stilover

PG

That RS belonged to my cousin. He went from a Tek2'd Scoob to the RS and point to point he felt it was a better and quicker car.
The grip that car had was amazing!
The fact he had it for a year, put 10k miles on it and sold it losing only £400 was equally amazing !
I'd be interested to have a go of the ST but have to say that the RS has much more appeal.

neil@eclipse

Intersting discussion here...so I'l say my 2 peneth...

Having only driven the RS, and not the ST, I'll give you my HONEST opinion on the car...

Looks...awesome.
Performance....even in standard form, pretty damn good.
Handling.....On a fast stretch of road. in the dry, quite enjoyable.

BUT, I was glad to give the car back..!!!!
I would not let the wife drive it, did'nt feel it would be safe....

And why...??

Torque steer....yes, all powerful fwd cars have it, but it's how it delivers it.
I found, that if you weren't careful, it could catch you out, especially if you're going round a relatively slow bend/corner/roundabout, with traffic around you, picking your best/quickest escape route, you can quite easily be swapping lanes as the car torque steers itself silly as it comes onto boost...
Potentially a bit dangerous if you're not expecting it..
Maybe it's due to the front diff set up..? I'm not sure.

Also it did seem a bit skitty, and didn't immediately inspire you with confidence, certainly not a car you could jump into, and drive pretty quickly...
Unlike an Scooby or an Evo...


I've not driven an ST, so can't comment, but needless to say, I like the look of it, and all reports seem favourable, and if it had a different badge, RS..? would this discussion be as heated..??

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Ive been a passenger in one, does that help? and you could feel the wheels trying to get traction, ie torquesteer in the dry.
Its skittish, especially on the roads we have here


Its still giving you grief in gear, even 1st, 2nd and 3rd, thats all torque and lack of grip

Ah this is why the ST is proven to be quicker in the corners, the RS isnt as quick as the ST in the corners and no it doesnt have as much grip as an STi impreza either, what it does have is a competent chassis, but as ive stated, this chassis is 4 years older than the car, built on the 99 model and not the 03 car, first big flaw.


It wasnt slightly flawed, it was very flawed, it took 4 years to get off the production line, the suspension was far too hard for our roads, 212bhp though the front wheels and it struggled, its a shame because it was hyped to be the big thing, it just didnt live up to that, same as the mk4 escort RS2000, the fiesta RS1800, the fiesta RS turbo etc

Only UK ones

Id go the other way, id want a car that could do everything I wanted and be able to live with it, the RS cant, its too harsh and too flawed, ok the ST doesnt have the badge but it out performs the RS where the RS should have out performed the ST.
As for the Focus RS cosworth.... keep dreaming if ford would have binned the Focus RS and just gone 4wd to start with then yes, but they didnt and its their loss for you will probably not see another RS in the next 20 years

Nido

Ok, so it's not an RS Cosworth, but it's a new Focus RS, 4wd and 300bhp

Looks like less than 20 years development left as well, on sale end 2007 possibly

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

The spy shots have been out for the last 3 years, ford has already stated its not going to build a 4wd focus RS.
Keep dreaming


Tony

Nido

Shots taken earlier this year

I read something from the head ford bloke in the UK (forget his name) during the launch of the ST. He said they would only be able to justify building a new RS (to the bean counters @ Ford) if the ST was received well, and more importantly sold lots. It's done both, so perhaps the RS is well underway now. The one in the photo is apparently based on more Volvo running gear (as ST), parts already around, no fancy diff or anythink like the MKI Focus RS so presumeably the development costs could be much less as it's a PAG parts bin special

DavidChief

I love the Focus RS. I had two of them. Not really sure what is fastest between the ST and the RS... I would suspect that for track work and smooth roads the RS would be quicker on corners and straights and on bumpier stuff (including Nurburgring) the ST would have an advantage.

But it's the RS that has that special, bespoke feel. Such an exciting car to drive. Just imagine a Caterham Superlight combined with a Focus Zetec.

Still one of my favourite cars.

The ST is fantastic value but IMO is not really comparable to the RS.

ukdave

Dont think £13450 is priced to sell to be honest, theres one round here in a ford dealers for £13995 (03 reg) with slightly less miles and im guessin your gonna get a yrs warranty with that.

Lord Lucan

well interesting debate on here I not mr burns comments and find them laughable tbh.

firstly you have only "been a passenger" in one WOW great way to come to conclusions about a vehicles handling EVO Mag changed it's mind on the focus RS after testing a customer car.

Torque steer was dialled out of the customer car after the press bash and tyres play a major role in this and traction issues the michelins used were tread wise the same as the M3 however the the ones used on the FRS were of an extremely hard compound this was done for the wear charicteristics of the tyres and the fact that on soft compound tyres the grip levels go whey up the league but the FRS was to heavy on tread wear this has a serious bearing on grip and torque steer also when the OE tyres wear below 5mm the problem becomes even more apparent.

I owned one of the first FRS's delivered on 2/ 1/2003 I have also had an ST for a month to test the ST is fat whoolley on the steering has a major lack of feel for the road also chronic understeer mid corner feels great first entering then total understeer before it comes back on song the Volvo unit is very strong indeed however it is the light pressure turbo used in the C70. The Daddy AWD T5 item is not used this has been earmarked for another project (strange that eh??) Another point is regarding next RS what I will say is if you get the opportunity look where the engins exhaust goes on the ST looks to me like it is run in a "Transmission / Prop Tunnel" funny that eh wonder where this could lead??

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Have a read on what the RS board say about the RS v ST.... they have the same view as me

http://www.rsownersclub.co.uk/rsocbb...ad.php?t=85333

jamin

Not in that post they don't? Or am I missing something?

Lord Lucan

for startrs track girl and flat matt are one and the same person so really your point is lost as all they were doing was stirring it up in the FRS section of the bb so really it would seem that your knowledge is based on other peoples opinions and speculation that you have decided to take as the word of "God" so to speak seems you need to get out and actually form some opinions of your own based on fact not third party opinions try driving the cars before assuming everyone else is giving you facts that are correct only way to know is to drive the car simple really noy rocket science is it.

Never assume anything in life simple philosophy eh

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

You can "feel" a car from the passenger seat, take for instance.... 4 wheels on the road, if the car lurches you feel that, if the car fights for traction you feel that, if the car slides you feel that.
On the ST, no ive not been in one so i cannot comment, on the 4wd RS, lol im still laughing, not a hope in hell, simple reason ford binned the idea in the first place was that it was too expensive and with a company like ford with reduced sales they aint going to chuck money at something that "might" sell but not with a 35k+ pricetag they would need to sell it at.
Just have a look in the business news, see how the car market is going, no manufacturer is going to throw money into a car of limited production whilst their main stream cars are not selling well.
Never assume anything eh?!

Tony

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Easy one this, its a volvo transmission, its fitted to the XC70, which is AWD, question answered.