven't driven a RS I don't understand how you can have such a cocksure attitude about it ?

How much faster round a track do you think a STi8 TypeRA Spec C is than a STi7 ? Two seconds ? I doubt it's that much but that is how much faster the RS was than the STi at Autocar's track test last year. It would be close I think but there is no way it would "wipe the floor" with the RS.

I'm not going to waste any more time as I get the feeling that I'm never going to change your mind (and it's sunny outside ) so rather than going round in circles I'll accept that we are both very happy with our choice of cars and leave it at that

johnfelstead

It's obvious from that reply you have never been in a TypeR/RA.

Christ

Must admit I diddnt realise the center diff was adjustable, impressive.. How easy is it to adjust??

By the way you said this earlier:

"Impreza WRX is not a fast car, 220BHP in such a heavy car with AWD transmition losses doesnt hack it these days, the WRX PPP should be the absolute minimum, not a £1600 upgrade"

I think that sums up this thread.. Only the topic maybe should have been "How does the focus rs compare to a standard impreza"

Andy Mid.

John - I've been out in a P1 and a STi V5 but not a type R/RA so it is possible that I have underestimated the car but is it really that much quicker ?

YHM

johnfelstead

you twiddle it with your index finger.

Andy, i am not cocksure, as you put it, i just have a lot of experience of almost every Impreza ever built and i know how much more capable my car is to what the RS Focus is being referenced to. It will anialate a Focus RS, trust me.

In everyday driving i would take an Impreza of any type rather than a Focus RS, it's a better allrounder even in standard spec. Take them on track and then the requirements change, then you are looking for lighter weight, more power/weight and better chasis balance, in that respect you would want one of the more technically advanced Impreza's.

I am not saying the Focus RS is crap, i am sure its a brilliant car, but it doesnt stand a chance against a top spec Impreza on road or track.

All IMHO of course.

johnfelstead

in a word Andy, YES.

chrisp

Keep saying this 215bhp in a impreza is a starting point not an end point the chassis will take more power a lot more power. Are RA/R different yes you only have to drive 100 yards and you need at least 2 gear changes .