dba

last in a group test and simply too dangerous for UK roads.The turbo fires to quickly for the diff according to them.

nisr227

yeh, this has been know to all the magazines but some of them tend to over look it becuase of its track performance, the fact is, its a very dangerous car when driven quickly down a B road.

For experienced testers (there were about six of them for this article) to say they were not happy in overtaking another car becuase the diff might take it off in the wrong direction, is worry for other road users too.

Pity becuase the car could of been so much better if the turbo came in softer and progressive as to not bring the diff in fighting.

The surprise is the Golf R32, what a car.

what would scooby do

Also saw elsewhere that the paintwork is poor quality and the handbook is a normal focus handbook, not an RS one..

jonmorris

You get the standard Ford Focus manual and a supplementary RS one. You can view it at http://www.focusrspictures.co.uk

When you overtake on a road with a very obvious camber, it can certainly twitch. There is no denying that, although it doesn't throw the car off the road (if it did, I'd expect most cars to be written off by now). It's hardly dangerous, especially if you're prepared for it, which I think anyone buying the car will (should) be!

If you look at the media coverage (which does show negative reviews as well as positive ones - although I've not got Evo yet) then you'll see the majority of journos do like the car.

GQ this month also talks about the "problem" and, like Autocar, states that this is something you can deal with.

Finally, on my way home this morning I was following an X reg Impreza that managed to spin his car on a roundabout. So, let's be honest - any car can have a dodgy moment for a number of different reasons.

jonmorris

As for the comment on the paintwork, yes I think it's a potential problem.

As modern paints have to comply with so many different regulations these days, they're very thin and water based.

Imperial Blue, because of the composition, is worse than other colours. Surely ANY car in this colour, or similar, will have the same problem?

jonmorris

Yes, I think a few people have definitely been put off. A few people on the FocusRS BBS had changed their mind following Top Gear and the "JC incident".

For the record, Jeremy Clarkson backtracked a little when Stuart Griffiths of Dagenham Motors (who has single handedly sold over 150 RS's) spoke to him at a later filming that he attended.

One person put his car up for sale late last year. His wife was driving it every day to/from work and she was getting too many people intimidating her and wanting to race. She couldn't take it and the car went up for sale.

ADL

if you could get hold of one it would be nice four dealers tried not to laugh at the mere suggestion of getting one! Might have to else where than ford!

Mega

J.C wrote into Autocar and told them that they where very wrong about the RS. My source who works at Jag (Halewood) tells me that talk round the camp fire is that Ford might quetly kill it off like the "raceing Puma".

Mega.

jonmorris

I'm sure JC has better things to do with his time than write into another publication. And anyway, he's hardly a good driver - having watched him do such a poor job throughout the series.

Autocar have had three letters about the Focus RS and in two replies, Mr Sutcliffe was quite quick to have a dig at anyone who slagged it off, while insinuating that anyone who couldn't cope with it probably couldn't drive!! Oh wait, that is probably why JC rushed to write in to defend himself and try not to look like a prat.

JC is a bit like Tiff Needell on 5th Gear.. able to do lots of pointless slides that look good on camera. Well, of course it IS all about looking good on camera.

When Clarkson went out on the track in the Elise (I think?) he made a right mess of it and I bet a lot of people were thinking he couldn't drive at all!

Ford cannot possibly want to sweep the RS under the carpet. They didn't do it with the Racing Puma either, although by hand building most of them (well, taking a complete car and then chucking half of it away) they cost a fortune and it was an economic disaster.

The Focus RS has sold out this years allocation (as has the StreetKa) and Ford haven't been very good at making money on most other projects. The bean counters will therefore be saying "Why can't you do more cars like these?" which means the relaunch of the Rallye Sport brand has actually been a runaway success.

So, who was the idiot who tried to tell you otherwise?!

[Edited by jonmorris - 2/9/2003 9:24:25 PM]

Mega

Its a torque steering dister and Ford want to kill it! The racing Puma died at 350 off if i remember right.Time will tell which one of us is right, but so far JC, Evo and Mega say is sucks!
Mega

Sprint Chief

JC admits to not being much of a driver (being roundly beaten by a number of people in the "star in an ordinary priced car" competition) but Tiff is a capable racing driver. You don't get drives in F1 or touring cars by being good at slides for cameras

Tiff Needell is probably one of the best track drivers in motoring journalism today.

DuggE4

I must admit the continued negativity and Ford's reputation did make me think I couldn't risk buying an RS. Shame cos I am sure it is a great car to own. I have to say that jonmorris always puts down a good point of view, you should be a politician jon!

I am surprised that Ford took such a risk producing such a controversial drive, you've got to admire the designers ***** for gambling on such a hardcore driving experience. I have experience of Imperial Blue and I have to admit the bonnet on my fiesta wasn't the best paint finish in the world!

jonmorris

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest Tiff was a bad driver. It was bad wording on my part and I simply meant that they both drive the cars to get good camera shots. Going around a track to get the fastest time doesn't necessarily look good on TV - so get it sliding all over the place and people will think "Wow, that must be fast".

Perry McCarthy on the other hand, who drove the car properly on the track, likes the Focus RS. It's a shame Top Gear never bothered to get his opinion on any of the cars.

LEE P

Well i watched a road test on motors tv, and a group of testers abroad like the RS on track and on the road!

Has anyone got first hand experience of the Rs's road manners or is it all hearsay?

Lee

Merc_Cosworth

A very good friend of mine is engaged to a chap who works for a major ford dealer....

They've all had a spin in one, and comments varied along the lines off

"Jeesssus - its like an old S1 RS Turbo with the boost cranked up"
"Too much for a novice"
"Nasty"

or my personal favourite

"Its inherited the Renault 5 Turbo's Direction Randomiser"

LEE P

well thats what you want!

a car that scares the pants off you when you peep through the cutains and see it on your drive!

should keep you on your toes folks!

Diablo

Did no one see Clarkson in the Elise on Top Gear?

Understeering everywhere - absolutely hopeless - slagged the handling.

Then the boy from Lotus (forget his name) got in and did it properly - as did the Stig, in a really good time.

Clearly Clarkson cannot drive that well.

The Focus RS was not meant to be "easy" to drive

My take on it is that cars are too sanistised these days, and people don't have any respect for them anymore.

FFS old Saab turbos used to have viscious torque steer - it was accepted on what was then a very powerful front drive car.

D


D

carl

Particularly the ones with the big Garrett turbo. Move out to overtake, wait for the lag, then try to stop it going in the ditch at the side of the road

OTOH the 9-3 Viggen was soundly criticized for having ridiculous amounts of torque steer.

ChrisB

Was it Evo that said the Viggen could hit one kerb, then the other side of the road without turning the wheel?

ScoobyJawa

ROTFLMFAO

Type R

Don't like any of the latest Hot Hatches, and come renewal time ie today, I ordered a DC5 Integra Type R (The new one )

Drove all the latest cars, Clio Cup, CTR, RS, Seat Turbo barge, and the Golf is out of my price range, and looks bloomin ugly.

The Integra is an inspiration to drive, with pin point handling, and what has to be the best Gearbox I have ever used, nailed together with a blinding interior, good brakes with Honda reliabilty..

Merc_Cosworth

Yeah - but the gearstick is in the dash innit?

MooseRacer

Has it not occured to you that this might all have been setup too?

Dave T-S

1) The Racing Puma cost an absolute fortune for Ford to develop and build - steel arched, and wide track suspension/driveshafts etc. The only reason they made it was because they were going to homologate it for a WRC but went for the Focus WRC instead. You cannot make any comparisons whatsoever!

2) Focus RS torque steer - pah - wusses - i've owned a 1992 Astra GSI......

Merc_Cosworth

Ref: The Astra GSi

Made me remember my old Calibra Turbo - pull fuse 19 to disengage the 4wd and that really did torque steer. 230bhp through one wheel!

jonmorris

I think Ford learned a valuable lesson with the Racing Puma.. Shipping off fully built cars to another company who strip it down and "bin" the other bits isn't a very cost effective way to build a car. It also takes a lot of time.

The list price of a Racing Puma was around £7k over the normal price of a 1.7 Puma! No wonder it suffered such a knock when it came to the second hand price.

You could almost do the Escort Cosworth "conversion" for the same money (or less), as some prototypes proved 3-4 years ago. Use an Escort as the donor chassis & engine and then put the WRC Puma shell over the top. End result; 4WD Cosworth Puma. Now that would have been quite a car.

jonmorris

Type R, how did you manage to get a test drive in all those cars?! The Focus RS is especially hard to get a drive in.

Type R

The Gearstick is in the usual place in the new Teg, the CTR has the stick on the dash.

My brother works for Ford, so getting a drive in the RS was not a problem

XT

torque steer? My first car was a Toyota Starlet Glanza V tuned to 160bhp(18 years old) and my second one was a Daihatsu Charade GTti tuned to 150bhp(19 years old). And they weren't used on English tarmac but on a Greek one.
I'm qualified to face the challenge of Focus RS

GaryC

DAVE T-S - WRC rules don't require homologation and Ford have been WRC since before the Focus was launched (ie the later escort rally cars were WRC)

RS is a pure road car, designed as a road car pretending to be a clothed WRC car Which in fairness is also what the WRX & STi is - although they are at least designed around the Higher performance versions