RE: Focus RS stop-gap is here
Tuesday 20th November 2012
To those waiting for the next Focus RS, this should keep you amused in the meantime. Ford of Europe's preferred performance specialist Mountune will in the new year offer up a fully manufacturer warrantied upgrade for the two-liter turbo Ecoboost in the Focus ST that'll hike power to "around" 280hp.
WTCC special edition has 200hp upgradeMountune did the 280hp upgrade for that car, admitting to PistonHeads that the Euro-spec tune will be pretty much the same. Expect a similar price to the Mountune upgrade of the previous 2.5-litre ST, which found 260hp for around £1,200 depending on which Ford specialist you went to.
Focus RS stop-gap is here
Ford-warrantied boost for Focus ST to "around" 280hp should keep us happy, for a bit anyway
The standard ST is already decently pokey with its 250hp pushing the car to 60mph in 6.5seconds, so while Mountune wouldn't give us the full performance figs we'd wager a time under six seconds.
The car previewing all this is a special edition Focus revealed at the SEMA tuner show in Los Angeles earlier this month celebrating rallycross star Tanner Foust.
WTCC special edition has 200hp upgrade
If the styling of the Tanner Foust car (pictured top)appeals in any way, Ford dealer and Mountune specialist TGST in Somerset told us there's a small chance it'll be sold in UK dealers.
Mountune has already produced a 200hp upgrade for the 1.6-litre Ecoboost Focus seen in the Zetec S. This £995 addition is similar to the forthcoming two-litre hike in that it includes an upgraded intercooler and airbox as well as the ECU tweak. Again it can be fitted without troubling the standard Ford warranty and turns the Focus into a proper ST baiter by reducing the 0-60mph time to 6.9seconds, down from 7.9secs.
This tweak has found itself in another special edition car, this time built to celebrate Ford's World Touring Car Championship campaign. It's being pushed by the UK-based Arena team running the Focus 1.6-litre Ecoboost racers, one of which is driven by Tom Chilton, and includes a few extras like special 18in alloys.
We couldn't find get any useful information about the car, like price or on-sale date, on account of the whole team being out of the country, but if you want to know how the new 1.6 Ecoboost upgrade drives, stay tuned for a test by our new boy Alex, who'll tell us how close it gets to ST territory.
Discussion
This weeks Shed, reminded me of how "powerfull" me and my mates thought a GTI-6 was when it first appeared with 167BHP, In a bit of pub banter it was even mentioned that the 120BHP 106GTI seemed awesome when we were all knocking about with c.50BHP in our Y10/panda/nova/polo/SJ's trying to crack 100MPH!
Now we have got "warm" hatches with approaching 200BHP, and a medium hot hatch making getting on for 300 ponies.
Now we have got "warm" hatches with approaching 200BHP, and a medium hot hatch making getting on for 300 ponies.
big_boz said:
Now we have got "warm" hatches with approaching 200BHP, and a medium hot hatch making getting on for 300 ponies.
True, but dragging a lot more weight about as well.In the late 80's, a Vauxhall Astra GTE 16v or VTEC Honda would post 7 sec 0-60 times with "just" 150 odd bhp.
big_boz said:
This weeks Shed, reminded me of how "powerfull" me and my mates thought a GTI-6 was when it first appeared with 167BHP, In a bit of pub banter it was even mentioned that the 120BHP 106GTI seemed awesome when we were all knocking about with c.50BHP in our Y10/panda/nova/polo/SJ's trying to crack 100MPH!
Now we have got "warm" hatches with approaching 200BHP, and a medium hot hatch making getting on for 300 ponies.
Now we have got "warm" hatches with approaching 200BHP, and a medium hot hatch making getting on for 300 ponies.
Sierra Cosworths had 200bhp or so, then the Escort Cosworth had 227bhp, Golf GTi 16v's had 150bhp, the VR6 had 170bhp or so (?). As a teen of the 90's, these 'normal' cars with that much power were epic at the time.
Thinking about it the Civic Type R of less than 10 years ago had 200BHP and i remember thinking that was a lot for a golf sized hatch, especially when i took one for a test drive. Was that gen of Civic really that much less "safe" than a current Focus with all its extra weight?
Don't get me wrong though I am all for more power! In 18 months i will be in the market for a new car and if a new 300 odd BHP focus is within my reach i will be a very happy bunny!
Don't get me wrong though I am all for more power! In 18 months i will be in the market for a new car and if a new 300 odd BHP focus is within my reach i will be a very happy bunny!
Weight.
It's all about power to weight - F1 teams harp on about this all the time.
Ramping up the power over the years is all very well for some pub talk willy waving, but if you're driving something with the weight of a hippo it's obviously going to need a lot of power to get it moving in the first place. Classic hot hatches of the 90's don't weigh anywhere near as much as today's cars.
Lamborghini have stated it's no longer about top speed and power; it's about reducing the weight of their cars through different materials. The methods used (as they become easier to make thus cheaper) will filter down over the years into the sports cars and hot hatches.
Just look at the new Boeing Dreamliner. It's not about the engine output (already a lot); instead it's all about the weight and materials of the thing. Just adding more power is just one dimension to the overall 'fun factor' of a car.
A big heavy car with 400BHP will unlikely be as much fun as a light weight, smaller, nimble car carrying 200BHP. Just my opinion and all...
It's all about power to weight - F1 teams harp on about this all the time.
Ramping up the power over the years is all very well for some pub talk willy waving, but if you're driving something with the weight of a hippo it's obviously going to need a lot of power to get it moving in the first place. Classic hot hatches of the 90's don't weigh anywhere near as much as today's cars.
Lamborghini have stated it's no longer about top speed and power; it's about reducing the weight of their cars through different materials. The methods used (as they become easier to make thus cheaper) will filter down over the years into the sports cars and hot hatches.
Just look at the new Boeing Dreamliner. It's not about the engine output (already a lot); instead it's all about the weight and materials of the thing. Just adding more power is just one dimension to the overall 'fun factor' of a car.
A big heavy car with 400BHP will unlikely be as much fun as a light weight, smaller, nimble car carrying 200BHP. Just my opinion and all...
All the figures look great!
All the reviews look great!
The price is even great!
The car looks like a turd ...
Having owned the previous version of the ST, I had high hopes..I loved the look of my ST, slightly understated but still with a bit of a performance car look. But I saw one recently and it was horrid. Perhaps it was the colour (that yellow that looks like a babies sick), and then the center exhaust. What were ford thinking.
All the reviews look great!
The price is even great!
The car looks like a turd ...
Having owned the previous version of the ST, I had high hopes..I loved the look of my ST, slightly understated but still with a bit of a performance car look. But I saw one recently and it was horrid. Perhaps it was the colour (that yellow that looks like a babies sick), and then the center exhaust. What were ford thinking.
We used to live in mud huts but now we all live in nice houses, with double glazing, central heating and humunguos televisions.
Likewise, we used to drive around in rusty death traps that were uncivillised and unreliable.
Now we have ubber engineered cars that keep us alive in extraordinary circumstances and have more comfort and convenience "toys" than ever.
I suggest if you want something light buy a banger and enjoy the next 17 minutes of your life as it'll be ending as soon as some clumsey fool in an NCAP 5Star car ploughs through you.
20 years ago there were less drivers and those drivers were probably better behaved than todays ignorant angry *****rds. In that respect, give me a lardy SAFE car every time, especially if my family are going to be in it.
Likewise, we used to drive around in rusty death traps that were uncivillised and unreliable.
Now we have ubber engineered cars that keep us alive in extraordinary circumstances and have more comfort and convenience "toys" than ever.
I suggest if you want something light buy a banger and enjoy the next 17 minutes of your life as it'll be ending as soon as some clumsey fool in an NCAP 5Star car ploughs through you.
20 years ago there were less drivers and those drivers were probably better behaved than todays ignorant angry *****rds. In that respect, give me a lardy SAFE car every time, especially if my family are going to be in it.
PHMatt said:
We used to live in mud huts but now we all live in nice houses, with double glazing, central heating and humunguos televisions.
Likewise, we used to drive around in rusty death traps that were uncivillised and unreliable.
Now we have ubber engineered cars that keep us alive in extraordinary circumstances and have more comfort and convenience "toys" than ever.
I suggest if you want something light buy a banger and enjoy the next 17 minutes of your life as it'll be ending as soon as some clumsey fool in an NCAP 5Star car ploughs through you.
20 years ago there were less drivers and those drivers were probably better behaved than todays ignorant angry *****rds. In that respect, give me a lardy SAFE car every time, especially if my family are going to be in it.
Do you work in Health and Safety? Likewise, we used to drive around in rusty death traps that were uncivillised and unreliable.
Now we have ubber engineered cars that keep us alive in extraordinary circumstances and have more comfort and convenience "toys" than ever.
I suggest if you want something light buy a banger and enjoy the next 17 minutes of your life as it'll be ending as soon as some clumsey fool in an NCAP 5Star car ploughs through you.
20 years ago there were less drivers and those drivers were probably better behaved than todays ignorant angry *****rds. In that respect, give me a lardy SAFE car every time, especially if my family are going to be in it.
big_boz said:
Do you work in Health and Safety?
No he has a family, which puts him in the same mind set as someone who works for health and safety 
I have to say the 1.6 200hp focus interests me more than the hotted up st, purely because 60 in 6.9 while returning decent mpg sounds amazing! I am getting old...
scholesy said:
No he has a family, which puts him in the same mind set as someone who works for health and safety
I have to say the 1.6 200hp focus interests me more than the hotted up st, purely because 60 in 6.9 while returning decent mpg sounds amazing! I am getting old...
I am only Joking that is the principle reason why i like the idea of the high powered but still useable and reasonably economical family sized car.I have to say the 1.6 200hp focus interests me more than the hotted up st, purely because 60 in 6.9 while returning decent mpg sounds amazing! I am getting old...
I certainly wouldn't want to carry my future sprogs around in a MK2 16v GTI on a daily basis!
big_boz said:
scholesy said:
No he has a family, which puts him in the same mind set as someone who works for health and safety
I have to say the 1.6 200hp focus interests me more than the hotted up st, purely because 60 in 6.9 while returning decent mpg sounds amazing! I am getting old...
I am only Joking that is the principle reason why i like the idea of the high powered but still useable and reasonably economical family sized car.I have to say the 1.6 200hp focus interests me more than the hotted up st, purely because 60 in 6.9 while returning decent mpg sounds amazing! I am getting old...
I certainly wouldn't want to carry my future sprogs around in a MK2 16v GTI on a daily basis!
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