hux309

Dw be honest, a pug would run rings around your st any day of the week in the twisties.

Matt fwd can handle higher power, it just needs to be driven right, my 309 was 220hp and it would badger elises all day long, provided it stayed in one piece long enough.

Never driven a fwd turbo but id imagine it would be interesting.

Matteeboy

Dad's mate Turbo'd a 205 GTi 1.9 (when they were new) in the 80s - it was absolutely LETHAL!

will_wrx

I have had many powerful FWD Civic's the most powerful being a 1.6 vtec turbo, spec was insane, making just shy of 300hp. As fun as it was, it was lethal.

Matteeboy

Yet no one would raise an eyebrow at a RWD or 4WD car with 300bhp...!

hux309

Odd if anything a 205 rewards a better driver, like i said you need to know how to throw it about.

First thing i did with the 309 was have it sideways facing the central reservation doing 70, silly yes but it was totally controllable.

As the others have said if you boot any turbo charged car into a corner it's bound to understeer regardless if it's fwd or 4wd, you just have to feather the throttle to get the most from it.

will_wrx

Yes, but its more controlable in a AWD car. FWD gets a bit boring with torque steer, horendous understeer, wheel spin etc.

hux309

Well i've never driven a fwd turbo car yet but i can imagine it being a handful.

However my 309 was very fast and had only an occasional hint of it, the lsd did a very good job of taming the car, you just needed the ***** not to light off otherwise it got interesting.

Isn't the rs and st boost limited in the first two gears to cut down on it anyway?

Dream Weaver

My 205 had 200bhp and was a quick car, but it did suffer from terrible wheelspin, torque steer and is what I would class as "lethal".

When I bought my ST as std it was slower than the 205 but far safer. Now the ST is modded and near to 300bhp it totally annhialates my old 205 in every way possible, and still remains safe.

It never understeers, or does anything which has scared me to death (unlike my 205), it DOESNT torque steer, and it is in no way at all any sort of "lethal" car.

Nobody can comment unless they have driven a proper 300bhp FWD vehicle for a decent length of time, yes test drives are OK but they in no way help you to learn the car properly. I'm not saying FWD is better than RWD or AWD but it's not inferior. Just watch the BTCC and see what happens to the Beemers in every single race - if another car even gets close to them they spin out!!

Hux, trust me on this, the new breed of FWD hatches are nothing like the old Pug days, my ST is about the most sure footed car I've owned and totally different to the old hatches. Std ST and RS are torque limited but the remaps cuts it right back.

paulwrxboro

The RS is defenetly the safest feeling car iv ever driven at any speed on any bend or any rounderbout
builds confidence like no other car iv driven

Janspeed

iTrader: (1)

Dude, the spelling.................

paulwrxboro

dude i cant spell for toffe
never realy botherd me...i still get £50 an hour in my job

Jimpreza

Yeh he teaches English.

Matteeboy

Is that all?

Peasant...

How are you enjoying the RS BTW? There seem to be lots of threads about how quick it is (or isn't) but not many about real life ownership.

Is it vaguely practical? How's the mpg? Is it loosening up with more miles? How are the brakes? etc - the sort of stuff I'm always interested in!

markymark34

Put the car on a straight road and bring it to a stop. Now floor it, your car will steer off the road (torque steer) there you go you have had torque steer in your car.

Turn wheels press accelerator - understeer

Job done will take you 30 seconds to achieve both in a FWD car.

paulwrxboro

im still loving it, its as practical as any other focus it drives like a normal car if you want it to, pretty hard to keep it under 30 tho, brakes are real good if anything too sharp at very lowspeed about 3mph they seem to lock up and you can bang your head lol
seems to be losening up every 100 miles i do, my average mpg is 24 on the comp


iv had 1 niggle with it twice ive started the car up and its had no power steering i turn it off and its ok next time i start it

the cars a great car end of

Zod.

Post some pics then Paul.

Janspeed

iTrader: (1)

Sounds a bit serious!

How about the engine, does it cool down good, or does it have residual heat problems like all the previous engines on these Fords?

paulwrxboro

if you insist


http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1250194274

http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1250194375

http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/u...focus027-1.jpg

Zod.

Your avatar pic shows the green to be a little 'washed out', but in the other pics it looks great.

I particularly like the performance blue - or whatever it's called.

paulwrxboro

its very sunny on the av pic, the paints a pearl and changes a bit with the light

Janspeed

iTrader: (1)

I guess the car must suffer from the same issue then.

paulwrxboro

it dosent overheat or go over half way on the dial but when i stop after a blast i always leave it run for about a min or more and when i get out its somtimes tic tic tic cooling is that what you mean ?

wrighty338

iTrader: (33)

i wish they hadnt tinted t'rear windaz so much

Matteeboy

Paul - great pics. Where were they taken?

Wierd thing about our (pretty damn powerful) Beemer is that even after a hard run, it makes NO noise once you switch it off - most odd (diesels do run cooler) - My R32 used to make a right racket for about 15 mins after stopping - big fan, ticking, etc.

Evo have a long termer RS and a Mountune ST - will follow them both carefully. They are having a slight hesitation issue at 2.5k (ish) rpm - any sign of that in yours Paul?

michaelro

Did you really need include the bracketed comment....

Matteeboy

Yes I did - it's powerful and has twin turbos so goes fast yet doesn't heat up much. If it was a 318d, I wouldn't expect it to get very hot at all. I did need to include the bracket comment you Terry.

Happy? I doubt it.

michaelro

"You Terry" - Is this an insult? Not one I've heard of...
Care to elaborate?

I know what you own, so do most people who frequent this forum, so why repeat it constantly....?

Matteeboy

Sort of an insult - you need to read Viz...

My entire point was that it's a pokey car but doesn't tick tick or whirr when hot. If I was applying it to our very UNpowerful other car, it wouldn't be so relevant. In fact it has a fraction of the hp and torque yet makes more of a fuss when it's hot - probably because it's a petrol.

Try hurtling around in a car at very high speeds, getting home, switching off and hearing...


...nothing. It's quite odd. The RS sounds like it makes the usual racket expected of a POWERFUL car.

As is your Octavia (if it's a vRS) and to a certain extent, your wife's Fabia (if it's a vRS) - you seem more than happy to mention your cars repeatedly after all...

Sorry, did that offend you too?

michaelro

Are you stalking me?? - I'll report you to the police...

I looked back through my posts and I've referenced mine or my wife's car a total of 5 times - You've shoehorned in references to your car that many times in a single thread....

I'm not insulted - Bored is more accurate

Dream Weaver

Strange, I regularly bring the car to a stop and then floor it in all gears but have yet to steer off the road anywhere.

I also go round bends with the throttle pedal on and similarly I'm yet to go anywhere near a hedge, or understeer off the road.

Believe what you like, I'm the one that owns and drives said vehicle and therefore am in a good position to comment.

Matt - have you finally bought a (powerful) BMW, when did that happen, I must have missed it?