borrowed my cousin's STI, and did 400 miles on a tank of fuel.

I selected the gosmo called intelligent mode, mostly 60-70 mph on the motorway; thats easly 30mpg+. added 54 litres to refill the tank.

The Focus RS I had for a week never budged above 25mpg, lovely looking car. (MD leant me his car to try)


In sport #, I think the car is too fast for the public road, would certainly leave a Focus RS for dead.

What is intelligent mode, I guess its remapping the throttle response?

I think I might get one and just bear the £405 road tax.

 

I mode in its standard form I.E pre ecu mapping by a specialist, basically is the same as sport # but adjusts the sensitivity of the throttle pedal to thottle butteryfly making it seem less responsive, as soon as you change the mode to sport # it alters this am makes it very very sensitive and the reponse is allot quicker making the car seem quicker. 405 road tax is so bad once a year but could be cheaper

 

That's a good return in fuel Never driven one myself but they have grown on me look wise. what was the ride quality like? I Have a 2006 STI and find it a bit to harsh ,crashy over small bump in the road and a bit bonce down the motorway. Which has put me off buying an other scoob don't get me wrong I do love the tho but in a few years I think I might go down the BMW or Audi route

 

imho its quite soft, had a bit of body roll on standard springs but only rolled so far and that was it. I upgraded and fitted coilovers to my hatch just because i like the feel of a firmer ride and no roll whatsoever

 

I think I'm going to have to disagree with you, if you worry about the mpg then don't buy the car.

As far as the STi leaving the RS for dead...I dont think so. I went from a 330s to the Rs which had 25bhp more than the STI and would say the RS was equal if not better than the 330s for alot less money.

mog

 

According to Parkers the car should do 27mpg. If you are not driving it hard then it should not be too bad on the motorway.

Have to agree with mog though you really need to not care about mpg if you buy an STi. The car will drink petrol but that is part of the fun. A journey will cost what it costs but it is worth every single penny!

greatgonzo I have the 06 STi and I find it quite bouncy on the motorway too. Ii isn't too bad though most of the time, just need to start buying more supportive bras! I guess guys just do not have that problem

 

My gripe about the 300bhp RS its impossible to get a basic one, they all seem to have lux pacs and cost £29,000. So in reality close to Audi S4 price. A local Northampton dealer was trying to sell an 8000 mile RS in white with badly scratched alloys base model and parking dents for 27k. I'm sure someone bought it, good luck!

I remember 2000 year Subaru's had the same issue of waiting times, or you paid over the odds and got a car in a colour and extra you dont want. I walked away and bought something else.

I rate the Ford RS very highly, though now even Autocar is raising conserns about prices for new ones negating value for money claims as 26k cars just dont seem to exist due to the hugh demand for the car.

So it seems the RS is no longer value for money, but a collectors car for those with deep pockets. Hardly Ford's fault thought, its still a great car but sorry the S4 would be my choice with £29,000 to spend (discounts are available on the S4 to this level at the moment, 330bhp+ and 4WD and audi build quality).

My point, for 24k what else matches the Sti (yes 59 plates are selling with delivery miles for this amount, pick your colour and options).

 

I like the fact that with the STi you can drive it "normally" and have numerous blasts and still get 30mpg per tank. I still find it fun/interesting to try to get the best mpg possible when traffic etc prevents right foot fun. OK the consumption drops to 25-27 mpg per tank if you drive more enthusiastically. Better than the last Scooby which in those situations averaged 22mpg.

 

will an STi hatch really do 25mpg avg if driven enthusiastically?

 

the sti was actually faster round a track than the rs in the evo car of the year test. but then again the civic
type r murgen was quicker than both. just thought id butt in with my 10ps worth.
Looks aside though the new sti is an awesome bit of kit

 

I would say out of the box the RS is the better car as the STI needs money spending on it to make it good which can be done very well.

Mog

 

Depends on proportion of tank you drive enthusiastically !!
Just giving my findings.

 

Cant believe you are comparing the focus against the STI. Take yourself to a trackday and watch the difference.
We have never had it so good. Buy a new STI from Motorpoint/ Graham Walker etc for £22K. Drive it round to litchfields and spend £2k and you have a car that will give an S4, M3 etc a run for its money. Subarus will always have the pedigree that ford will never have. Like the Quatros and Integrales.
The new hatch is an amazing machine... just like all the other scoobies before it.

 

Mine comes in at 23/24 and thats hardly any right foot, however is all arond town stop start with 2/3 miles max per journey, motorways I can get high 20's.

 

Having owned a 300bhp Mk1 Focus RS, Sorry but you cant even compare the rs to the sti, you just cant beat the 4wd system from the scooby, Dont get me wrong the new Focus RS is probably a great car, but what annoys me with FWD turbo cars is that unless the roads are dry you got no chance of traction, and whats the point of owning a performance car if you can only give it a blast when the roads are dry, and owning it in a country that rains more times then its dry, you got to ask yourself is it really worth it!!!!

Scooby for me everytime, even if it is slower then the Focus RS, at least I know when its raining, ill still be able to match the same performance figures in the dry !!!!

 

Thats good economy

When your all stating figures is this all from the display we all see inside.

On a trip to London doing 70ish in my WRX-S i managed 31.7

Im crippled by the 5 speed box, I know looking at the STI it does have great MPG over the others due to 6speed box i reakon.

The 330s drops it back down to my levels.


nice though 400 wow

 

I did ask about the RS come to think but when dealer said 30k i laughed, it was a premium as they were like rockin horse.

but time will tick along and as with all the RS range the price will drop.

nice cars , and yeah much nicer inside. But front wheel drive has always had its price, After owning a Type-R and a 300 bhp VXR, the scooby cant be compared i dont think.

4wd all the way, in wet or dry

 

I think you should drive a Mk2 RS as there is no comparision.

Mog

 

a recent trip to milton keynes 80mph on cruise control returned this healthy little number, thats an sti mapped to 380bhp

 

It may feel a better car due to the set up of the STI but if you look at the Top Gear times the STI is nearly 2 seconds faster than the RS, out of the box.

Paul.

 

I would say "feel" is everything and the TG test track is not the bumpy B roads we all drive on. IMHO

Mog

 

Everybody goes on about how soft the hatch STI is, so it should deal with the bumpy roads well, and I find it does it very well.

Feel is important but when the clock says it's slower it can't be everything.

Paul.

 

how dare you even hint that a subaru is better than a focus on a subaru forum. you'll have the haters and beraters in here before you know it.

 

b*ll*x I'd forgot about the £405 tax

Ah well I'd better keep it in I mode until tax renewal then to save the pennies

 

Love the R.S. and think the focus's are better equiped inside, but once you drive the scooby and experience the power, theres no looking back, especially the 330s.

 

I managed just over 370 miles from a P1 once without the fuel light coming on, without a gosmo whatever that is

BTW I got 60 mpg on the way to work today at 'proper' motorway speed in a £120 PA tax car, I feel like a millionaire

 

I've been on Scoobynet for a number of years and have spent 100's if not 1000's of hours browsing the forums and now i can say without a shadow of a doubt that the above comment is the biggest load of twaddle i have seen written on these pages. I shall now retire to the kitchen to wipe the coffee of my keyboard

 

LOL

 

Check out the statistics
The Complete World Rally Championship Statistics
The impreza and Lancia delta have had more WRC wins than any other model. 46 a piece. The Focus (if thats what you want to call it) 37 to date. (cant ever remember seeing a 4 wheel drive focus in the show rooms).
Like I said, do a few track days instead of browsing forums and you wont see any ford focuses putting in fast lap times. Lots of scoobies, though.

Hope your coffee moment didnt do tooo much damage

 

I think what he is saying is that if you look down the list you'll find a total of 69 wins for ford over the years and that in the 60s & 70s the Escort was the car to have if you wanted to rally, be it on a world or national event.