Tuesday 23rd June 2015

Ford Focus RS: Time For Tea?

The pre-Goodwood shakedown gets smoky!

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As always there's a great deal to look forward to at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend. But while we all love ogling racing cars and lottery win exotica, there's arguably something even more exciting about seeing stuff you might be able to buy.

Nothing typifies affordable performance like a fast Ford. Alright, so the Focus RS is likely to be c. £30K and therefore hardly cheap. But they're always great value for money. That's what has always made them so popular. See the current Fiesta ST's success for proof.

Anyway, here we have a quick video from Ford before its dynamic debut this weekend. And it's good. Really good. Again filmed at Lommel like many of Ford's promo vids, it comprehensively details the new Focus's dynamic repertoire. By which we mean shows it doing lots of skids.

Smoke coming from the rear wheels is good news. The noise is great. See from 0:20 as well where it's understeering at corner entry and then the power is deployed rearwards for a slightly oversteering exit. It jumps beautifully. Anyone worried the Focus RS might be going a bit soft should have their fears allayed by this video. Well, all of them apart from where Imperial Blue has gone...

Watch the vid here.

 

[leedsutd1]

lets hope security is improved ,hundreds of ST ,RS focus been stolen

[davyvee]

Looks good.

What's peoples opinions on these holding their value ala Mk2?

[StottyEvo]

Very impressive!

Any info on how quick it is yet?

[GTEYE]

davyvee said:

Looks good.

What's peoples opinions on these holding their value ala Mk2?

Agreed, looks very promising.

Values will mostly affected by the volumes they make and how long its on sale.

The previous Mk1 & Mk2 RS Focus were both quite short runs, so relatively low volumes around which always helps the values.

[Finchingtons]

Biggest disappointment of the year. As a mk2 owner (see carpool) I was waiting with baited breath. After seeing it in the metal at Le Mans I was very let down buy the looks. Lots of grey plastics and a lack of aches and vents. I'm sure it will drive amazing and be quick but the interior and exterior just don't look anything other than standard focus!

[Finchingtons]

Biggest disappointment of the year. As a mk2 owner (see carpool) I was waiting with baited breath. After seeing it in the metal at Le Mans I was very let down buy the looks. Lots of grey plastics and a lack of aches and vents. I'm sure it will drive amazing and be quick but the interior and exterior just don't look anything other than standard focus!

[GTEYE]

leedsutd1 said:

lets hope security is improved ,hundreds of ST ,RS focus been stolen

Our company had 2 ST's stolen, although we did get a call from the plod about a year ago to advise that they had found a door.

[Fake Elvis]

Was it not Performance Blue? Imperial Blue was for the ST 170 me thinks - about to be proved wrong...

[Caddyshack]

The old car was always a little OTT looking for the relative performance, this one is toned down and offers far greater performance in every day use / real terms.

I know that wings n vents would make it look tougher and I would have preferred a 2 door with big arches but I could see me owning one of these

[wst]

What's going on with that super blurry image heading the article?

I'll reserve judgement on this RS until I've seen more of it! I quite like the understated appearance compared to the Mk2, even if the Mk3's got the "I was almost a rally car" drivetrain...

[Ali_T]

It looks fun but it sounds rubbish, and that blue is the colour my mum would choose. Why can't you get a decent deep blue like the original Mk1 FRS?

[StottyEvo]

Ali_T said:

It looks fun but it sounds rubbish, and that blue is the colour my mum would choose. Why can't you get a decent deep blue like the original Mk1 FRS?

It sounds like I expected the Civic Type R to sound, quite raspy. A bit of a rally sound to it IMO.

[gigglebug]

GTEYE said:

leedsutd1 said:

lets hope security is improved ,hundreds of ST ,RS focus been stolen

Our company had 2 ST's stolen, although we did get a call from the plod about a year ago to advise that they had found a door.

Is there a technical reason that they are susceptible to being borrowed without asking or is it a desirability thing??

[Ali_T]

It's more that the OBD port is easily accessed and the codes can be bought off eBay! Any keyless entry Ford can be stolen in 30 seconds.

[Terminator X]

Previous RS owners will be kicking sand in the face of this one. Sounds good though.

TX.

[redroadster]

Will be one of the most tuned cars around all it needs is a nice wide arch body kit get stance looking right and it will look great as it is just a bit golf type boring to look at ,although lots of people will like that it's not the look I would want for this type of car.

[macky17]

Very promising (as a performance car not a trinket - the mk2 only looked good lowered with wheel spacers which then made it torque steer more). This doesn't have the wide arches so maybe it won't need spacers to fill them properly.

I'll buy a steering lock.

Edited by macky17 on Tuesday 23 June 19:04

[KingNothing]

gigglebug said:

GTEYE said:

leedsutd1 said:

lets hope security is improved ,hundreds of ST ,RS focus been stolen

Our company had 2 ST's stolen, although we did get a call from the plod about a year ago to advise that they had found a door.

Is there a technical reason that they are susceptible to being borrowed without asking or is it a desirability thing??

RS Tax. Need parts to repair an RS or turn and ST into an RS replica, parts costs are phenomenal, nice little earner for someone with a secure location to strip them and an ebay account.

The technical reason is that you can get past a blind spot on the alarm and plug into the OBD to disable the security and start the car, then drive off.

[Nickbrapp]

gigglebug said:

GTEYE said:

leedsutd1 said:

lets hope security is improved ,hundreds of ST ,RS focus been stolen

Our company had 2 ST's stolen, although we did get a call from the plod about a year ago to advise that they had found a door.

Is there a technical reason that they are susceptible to being borrowed without asking or is it a desirability thing??

same reason as all those BMWs, range rovers, audis etc get nicked without the keys.

[blade7]

leedsutd1 said:

lets hope security is improved ,hundreds of ST ,RS focus been stolen

Maybe Ford will brush off buyers by telling them sort out their own security, that's what their Customer Service Dept told me to do on a Fiesta ST .