RE: Production Focus RS Breaks Cover

[Dave_ST220]

:J: said:

davee7 said:

If they do the usual Ford trick of releasing one-colour editions (Racing Puma, Focus RS both in that lovely blue), then is this green going to be the RS's colour? I may sound boring, but it's a bit too garish for me!

Imperial (or Ford Racing) blue, or white would have been a much nicer choice!!!

Except they never kept the blue on the RS limited

Ford Racing Blue and Imperial Blue are one and the same

(Well, according to my paint codes)

Performance Blue, Racing Blue & Imperial Blue are three different colours??

[Gingerbread Man]

Rawwr said:

That's going to look massively aggressive in black.

I thought the RS was only available in one colour like the current one?

Arr just read down to see they are doing other colours tooooooo

Edited by Gingerbread Man on Friday 4th July 11:47

[CypherP]

Podie said:

CypherP said:

Podie said:

DamoLLb said:

Did you read the article?

Don't be silly... it's far better to have a blinkered view on high output FWD cars and *know* that it's not going to be any good and torque steer off the road.

After all, the armchair engineers on this site know a damn sight more about cars than some of the world's best engineers.

I think majority of people with some knowledge of power output will realise that 300bhp (or thereabouts in torque) won't be quite as controllable through the front wheels as Ford are making out in the article...

Have YOU driven it..?

My point is that people are very happy to malign things of which they have no personal experience and tout it as fact.

Well i will stand to be corrected until i have had a chance to drive one. But i still stand by my opinion that with an engine capable of producing that much torque at the front wheels, i don't imagine it would be as responsive as it is made out to be. I agree with alot of people on this forum, that a substantial 4 wheel drive system would do so much more for a car like this, that is actually very good looking and reasonable in cost.

Personally, i'd fork out a few extra grand to have 4 wheel drive, especially considering the vast majority of owners will be driving the nuts off it, in the same way that most ST and previous RS owners have. Its made to be that powerful, so why not provide accurate traction to support it.

[Greg_D]

Podie said:

After all, the armchair engineers on this site know a damn sight more about cars than some of the world's best engineers that are told exactly what to do by the marketing dept!

EFA

[chrispedoe]

That does look like a corker of a motor, i'm sure if they have got a clever diff in there and played around with the suspension quite a lot by the sounds of things 300bhp shouldn't be a massive problem, sure people will dissagree. Rwd or 4wd would have been more fun though.
Definently blows out all the stuff where it was just going to be a remapped ST, sounds like they have done quite a lot.
Blue one looks nice in the pictures as well

[PhantomPH]

Well, I am going to stick my head up into the firing line and say I don't like it. I mean I do and all that, but I would never admit it. In the same way that I would probably give Jordan one, but would never say that out loud.

Looks like an ST that has been given the Max Power treatment at Halfords.

One of the reasons I am a fan of the Golf GTI, Golf R32, BMW M5, etc. is that they do have an element of subtlety. I can say right now that it would not matter how much I liked it, I will never own one - the wife would not want to be seen getting out of it.

I am sure it's a great car (I am a fan of the Focus in general, having had a few over the years), but it looks too much like it was designed to appeal to the Burberry Generation.

FIRE AWAY!!!!!

P~

[lockup]

So is 250bhp or whatever the absolute limit for FWD? Have we already reached the nirvana of power delivery in a FWD car? Maybe we should fire all those engineers who are wasting good money trying to improve upon the obviously perfect.

[Dave_ST220]

PhantomPH said:

Well, I am going to stick my head up into the firing line and say I don't like it. I mean I do and all that, but I would never admit it. In the same way that I would probably give Jordan one, but would never say that out loud.

Looks like an ST that has been given the Max Power treatment at Halfords.

One of the reasons I am a fan of the Golf GTI, Golf R32, BMW M5, etc. is that they do have an element of subtlety. I can say right now that it would not matter how much I liked it, I will never own one - the wife would not want to be seen getting out of it.

I am sure it's a great car (I am a fan of the Focus in general, having had a few over the years), but it looks too much like it was designed to appeal to the Burberry Generation.

FIRE AWAY!!!!!

P~

Pre prodcution, anyone care to remember the pre prodcution version of the current Monmdeo that was at motor shows? It didn't end up looking like that. Golf R32, boooooooooooooooooooooring.

[Greg_D]

PhantomPH said:

Well, I am going to stick my head up into the firing line and say I don't like it. I mean I do and all that, but I would never admit it. In the same way that I would probably give Jordan one, but would never say that out loud.

Looks like an ST that has been given the Max Power treatment at Halfords.

One of the reasons I am a fan of the Golf GTI, Golf R32, BMW M5, etc. is that they do have an element of subtlety. I can say right now that it would not matter how much I liked it, I will never own one - the wife would not want to be seen getting out of it.

I am sure it's a great car (I am a fan of the Focus in general, having had a few over the years), but it looks too much like it was designed to appeal to the Burberry Generation.

FIRE AWAY!!!!!

P~

your opinion is nothing to be ashamed of, the harsh reality is that most of these cars will be brought by tragic, balding 40 year old engineers who still live with their moms.

Greg

[dpbird90]

I want one now. But that green paintjob (although it does look somehow good) along with 300bhp AND FWD...the designers must have been doing some heavy stuff lol

[PhantomPH]

Dave - I agree that the R32 is a little boring, but that's part of the appeal, really. For the record, I also had a 2005 Mondeo ST TDCi, which I loved. It was the saloon model in gun-metal grey. 18" multi-spokes and the full kit. A great looking car with just the right blend of subtlety and aggression. That RS is just trying far too hard to look the part.

Know what I mean?

[chunkymonkey71]

PhantomPH said:

Well, I am going to stick my head up into the firing line and say I don't like it. I mean I do and all that, but I would never admit it. In the same way that I would probably give Jordan one, but would never say that out loud.

Looks like an ST that has been given the Max Power treatment at Halfords.

One of the reasons I am a fan of the Golf GTI, Golf R32, BMW M5, etc. is that they do have an element of subtlety. I can say right now that it would not matter how much I liked it, I will never own one - the wife would not want to be seen getting out of it.

I am sure it's a great car (I am a fan of the Focus in general, having had a few over the years), but it looks too much like it was designed to appeal to the Burberry Generation.

FIRE AWAY!!!!!

P~

Time to divorce the wife!

[Dagnut]

Probelm with a AWD system is development costs which would have to be handed down to the consumer. There are exsisting AWD platfroms they could take from Volvo but they would be so far behind Mitsu's AYC and Subaru's iDCCD would take the years to catch up.
300 seems too much through the front wheels but I've seen FWD time attack cars with 300 plus handle perfectly, on track but the problem with the diff is, is it going to be able to deal with bumpy roads?

[LuS1fer]

Boy, that's as ugly as they come. Max Power rules.



Ah well, must dash....

[Dave_ST220]

PhantomPH said:

Dave - I agree that the R32 is a little boring, but that's part of the appeal, really. For the record, I also had a 2005 Mondeo ST TDCi, which I loved. It was the saloon model in gun-metal grey. 18" multi-spokes and the full kit. A great looking car with just the right blend of subtlety and aggression. That RS is just trying far too hard to look the part.

Know what I mean?

I know exactly what you mean, i got my 220 over the current ST as i felt it was the better looking car. The RS, however i think looks great, i'm looking past the garish green and seeing what an old RS(Escort Cosworth) used to be-shouting POWWWWEEEEERRR from every angle.

[PhantomPH]

chunkymonkey71 said:

PhantomPH said:

Well, I am going to stick my head up into the firing line and say I don't like it. I mean I do and all that, but I would never admit it. In the same way that I would probably give Jordan one, but would never say that out loud.

Looks like an ST that has been given the Max Power treatment at Halfords.

One of the reasons I am a fan of the Golf GTI, Golf R32, BMW M5, etc. is that they do have an element of subtlety. I can say right now that it would not matter how much I liked it, I will never own one - the wife would not want to be seen getting out of it.

I am sure it's a great car (I am a fan of the Focus in general, having had a few over the years), but it looks too much like it was designed to appeal to the Burberry Generation.

FIRE AWAY!!!!!

P~

Time to divorce the wife!

Nah, she has a nicer arse than the new Focus.

[Dave_ST220]

PhantomPH said:

chunkymonkey71 said:

PhantomPH said:

Well, I am going to stick my head up into the firing line and say I don't like it. I mean I do and all that, but I would never admit it. In the same way that I would probably give Jordan one, but would never say that out loud.

Looks like an ST that has been given the Max Power treatment at Halfords.

One of the reasons I am a fan of the Golf GTI, Golf R32, BMW M5, etc. is that they do have an element of subtlety. I can say right now that it would not matter how much I liked it, I will never own one - the wife would not want to be seen getting out of it.

I am sure it's a great car (I am a fan of the Focus in general, having had a few over the years), but it looks too much like it was designed to appeal to the Burberry Generation.

FIRE AWAY!!!!!

P~

Time to divorce the wife!

Nah, she has a nicer arse than the new Focus.

Pictures, obviously!

[bencollins]

Podie said:

CypherP said:

Podie said:

DamoLLb said:

Did you read the article?

Don't be silly... it's far better to have a blinkered view on high output FWD cars and *know* that it's not going to be any good and torque steer off the road.

After all, the armchair engineers on this site know a damn sight more about cars than some of the world's best engineers.

I think majority of people with some knowledge of power output will realise that 300bhp (or thereabouts in torque) won't be quite as controllable through the front wheels as Ford are making out in the article...

Have YOU driven it..?

My point is that people are very happy to malign things of which they have no personal experience and tout it as fact.

from ford......

To keep the potent engine from creating unmanageable torque steer, engineers designed the car with a unique suspension system called the ‘RevoKnuckle’, which enables it to keep the intended direction of travel even under heavy throttle. That obviates the need for all-wheel-drive and the attendant weight gains of the extra differential and driveshafts. A Quaife automatic torque-biasing limited-slip differential keeps the traction steady even on less-than-ideal surfaces.

“We studied at length how best to enhance these qualities for a high performance model. Our work has shown clearly that our approach in combining a tuned RevoKnuckle with the Quaife differential is an ideal solution for a high performance front-wheel-drive road car like Focus RS,” Capito explained.

Proof of the pudding is in the eating. i.e. Wait and see before spouting.

[photo_ed]

DJC said:

Chav central

That was my first thought too....

Sorry to all those enthusing about it but to my eyes it's a bit too much 'Halfrauds Special'.

[RSBear]

From the rear 3/4 it looks fantastic. Not so keen on the pea green though!