Focus RS mk3 test drive review
Discussion
Having read a few magazine reviews in recent months and seen the glowing report on Top Gear, I decided to book myself in for a test drive.
Brief summary of my personal thoughts from a test drive on mixture of roads including motorway:
Drive and handling: I found sport mode the best. Acceleration - felt as quick as my Porsche 911(996) and very good torque at low rpm. Gear change - good but not great, and I didn't like the stick position although this probably not helped by the CS seats. Brakes excellent. Low road noise and I liked the sport mode handling/damping even on quite bumpy town roads. Ideal steering weight. General overall fun factor for me limited as the engine sound and exhaust note pretty dull really.
Interior: The demo car had the CS seats option. They are awful. They sit far too high in the cabin and are too wide for the bolsters to be supportive. I tried the standard seats on a showroom ST model and they are in a far better position and for me more comfortable. The rest of the cabin - I thought it was fairly dull, plastic and a bit cheap looking. Surely Ford could have made their flagship hot-hatch more special on the inside or given the option to upgrade? Plenty of rear legroom, headroom and boot space pretty good.
Exterior: I'm not a fan of black wheels, but the rest I liked.
Overall: I felt a bit underwhelmed if I'm honest. The engine note needs more character, the gear change could be improved and the interior is not as good as it should be.
Brief summary of my personal thoughts from a test drive on mixture of roads including motorway:
Drive and handling: I found sport mode the best. Acceleration - felt as quick as my Porsche 911(996) and very good torque at low rpm. Gear change - good but not great, and I didn't like the stick position although this probably not helped by the CS seats. Brakes excellent. Low road noise and I liked the sport mode handling/damping even on quite bumpy town roads. Ideal steering weight. General overall fun factor for me limited as the engine sound and exhaust note pretty dull really.
Interior: The demo car had the CS seats option. They are awful. They sit far too high in the cabin and are too wide for the bolsters to be supportive. I tried the standard seats on a showroom ST model and they are in a far better position and for me more comfortable. The rest of the cabin - I thought it was fairly dull, plastic and a bit cheap looking. Surely Ford could have made their flagship hot-hatch more special on the inside or given the option to upgrade? Plenty of rear legroom, headroom and boot space pretty good.
Exterior: I'm not a fan of black wheels, but the rest I liked.
Overall: I felt a bit underwhelmed if I'm honest. The engine note needs more character, the gear change could be improved and the interior is not as good as it should be.
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