The guy in the next street to me has one of the above, had a wee tussle on the way to work this morning and was well impressed with the accelaration on this car.I have a standard my99 turbo wagon. Never have been a ford fan but this thing could shift, granted we were already doing 40mph when he gunned it away and he caught me a bit off guard honest There was no way I was ever going to be able to overtake him as it took everything I had to keep up and I was only just holding on to him although I am sure he would say he was pulling away but us scoob owners can never admit that right Dont know if they are great off the mark, do they have awd? or how they handle but I do know they can move ! Will give him a bit respect from know on so he doesn't show me up in the future
The guy works in the local refinery near where I work, I see a green classic reg sub*** parked there are you on here and do you know the guy with the RS ?
Ricky

 

2wd with a limited slip diff. There okay i guess. But difficult to extract bhp from after the bluefin superchip 237bhp after bluefin jobbie. GGr do a conversion i think 285bhp and about 310lbs ft but its silly money for what u get. There costly to start with in coparrison to say a new wrx sti or evo 260 i reckon.

 

No supprise there!, very close power wise!, and your driving four wheels and he only two.

He looks gay! you dont!

 

Followed one on track, very impressive round the corners. Well I thought it was

 

Thing is, anything over 230BHP and FWD is never going to give you good results on the average road unless you have some major work done to the handling and setup.

Seems a waste having a FWD car with the potential to extract huge power out of relatively cheaply (turbo engine), and then use a FWD setup, so if anyone wanted to really get use out of the big power they'd need to do expensive handling setup to allow it.

I suppose if you're happy with the power it has currently, you're getting a very potent hot hatch, albiet without anything like the class of other expensive hatches like an S3 or something, but it seems like with so many very tuneable 4wd competitors near its price range, it sits in a bit of a limbo and would only get bought by people who really love Ford.

Cant see it gaining iconic status of the RS cars of the past, it doesnt look particullaly special, Focusses are everywhere and it doesnt have Clio V6 presence to make it noticeable, plus I cant imagine its that much better than a Civic Type-R or whatever to justify the price (around £18k?)

 

I will let u know what 340-350bhp is like in a fwd car before christmas. The only good thing is they hold there price.

 

guys this car only cost 20k new, well cheaper than the sti wrx and evo 260, just holding excellent value....to get more power over the bluefin, an exhaust, filter, few other minor bits will quite easily take you into 250/260 bhp teritory

whether it gains iconic status time will tell.....as to whether it looks special or not, one of the main things this car carrys (as well as speed ;-) ) is its presence, car has a massive impact over regualr focus's is definately worth way over its money it all the branded parts it has fitted....

anyway to find out what ones like you can purchase mine which is in the for sale section (cheap plug!!)

 

still cant c me selllin the scoob for a focus


id rather push my scoob than drive a ford.

 

I went from STI 7 (340BHP), to S2000 (standard) to Focus RS (standard (ish!)) and love it, reckon I'm quicker in it than I was in my Impreza, but it's still no way as good a car to drive and to own as the Honda!

Jamie

 

I've got one of these.

I've kept it standard because I can't see the point in more than standard power (212bhp) through the front wheels.

Despite what people say, they're suprisingly easy to get more power out of. A friend of mine is currently running 363 bhp and 363 lb/ft on standard internals. Only weak spot at the moment is the standard AP Racing clutch. You can't really use the power until you hit 4th gear tho... a bit daft!

The best part of the RS package for me is the handling. Very sorted chassis, extremely stiff and the ability to use the throttle mid corner thanks to the LSD between the front wheels. Almost no understeer at all, completely neutral right up to and over the limit of grip. Oh, that's another thing - the grip. It's very sticky.

It's quite an extreme drive - definitely for enthusiasts only. Very harsh ride, lots of tyre roar and "lively" steering. If you don't like any of these characteristics, this car is not for you!

The performance is pretty good - being FWD, launching off the line is not it's strong point but from 15mph and upwards the traction is suprisingly good. Once you're up to 60-70mph it will give similar powered AWD cars a bit of a shock. The performance of this car is actually a bit better than the figures suggest. Firstly, it has a 170lb/ft torque restrictor in 1st and 2nd gear, so you're not really seeing the true performance until you hit 3rd gear / 60 mph. If you want to get a true feel for performance, knock around 0.5 to 1.0 seconds off the 0-60 and 0-100 figures. Once rolling the RS can keep up with those cars.

At Santa Pod I ran a 14.3 and 100.88 and my car is totally standard, not even chipped.

The exterior styling is nice - great colour.

Weakest point of the package is the interior which is a bit of a shocker. Fuel economy is poor too (18mpg round town, 28mpg cruising) but you guys are used to that!

 

250HP is fairly easily attainable, usual suspects, de-cat filter and re-map.

You want more then you need a new manifold and turbo, there are a couple of cars kicking about with 320hp or so, and I know of one with new management that is putting out 370ish. Much the same as tuning the scoob i'd say.

However IMO the best thing about the FRS is that it is a well rounded package, as standard it will show-up many more powerful cars around a track, it makes most of its speed through the corners, aka the twisties. (Runs and hides )

 

Definitely looks and sounds a good hot hatch in standard form, would you say worth the extra few grand over Civic Type-R and Clio 182? did any RS owners try other hatches?
I can see the appeal to tune it, but as mentioned, dont think the handling would benefit from an extra 40 horses odd, must be a serious handful, and if you're going to spend a large amount modding it, perhaps better to start with something RWD.

From the owner reviews, sounds a bit like the original Integra Type-R, aimed at enthusiasts, with good LSD and handling, but the Focus obviously has the benefit of seeing to the biggest critisism of the ITR, straight line speed, the ITR always felt like it need a turbo on a straight, especially when you had a biggish engined beemer or similar alongside.

Ive driven normal Focuses (work pool cars), and the chassis always felt good, and well put together cars, but when I was looking at hot hatches a while ago I ended up with a Clio Cup, I couldnt justify spending over £12k on a hot hatch!! but then Ive always liked the S3, so it might still happen.

 

I am getting a jabbasport stage 3 ihi vf34 kit. 330-350bhp on an 1.8t 20v Ibiza cupra. i have been out in there demo car and it was a bit of a monster. The focus is lacking in stnd form, just the blufin alone would make it a far more competative car. It would seem turbo size and back pressure are the keys to extracting bhp from the focus same as the 20vt motor. The manifold seems to be one of the main restricting parts.

 

Get a Peloquin LSD from the states - with the exchange you can get a good deal and it makes a big difference putting the power down especially pulling out of junctions

 

Cheers will look into it asap.

 

I've tried pretty much all of them...

Clio 172 Cup - great little car, sorted handling and a lot of performance. Down sides: build quality, looks and feels a bit ordinary, quite small compared to the others.

Civic Type-R - best drivetrain in the business and as quick as the RS in some circumstances. Downsides: handling is nervous and steering very bad

Clio 182 - as per Cup but perhaps not quite as raw? Looks a bit better.

Golf R32 - nice sounding engine, pretty good performance, lots of grip. Downsides: not as exciting a drive as it should be, handling is not as sharp as some competitors

Alfa 147 GTA - Not actually driven one of these, but met one on the road and they have massive performance. Extremely rapid once off the line. But I wouldn't buy an Alfa and it apparently has some problems containing the power.

Leon Cupra-R - Fast, but very dull to drive. Handling was awful.

The thing is with hot hatches is that they are pretty boring cars that have been made more extreme. The RS has had more done to it than most - wide track, bespoke styling, bespoke brake setup, LSD, only turbo'd Ford, wacky interior and as a result it feels pretty special. Some of these other cars on the other hand just feel like more capable versions of the donor car rather than a true thoroughbred.

If I was going to get another hot hatch I'd probably get a Clio Cup, but the build quality and cramped interior would be a worry for me.

 

Ive owned a few on the above list.

Wouldnt agree with all you have written. My main disagreement would be re handling. Ive had a 182 (left the Rigby garage today), R32 and Leon Cupra R. The R32 IMHO is pretty sharp handling wise, the mid range performance lets it down. 182 had good build quality, loads of toys for the money (best value car on sale today-after the £2k discount from dealers), the LCR has great handling, just needs more power to exploit it

Jonathan

 

I will put together a little vid of a friends Focus rs a Castle Combe to show you what they can do.

 

Cool. Look forward to seeing it!