Look for one with the half leather recaro's as well. Makes the interior look a lot better imho.

Had a standard Frozen White for the last year and love it. It is a handful in the wet but I am at the age now where I don't feel the need to drive fast in such conditions. They do torque steer no matter what anyone tells you but they handle very well. Very little understeer. And the engine note is what sold me

Going to an RR day next sat so interested to see what mine runs as have had a few blats with fellow focusrsoc.com members running Stage 1 Revo that couldn't pull away from me and also a Stage 4 Bluefin that did but not at the kind of pace I was expecting for 100bhp more. So wonder if mine is actual running a standard map.

 

its well worth travelling for the right car.

 

If you do want to travel try Focus RS Direct in Bristol:

http://www.rs-direct.co.uk/

They generally have 20+ in stock in various guises. Their prices are higher than buying private of course but at least gives you a good idea of what's out there and what your money gets you.

 

Yeah i know all about RS direct. One of the reasons for going to see one so close is so the mrs gets to see one inside etc. She likes what she has seen when one drives past and i shout "RS" but i want her so look inside & close up before i spend.

Just checked insurance for a standard RS £225 Cheap as chips

 

Been for a drive in the car this morning. Its 370bhp with exhaust filter & pumabuild remap, they told me puma could confirm this although i saw no reciepts. It was like a rocket and yet also drivable around the Town centre. I was put off by the 4 owners (2 were a husband & wife) & a lack of reciepts etc for the mods.

 

I would say if you are at all put off hold on for the right car, peace of mind is better than any amount of horses etc.

I am amazed how well these hold their value..... must make owners of recent Scoobs wince as they seem to do the opposite!

 

Most sporty cars have a few owners....people buy them and after 6 months realise its a garden ornament that drinks fuel like a alcoholic
I'm only in Doncaster if you are ever passing through and want to try one in standard form......I'm in no rush to sell mine as I know what the £'s are going into.
I've had evo's that have been 6 year old with 11 owners
Is puma build the place in brum?...if so they did my mk1 frs and left me sat on the motorway pissing fuel out til 8pm
Good luck with the search , you and the missis won't be disappointed ...my missis has done more miles in mine than me

 

But others (like myself) are looking at a newer car, lower miles, under warranty etc.

 

That was another plus point for me. Higher 2nd hand purchase price relative to the age of the car (compared to MY11 STI I was looking at) but very little depreciation. I just checked autotrader and same spec car, mileage etc are selling for the same price I bought mine for 13 months ago and Ive stuck another 9k miles on mine in that time. Impressive considering how many there are around in comparison to STi hatches.

 

Looking at the pics its also got an Autospecialists Inlet Manifold fitted and an uprated intercooler I don’t recognise. Not sure if J-Sport is Jamsport? Pumabuild I have not heard much about them tbh and their website looks rather cheap & cheerful. Similar sounding Pumaspeed have a good rep in the RS world as do JWR, Collins and SCC. Its one way to save money by getting a pre-modded one but I would prefer to know each step taken and also good to see what each mod achieves as you do it. Any decent owner would have kept every bit of paperwork so I would be concerned and as stated above there are plenty out there to look at. I was lucky to find a peach of standard one only 40 miles away which was only the 3rd I had viewed.

I would still advise looking for one with the leather recaro’s and LUX1. LUX2 pack is no great upgrade from 1 other than the parking camera which I must admit is pretty damn handy with the limited steering lock you get. The Sat Nav sucks imho and I use TomTom instead. Some will advertise cars with LUX1 and LUX2 but its either or. If you have LUX2 you lose the DAB radio unit. BT/USB is quite handy but most seem to have this option anyway.

Have you been over to focusrsoc.com Forums yet? A lot of the good bits you can’t access unless you pay up as a member but its only £10 a year so if you’re serious about buying one its nothing when your spending £20k on the car.

 

when you find one mate, take a trip to boostjunky in Bicester and get one of his exhausts, they sound the ****! lol as long as you dont mind them being loud lol it has no silencers!

 

Im a member of fordrstc. Their advice has been similar, basically no reciepts etc is dodgy

 

Who was the ins with as i am just renewing now. Privelege are coming up as £272 with PNCB, Hire Car, Legal cover and £0 VXS although CXS is £350. That is without mentioning Eibach Lowering Springs so will have to call and check on that.

 

Esure, via confused

 

Take my advice and go for something else especially if you have to finance it.

I had a green one with black wheels and when you get over the initial few weeks/months the nasty interior and cheap bits really do turn you off the car especially when your paying a substantial monthly fee to own it.

Basically they are not worth the money they are going for, they have a peach of an engine but not much else and I know of a few far cheaper fwd cars which can put the power down better.

 

Why are they commanding such high second hand values anyway?

 

becuase it wears an RS badge.... Kind of agree with LMC though, they arent worth what there selling for.... As much as i loved mine, i wouldnt pay £22k for one again....i will have another but not till i can get a nice one over 400bhp with uprated brakes and suspension for under £12-£13k

 

I don't think they're worth that kind of money used.
Are they in short supply though - like the Impreza was back in 1998 - 2000?

 

Not really, they were limited to around 11,000. But thats nothign liek the mk1 which was only limited to 4501...

 

Get yourself a 285bhp stage 2 Astra Nurburgring.... in some cases it'll beat a standard RS, other than that it'll be very close.... plus you'll have £10k change.... They hold their value well being a limited edition of approx. 500 made.

 

youll need to spend that £10k getting to to go round corners though lol

 

Whiteline rear anti-roll bar and some lowering springs, £300 job done

 

I also had a stage 2 vxr and it was definately as quick as the RS in a straight line but the focus would of left it through the bends.

 

I thought it was just me being picky , I almost went the focus route , but was instantly put off by the cheap flimsy plasticky feel

They look awesome but I just had the feeling i would have regretted it

 

LOL at posters on a Subaru forum criticising a car for having a cheap plastic interior

 

They do look, and sound great.
But they have real issues getting the power down on anything other than nice dry tarmac.

 

Without a doubt scoobys are not what you would call quality but IMO the focus was worse that coupled to the spoon in a bucket gearstick made me walk away

 

I personally like the Subaru hatch and yes they are cheaper to buy. But more expensive to run and you also need to keep a spare 2K for when the engine goes pop. Plus Mrs Boy dosnt want me to get another Subaru

 

Plus they devalue faster than nearly anything else equivalent!

 

Unless you get a JDM car