Tom Fords review of the new Focus RS
 

Two page feature in the Sunday Times' 'in gear' section.Gets a great write up.Ford says "...And heres the big news:Its better than all current fiur wheel drive systems in gofast hatchbacks"
Surely a dig at the new 'softer' direction for Subaru.I love scoobs,but we knew that with Subarus new stance,we would be left behind,with only past victories to fall back on...Shame really:cry:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/dri...cle5772860.ece

anyone lend me £26k?

That'll be the link then! Cheers:thumb:

He says that the lack of torque steer is down to the clever Quaife diff and makes no mention of the mysterious Revo Knuckle.

Lol at this comment on the article :lol1:

end of the day its a ford (found on roadside dead) :lol: and when that gearbox explodes wich it will how much will they charge for a new one from quaiffe 6 or 7k :cry:

I went out for a sedate drive in my killing machine based on his comment...

Lets face it, its a 300 bhp Ford RS and its an instant classic.

Would love to see it vs a New Scooby STI. I'm guessing the scooby will lose in almost every situation.

post after mine above disappeared after I responded to it :confused:

http://home.att.net/~biker16/revo_knuckle_2.jpg

http://home.att.net/~biker16/revo_knuckle.jpg

No mystery, just a simple way of maintaining better alignment.

Probably quite right as new Scoob is awful :( What about against the almost new RA-R though :)

TX.

Its all good though, if this RS Focus is great then surely it means other manufacturers will respond with something "special" and so as consumers of these cars we will end up winning with some great choice of motors :)

Ahhh but then there's the credit crunch............:confused:

:D

Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn ......... (You get the idea)

Looks like I was rather too quick taking my name off the list. I really didn't think they'd do it, but by the sounds of it Ford has managed to get 300bhp to the front wheels without causing you to crash. Having owned the Mk1, I just didn't think the Mk2 would work.

Will still be a tw*t to get the power down in 1st & 2nd in anything other than a bone dry road, but after reading that review, I wish I'd kept my name on, and payed my deposit.

May give the local dealer a ring and see what the situation is.

Is the torque limited in the first 2 gears?

Ns04

As per the Mk1 and ST, yes it is.

Just checked with dealer. Can get one July/August this year.

I really like the New RS and if i had £26k I would go out and put my name down for one. Lovely motor.

I was in Bagshot in my killing machine yesterday, Went to back way to Egham down the country roads. I disturbed all the peace and quiet of the country side and felt good, As should Chris of Bagshot. Because my financial contribution to the government through driving a car like this far outweighs the financial cost of any damage caused to the country side. :thumb: :thumb:

This setup has been in use on renaultsports for some time, yet they didn't feel the need to call it a fancy name. I suspect the diff is where the 'magic' happens RE torque steer.

The gearbox won't explode, I was out with a 350bhp ST yesterday on std box running an LSD.

If anything does happen (and its out of warranty), then a new LSD is approx £600.

"Is the torque limited in the first 2 gears?"

Where did you read that ?

Jost Capito himself states that there is no "taking off of torque electronically".

See here:

New Focus RS Video

Hear him yourself in the FWD vs 4WD, plus turbo power part - about the middle. There is also a very informative document here if you realy want to read up about it ;) Look here:

:: FORD Focus RS - PressKit 2009 ::

D.

surely 4 wheel drive is always going to be best.

winter/wet roads etc etc.

likewise putting all that power down will cause an undue strain: again doing it through a 4 wheel drive system must be best.

at end of the day its no quicker than my bog standard wrx sl- let alone what you guys do, tweaking yr cars all day long.

and it'll be a cold day in hell before I buy a ford.

:brickwall

Come on the next ST owners club meet if you fancy it up in the Dales as we were on yesterday - neither the RS4 or WR1 with us had any advantage.

There will be a meet in April I would imagine and we will have 2 or 3 RS's there, so please pop along in your WRX. :D

I liked the Mk1 RS when i had it for a week. It wasn't very fast though but handled sweet.

New RS looks awesome but it's still a FWD hatchback - £26-30k is silly money for one that could be far better spent.

Nice chap, Jost.

I simply don't buy the whole 4WD made it boring and it was either FWD or no RS cause the car has to be exciting argument though. I don't even think he believes it having driven the old Escort Cossies.

This is marketing spiel....for 4WD is too expensive.

The Focus RS is looking great and I can't wait to have a go, but simple physics dictate, you will never get the traction with a FWD car that you get with a 4WD car. This will show up on wet and bumpy roads and I'll bet that good though the revo knuckle system is, torque steer is still evident.

When Jost says no torque is taken off electronically, I think he's referring to torque steer and the fact that the suspension reduces it via mechanical action, not electronic interference.

That does not mean that the engines torque output has not been reduced in the first two gears to aid traction though...my money is on a cap.

Ns04

Watch the video here and see what the reviewer says about the total lack of torque steer - Autocar Videos - Autocar.co.uk

Trust me on this, my ST never ever shows any TS at all, and yesterdays run in the Dales was the ultimate test of that!! :)

Although technically speaking 4WD will have a small advantage over FWD, you would have to be driving very dangerously to see that advantage on a decent road.

Fair point, but I have yet to read anywhere reliable that torque reduction does occur. Not saying it doesn't happen - just that I don't know where the assumption has originated.

D.

Very smooth, largely bone dry roads on that test route! ;) :D

Don't get me wrong, I'm betting it'll be a cracker. I know the Focus ST quite well and like it a lot. BUT I don't believe for one minute the line that ford are coming up with about not going AWD. Marketing spiel and clever engineering to conceal a problem that wouldn't have been there with AWD.

And in the dry, the differences may not be that apparent, in the wet, unless they've reigned in that torque, and/or are relying on some pretty hefty traction control, it's gonna squirm like buggery, and the AWD advantage will become much more demonstrable.

Also, we should note that Autocar have been less than subjective in the past in order to curry favour with manufacturers to obtain the first drives etc..

I look forward to hearing what performance car mag has to say about it!

I'd still get a low mileage Megane R26 (not the impractical r26.6) for £11k and save myself a lot of money in the process, it uses the same tech in a lighter shell, get it remapped to 280bhp and it would be just as fast if not faster than the RS along B roads.

I admire Ford for doing this, and I'm glad to here (from this source) that they HAVE done it successfully this time, but £25k plus options for a focus just sounds too expensive in the current climate, however fast it is, having said that I can see where the price comes from, they made such a loss on the old RS that they have to price the mk2 carefully! But as I said before, you'd be an idiot to buy any new car at the moment, even if it is special.

You can see the group tests against the RS now......... and dare I say it, magazines will be chucking in their much admired and over publicised R26R again lol.

The latest video discusses the revo-knuckle in depth and again re-iterates the way it puts the power down as "defying logic". Alos touches teh topic of increases the power and torque.

Autocar Videos - Autocar.co.uk

Can't wait to have spin myself.

D.

CAR magazine's quick opinion: Ford Focus RS (2009) CAR review | Road Testing Reviews | Car Magazine Online

next mag out on 25th Feb could be worth a look..

"You’ll see how the new second-gen Focus RS stands up against the best hot hatches of all time (Renault Clio Williams, Peugeot 306 GTi-6, original and current VW Golf GTi, Lancia Integrale and more) in the new April 2009 issue of CAR Magazine out 25 February"