paulwrxboro

its a bit of a silly reveiw IMO but the end result is the RS is a great drivers car, it also did realy well on track against the evo (i was suprised) only one second slower with plato behind the wheel of the evo
this reveiw against the GTR has got to be the bigest compliment to the RS ever, to evan be in a test with a GTR is a great cmpliment YouTube - Ford Focus RS vs Nissan GT-R - Autocar.co.uk

Matteeboy

Fords have improved a lot over the years but it still stands for Fix or Repair Daily. Great chassis' but they still can't build an interior. Or door hinges. Or parcel shelves. Or door cards.

Some might call RS drivers chav w4nkers - how would that stand on your rather eloquent and articulate shoulders?

So an RS over an E92 (coupe) M3 then? Hmmm - I doubt it ;-)

paulwrxboro

Fix or Repair Daily comes from the 70s mate all cars were fix or repair daily
door hinges...what ? door cards in the RS are as good if not better than my bmw

as for your comment

" how would that stand on your rather eloquent and articulate shoulders?"

Is that your attempt at getting personal ? if it is i feel sorry for you mate, you must have a very sad little life

Matteeboy

Blimey Paul, bad day by any chance?

Let's look at the JD Power survey for 2009 shall we...?

Ford - well below "average."

But of course, any time I prove things with facts, you get all antsy. And you seem to think it's fine to have personal digs at me all the time but the second I have a little pi55 take you get really uppity.

What are you up to tomorrow then? After a nice morning MTB ride to help wake up, I'll be surfing head high clean waves then getting back to my lovely wife and little boy in the countryside and doing a bit of work. Very sad little life? But of course...

paulwrxboro

while your at it get the wife to give you a w4nk because your obviosly frustrated about somthing

Matteeboy

Yes frustrated - that you have suddenly gone into hyper strop mode for me taking the mick - you do it to me all the time.

And why have a w4nk when you can have a blow job?

Darc174

iTrader: (13)

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Quite happy with the Galaxy we bought, does everything we need it to do and thus far its been reliable, I am no Ford fanboy but it is a very good product, way better than my Saab.

I think it looks quite smart, even outside the kids schools with their legions of RR Sports which are a bit obvious and gauche.

Changing jobs at work, gone up a couple of grades on the co car scheme, guess what is on the list.....

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

What on earth is "axle tramp"?

TX.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

It means the axle moving fore and aft under acceleration due to power and poor axle location,

Wach this, at about 1 min 8 seconds as the Mustang is reversed under power there is an excellent example of Axle tramp.

Bullitt Car chase

paulwrxboro

well you learn somthing new everyday on here

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Axle tramp doesn't sound too healthy! Never heard if it before

TX.

bighead

iTrader: (1)

Paulwrxboro,

The mk 1 focus were very well made when there first came out , not so the lastest version .....i had purchase the new focus titanium model in may last year for the wife, after a few weeks (less than 1K miles on the clock) the o/s fr wheel arch paint change colour !!! ,had to have a respray under warranty
the car just seemed not as well built/robust as the earlier version .....we trade its in after afew months for a Bmw 116i M-sport.
the difference in quailty between the two cars is like nite and day !!!
Bmw is more solid and well robust , where the focus seems filmsy and loose . but then the prices of the cars are £9K apart , so i guess you get what you pay for .......
only thing that is in Ford's favour is you get alot of equip included as standard compare to Bmw

paulwrxboro

cheers, i wasent trying to say ford is better than bmw in anyway mate, i just said the door cards because softlad said they were rubbish and in the RS they are very good ive had BMWs and think there great cars FWIW
as you say the more you pay the better things should get for your money

just to add ive not had a problem with mine but some on the RS boards have had niggles with theres but overall i think its pretty well screwed together for what it is

stilover

Think the biggest gripe with the RS is the paint match. I know there are a few very unhappy customers with regards to this.

Ford seem very inconsistant with their cars. Especially the RS models.

Paint finish - Some are good, yet some are bad.
Torque steer - Some are good, yet some are bad (same as the Mk 1 for this)

Why can't Ford. One of the biggest car companies on the planet, make all there RS cars the same?

Matteeboy

Stilover - it does seem odd. Heard many comments about the mk1 being completely random for build quality and handling. Surely a production car should be consistent? Maybe they build them using Far Eastern cheap labour to save a few bob?

Dream Weaver

I've never been a Ford driver, my current ST is only the third Ford I've owned bar our previous Mk1 Focus (40k miles without a SINGLE problem), and 1 week owning a mint XR2 back in the 90's until some Scouser nicked it. So I'm not Ford nut, in fact Pugs were always my thing.

But I've been pleasantly surprised so far with ownership of my ST - no niggles, no rattles, no problems at all in fact, a very good car to own, just like our Mk1 Focus was. My bro in law has also had Focus's for over 10 years now and NEVER had a single issue.

My sis also has a Fiesta which has been superb (see for sale section )

When you compare that to our Honda Civic which has had some niggles it stacks up well, the Ford/s being far more reliable than the Honda, when Honda are supposed to be good for reliability.

And that brings me onto BMW - the most unreliable car we've owned ever was a 2 year old BMW 320cd M Sport Coupe - £32k worth of BMW that not only had knackered tracking which destroyed 2 new tyres within 5k miles, but also blew it's turbo at 61k miles and then destroyed it's engine at 91k miles.

We knew this car from brand new and although we loved it, the faults were unreal. We also had ESP and traction issues, steering alignment issues, computer problems etc etc, ALL from the factory.

It won't stop us buying another BMW, as we are buying a 320 at the minute, as the interior quality was definately nicer than a Honda or Ford and the way issues were dealt with was good but it does show that no manufacturer is exampt.

If I had to choose a single car to keep forever based on MY experience of ownership, and with the main criteria being reliability then it would be a Ford Focus, and that's from experience of plenty of makes/models as I don't tend to stick with a single make.

Matteeboy

Dream - aside from my pi55 takes, I always recommend the Ford Focus to friends looking for a car under a certain budget as they do last well. Four have done so and all are very happy with their cars.

But being a bit of a car geek, I check stuff and was shocked was I tested an ST at the flimsiness of some fittings (boot hinges, parcel shelf) and nastiness of some plastics. It looked pretty good but felt pretty average.

Shocked about the Civic - I really did think Hondas were bulletproof.

Some BMWs have problems no doubt about it - older 20d engines like to eat swirl flaps then die, some 335is have had turbo issues, some have traction control issues and most big alloyed (19") BMWs have had cracking issues. I think BMWs change to RFTs is responsible for many issues, hence me changing to non RFTs as soon as I could - highly recommend it on your missus 320d too.

No brand is 100% reliable (Lexus aren't far off though) but there's a lot to be said for a quality "feel" to a car. Everything in a BMW just feels solid, well thought out and well made. Same with Audis and some Mercs.

paulwrxboro

why are we comparing BMWs in a thread about a ford RS onder:
The RS and the bmw are two differnt markets, two differnt cars, two differnt prices, even if we talking about the proper M versions its twice the price of a RS

Dream Weaver

I agree about the parcel shelf on the Focus, although can't say I've noticed a problem with the boot hinges.

In general day to day use, the Focus feels like a solid car and it has worn a lot better than the Civic has although it does less miles on it (19k vs 33k) although they are of similar age, 6 months gap!

The plastics can feel a bit cheap in the Focus but i've seen worse on more expensive cars.

I do agree about the interior feel of the BMW's though, hence why we are swapping the Civic. Never been a fan of Audi or VW interiors though, we tested Golf's etc ebfore the Civic.

I think for people to believe that Ford products are not serious contenders in the mass market, is a bit naive though, they are a good product for the money.

Matteeboy

Vauxhall have raised their game too - unlike the French and Italian car makers.

Dream Weaver

Agreed, I still love the Insignia whenever I see it.

Pug are just rubbish, my FIL has a newish 207 and it's awful - if you think a Ford is poor inside, go and try a new Pug.

Matteeboy

I had a Clio for a courtesy car (Jimny service) - now that was utterly dreadful. Almost brand new yet more rattley than a tin full of nails.

cusco kid

you have never driven the new RS clio 200 then
geo

Mog

I think a better comparision would be between the RS and STi for interior quality....and the RS wins hands down ................but I am biased.

Mog

cusco kid

down country roads i will eat a sti hatch with my clio 200 on the handling front ,how do i know that
i have both
geo

paulwrxboro

Thats just greedy id love a clio for a few days blast

cusco kid

here are my cars



cup pack suspension ,recaros,liquid yello paint
the handling of the clio is brill, brakes are fantastic, performance brisk with 200ps. firm and comfortable ride but very complient too .


i was a ford man for years ,driving mk1 escorts mk2 escorts sports, mexico,rs 2000 XR3i x 5 //sierra 2 ltrs cosi 3 doors .I rallied in the scottish rally championships for over 20 years, escorts and cossies .I loved my fordies and i would have a focus rs in a moment if i did not have the scoob
cheers geo

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

^^ You're not seriously telling us that your yellow car is faster than the white one

Both nice looking cars BTW.

TX.

stilover

Power doesn't mean better handling.

I used to be all over the back of M3's in my 106GTI on a good twisty back road. Get a decent straight and the M3 would pull away. Get to some bends and I'd claw it all straight back, and then some. They'd be holding me up.

Light weight and a better chassis will always win on the bends. Get the Clio & Scooby on some long `A` roads, and the Clio won't stand a chance.