300BHP Focus
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 13,356
Likes: 58
From: in the woods...........555 Wagon Sqn
I know most of the powertrain engineers at ford because I have worked with them. The only reason that this car is not 4wd was because of cost. They know from an engineering point of view it was the wrong thing to do, but they were told to make do with what they have got.
Can't wait for all the people who know *** all about cars like JC of top gear, fifth gear to give it rave reviews because Ford pay them to do it. Remember the past Focus RS with just over 200bhp. Torque steered to death.
They will sell loads of these cars because the people who buy them don't have a clue.
Can't wait for all the people who know *** all about cars like JC of top gear, fifth gear to give it rave reviews because Ford pay them to do it. Remember the past Focus RS with just over 200bhp. Torque steered to death.
They will sell loads of these cars because the people who buy them don't have a clue.
Scooby Regular
Joined: May 2005
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From: Here, There, Everywhere
Saw the pictures yesterday after canceling my Scirocco from my local dealer.
I'm a die hard Fast Ford man after growing up with my dad owning Fast Fords. Plus I owned the Mk1 Focus RS.
I love the looks of it. It will look awsome in Imperial Blue. However after much soul searching I just couldn't risk buying one for 2 reasons.
1) FWD. The previous RS was devistating on a smooth road, but overtaking on a bumpy back road was a nightmare at times. Yes, Ford may have solved most of the Torgue steer problems, but I'll bet like the old one it'll be a handfull on bumpy roads.
2) MPG. The Volvo engine in 225bhp trim gets pretty poor mpg. OK not Subaru poor but pretty close. A 296bhp version will be probably worse than the Subaru engine.
For those 2 reasons I chose to re-order the Scirocco via RJM25R over in Oldham.
If the RS turns out to be absolutely brilliant even on bumpy roads, then I can see myself selling the Scirocco after a year and ordering the RS.
Think Clarkson will take the new car back to the roads where he took the last one. We'll see then if Ford have the answer to 296bhp & FWD.
I'm a die hard Fast Ford man after growing up with my dad owning Fast Fords. Plus I owned the Mk1 Focus RS.
I love the looks of it. It will look awsome in Imperial Blue. However after much soul searching I just couldn't risk buying one for 2 reasons.
1) FWD. The previous RS was devistating on a smooth road, but overtaking on a bumpy back road was a nightmare at times. Yes, Ford may have solved most of the Torgue steer problems, but I'll bet like the old one it'll be a handfull on bumpy roads.
2) MPG. The Volvo engine in 225bhp trim gets pretty poor mpg. OK not Subaru poor but pretty close. A 296bhp version will be probably worse than the Subaru engine.
For those 2 reasons I chose to re-order the Scirocco via RJM25R over in Oldham.
If the RS turns out to be absolutely brilliant even on bumpy roads, then I can see myself selling the Scirocco after a year and ordering the RS.
Think Clarkson will take the new car back to the roads where he took the last one. We'll see then if Ford have the answer to 296bhp & FWD.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 13,356
Likes: 58
From: in the woods...........555 Wagon Sqn
lol at the judgement from all the people that probably didn't even drive the series I...oh, I forgot the impreza is the best car ever 
Last edited by trails; Jul 5, 2008 at 09:11 PM. Reason: typo...cheers janspeed ;o)
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 13,356
Likes: 58
From: in the woods...........555 Wagon Sqn
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 13,356
Likes: 58
From: in the woods...........555 Wagon Sqn
Love the front but not sure about the back.Preferred the look of the one in Evo a few months back,although that was probably an artist's impression.
I believe the AWD was dropped due to the costs.
I believe the AWD was dropped due to the costs.
Clarkson did a back to back test on the 1/4 mile with a few cars and the focus rs was put up against the ford "ESCORT COSWORTH " and the funny thing was that the focus trashed it
But later on this year it will be closer to say 600/570
Scooby Regular
Joined: May 2005
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From: Here, There, Everywhere
I remember as I had a Focus RS at the time.
Scooby Senior
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: West Yorks.
It looks great but as others have said I think it'll struggle to get all that power down through the front wheels even with a tricky LSD. Its likely the power will be limited in 1st & 2nd gears too.
I don't believe the weight issue with 4WD at all, the Escort Cosworth only weighed about 1300kgs: more than likely it would've increased the cost & Ford wanted to keep it in a certain price bracket to compete with similar powered cars. If it was on the wrong side of £30k I don't think there would be as many buyers except the die-hard fans of course.
I don't believe the weight issue with 4WD at all, the Escort Cosworth only weighed about 1300kgs: more than likely it would've increased the cost & Ford wanted to keep it in a certain price bracket to compete with similar powered cars. If it was on the wrong side of £30k I don't think there would be as many buyers except the die-hard fans of course.
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Problem is the Escort RS Cosworth wasn't really an expensive car to develop, it was after all a Sierra 4x4 underneath, the floorplan was Sierra with an Escort shell sitting on it, the engine again wasn't a development headache seeing as it had been around for 9yrs in the 3dr and the Sapphire.
I'm not saying it didn't take any thought but you can see what i mean, the Escort was a continuation in a line, the Focus is being started from scratch 10 years after the last Cosworths rolled of the production line, starting a project from scratch isn't cheap. Subaru and Mitsubishi are the earlier of the two, they've used the same system, just updated every new edition.
Just my thoughts and opinion
I'm not saying it didn't take any thought but you can see what i mean, the Escort was a continuation in a line, the Focus is being started from scratch 10 years after the last Cosworths rolled of the production line, starting a project from scratch isn't cheap. Subaru and Mitsubishi are the earlier of the two, they've used the same system, just updated every new edition.
Just my thoughts and opinion
Scooby Regular
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,399
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From: cant spell WGAF
SHOCKER! lol
PistonHeads Headlines
"An early development mule of the new Ford Focus RS with between 250-260bhp has been lapping the Nurburgring in 8min 27seconds, PistonHeads has learnt. The car has around 45bhp less than the production version and was driven by a Bentley test driver on a very hot day.
A source has told us that when the full fat version arrives with 295bhp, and with a racing driver at the wheel, we should expect a lap time of 8min 15sec or maybe less. We have also learnt that whereas Ford originally announced the RS will have 302lb ft when it is launched it will in fact have 324lb ft.
Meanwhile Renault’s new super-Megane, the R26R, has apparently been unofficially clocked around the ‘Ring at 8min 12sec but that was on Toyo Cup tyres. The RS is understood to have been riding on totally standard Continentals when it did its time, and now Ford is seriously thinking about offering Cup tyres as a brochure option for the car."
"An early development mule of the new Ford Focus RS with between 250-260bhp has been lapping the Nurburgring in 8min 27seconds, PistonHeads has learnt. The car has around 45bhp less than the production version and was driven by a Bentley test driver on a very hot day.
A source has told us that when the full fat version arrives with 295bhp, and with a racing driver at the wheel, we should expect a lap time of 8min 15sec or maybe less. We have also learnt that whereas Ford originally announced the RS will have 302lb ft when it is launched it will in fact have 324lb ft.
Meanwhile Renault’s new super-Megane, the R26R, has apparently been unofficially clocked around the ‘Ring at 8min 12sec but that was on Toyo Cup tyres. The RS is understood to have been riding on totally standard Continentals when it did its time, and now Ford is seriously thinking about offering Cup tyres as a brochure option for the car."
