Dont believe it then James... i'll still sleep tonight

 

Jameswrx,
With all due respect.....

The FRS handles really well.... I have driven my mates on loads of occasions on track and at the Ring in anger. It certainly surprised me how much grip it had and also how controllable the lift off oversteer is. The better your driving skill the more you can get out of this so called "poxy" FWD effort.

They are not the best but neither is a Scoob.... and to refer a RS to a 18yr old.... you need to look around at the Scoob scene now!

As regards to the 4WD version..... I know for a FACT that Prodrive were working on one of the 4WD versions as Simon de Banke (ex co-owner of this site with me) drove the flaming thing, over at Prodrive at Fen End in Warwick! How about that then... Prodrive were getting involved in the 4WD prototypes..... heaven forbid.

 

Shaun,

You mean the same Prodrive that helped with the ATB diff on the Mk1 FRS?

NO WAY!!!

 

Shame on prodrive then! Should have tried harder!

The guy who started this thread said it wheelspan it's **** off, to me that's naff.

At the end of the day I guess it matters little really. We all like different stuff but I can't help wondering how many owners would have been happy to take a fwd one if ford had offered it in awd for the same money... Probably a lesser amount than buyers that'd have appeared wanting it because it was awd.

One of my favourite things about my car is the way you can bring it on boost mid corner and the grip it has in a sort of unreal pull you round feeling. I've no doubt the focus handles better in certain situations, ie lift off direction change etc

 

I promise you James in 4wd guise it didnt feel right.

Motor manufacturers spend millions of $$$ in development testing these things.
I would have laughed at all the people who would have chosen 4wd over the 2wd version.
Id love to give the keys of both to people not knowing which is which and let them tell me which handles better, which is more direct, which is more crisp and which gives more feedback. The scoresheet would be very one sided i assure you.

In 95% of situations you can nail the Focus mid corner too and it does dig in and pull you round. I think you'll find if you burry the throttle of a stock impreza mid corner on a wet roundabout you will also wash wide. They need some serious caster before they stop doing this.

As for the RS, please go and drive one. You never know, you may be surprised. If not, you'll love your impreza even more on the drive home

 

8WEEKS ago i sold my lime green focus RS had it from new was a fun car for about 4weeks then regretted buying it lost a little and returned to the subaru scene but a nice evo 8 nearly turned me to the darkside lol then mrs slapped me and hey got myself another scoob

 

The mk2 focus RS is an amazing car!
A friend of mine has brought a lux pack 3 in white. I managed to talk him out of the whole green idea. Could you imagine about 10 - 15 years down the line, its gonna look a quite dated.
On the handling side, for a front wheel drive, its amazing! Very stable & predictable with bags of grip. The best part is the fact that you can use it on the road everyday without feeling like you have to trash it everywhere you go. Only problem comes when 300bhp tries to make it on the ground through 2 wheels. In the dry this aint too much of a problem, but in the wet its pointless even trying.
The 5 cylinder volvo designed engine create a wonderful induction noise which is really adictive. But, as I proved last night, 28k's worth of RS cant get away from my couple of grands worth of standard classic STI. Its kinda neck and neck untill you try it from a standing start.
According to the RS owners club, there are a few reasons the RS isnt 4wd.
Firstly, there is the weight & then there is the extra cost. Ive always been a ford fan, mainly as I grew up around mk1 & mk2 Escorts. But i dont think I would wanna pay nearly 40k for a ford. lol

 

I like Fast Fords, been looking at getting an ST for my next car.

However, for the price you pay for an RS I think I would be more tempted by one of these...
http://www.mitsubishi-cars.co.uk/evo...px?trim=fq-300

 

lol i was giving it some and yes i have been spoilt, nothing quick fwd feels the same now lol.
i have- the st but the seats are the nicest thing about the car. it is a good car and woudn't say know if i was given one but it not worth the money and there are better things to buy. I would still rather have a second hand sti than a new rs, it didnt have the x factor for me which the scoob does

 

Read the CAR, EVO and TG mags and that dutch stinker that was head of the FRS projext said they binned the AWD because it would have just been too much weight, so they adapted, compromised and voila made the REVOknuckle-shuffle!

It is a yank car company, "lightweight" does not compute for most car companies stateside.

 

yeah our info from ford stated about it being too heavy and costs........ god knows how subaru managed to make a 300bhp hatch with awd and only weighs 35kg more?!? oh and for the same sort of price

 

Who do you think is earning more money out of their vehicle sales then?

Wonder why Fords market share is so high?

I bet they must be well dumb

 

well i wouldnt mind betting subaru make more from the sti than ford do with the limited run rs, im talking a specific model and who they cater too- not the scale of the company. ford made a loss on the old rs didnt work out too well did it! there only making money on this one due to nicking a load of spares from volvo

 

Well i test drove a Focus RS on the Autumn Ring and found it to handle real well for a front wheel drive !

 

not saying it doesn't- no doubts on it being a capable car but not upto the hype or what i was expecting compared to a scoob, but thats my opinion- im just a impreza fan through an through

 

ha love it

 

Oh forgot to mention that was Forza 3 not real life

 

Pity they've only sold about 20 STI's though.

 

LOL very true!

Yanks cars are like the USS Entreprise, big, in your face, and need a nuke power plant to move!

 

lol i was thinking that to my self but gave you the benefit of the doubt lol

all my tests were in my lunch hour

so the sti is rarer than the rs then

 

the best statement surely has to be The only advantage of the 4wd would be wet and snowy conditions. you do realise that this is the UK and it is wet for 50% of the year on average?

 

Not only; when the car is "upset" it has many advantages!

This has been a hot topic for years.

Do 4 legged animals only use RWD or FWD? That should silence most arguments!

 

bambi found it hard enough on ice with awd, god knows how it would of went with only fwd ha ha

 

I used to have Focus ST before the Scoob and loved it, very lazy car to drive compared to the RB320 and would have another as they are a great daily drive although a little heavy on juice. Never driven the RS as I had my heart set on a RB320 but no doubt this year I will take one for a test drive.

Wolf are releasing a 4WD system for the RS and it will be available soon. 12K though!

See below which was nicked from www.fordrst.co.uk

Wolf Racing have launched at this week Essen Motorshow their new 4wd upgrade kit for the RS – The kit is based on the Kuga 4wd system but uses transmission parts developed in conjunction with leading transmission company Drexler

All in German but,
http://www.motorvision.de/artikel/wo...innt,5714.html

The Wolf team have been 'snowed under' with enquiries at the Essen show regarding their 4wd upgrade kit for the RS

I have spoken to Uwe Wolf, at the show, regarding this upgrade and he promises to supply me with more information next week once the show has finished

Uwe did inform me that they have been developing and testing this kit for sometime with Drexler – It utilises a mix of OE Kuga parts and Drexler parts and Wolf Software to control the system – The key component as explained is the special Wolf/Drexler power take off/transfer box.

He also suggested that while the new system has been tested with the 400ps upgrade it is capable of handling even more power in the future

Wolf/Drexler are currently fine tuning the systems differential software prior the kits being made available early in the new year

The approximate cost of the conversion suppled and fitted (using new Kuga Parts) is going to be approx £12k

 

Won't be around for much longer (if still made at all) with the new Focus launching in Feb.

 

The beauty of the subaru is you can add 200hp and still have traction

Try that with FWD

Whats the RS like in the snow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wATEP...layer_embedded

 

There are talks of a new one with an Ecoboost Engine driving the front wheels and an electric motor driving the rear wheels....

 

yeah the new one will be a 300ps ecoboost, and there are rumours floating around but i would be surprised if they did. plus thats not exactly good for weight lol

 

there not making any more and there wont be another for at least 2 years

 

i've just replaced my 06 STi Hawkeye with an FRS mk2 and am well satisfied.
Obviously with the recent weather i've missed the AWD but the overall package for me is an improvement on the STi.
The power delivery is smoother and more progressive, i no longer drop down the extra gear for overtaking, and the engine and exhaust note match the scooby in standard spec!

Don't get me wrong, If subaru had a new car that had similar presence at a comparible cost maybe i would have stayed with subaru but 26k versus 33k was a no brainer for me and also the option to go up to 350bhp for the warrented upgrade appealed to me.
I see critisism of the interior but its still an improvement on my last scooby although i have not seen the latest impreza interiors.

Early days but first impressions are good!

Graham