RS Focus interior. 27k and you get that???

[Ved]

From the outside they look great to me. Very purposeful, aggressive and more importantly very different to the ST and regular models. However, inside I was shocked. Aside from the Recaro seats, which are great as usual, the thin scratchy plastics made it look very cheap indeed. Which at 27k, it just ain't.

The thing that really got me was the circular plastic blanking plate that was stuck over the ignition barrel. Literally stuck on! It just pulled down the entire car and turned me off it, when I wanted to like it and did have it on the list for the V6 replacement next year.

My STI had better materials on the dash and Subaru Imprezas are a joke inside. Do RS owners really care very little for this stuff or am I getting old?

I did like the boost gauge though

[soad]

Ved said:

My STI had better materials on the dash and Subaru Imprezas are a joke inside. Do RS owners really care very little for this stuff or am I getting old?

But those Imprezas are nice to drive though. And sold very well too.

So long as it looks okay from the outside and gives an enjoyable drive, that's all that matters to some, no?

Edited by soad on Tuesday 1st June 18:05

[Ved]

Yeah I agree but I'd hoped a halo model would have better materials than my MK2 golf.

Loved my STI and the top of the dash was nice and soft and there wasn't any blanking plates reminding me 'things are missing.'

Alfa Romeo were there too and despite my irrational hate of them, I was very impressed with their looks, inside and out. If only they drove as well as they looked.

[Deranged Granny]

It's still a Focus It would just make it cost even more to re-do the dash extensively, which would make it even worse value.

[Hitler Hadrump]

I agree as well, interior quality/design is very important to me.

I was pretty impressed with the Focus interior. It's an age away from the horrific plastic disaster inside 90s Fords, although like most cars at the moment it's rather grey. What happened to colours?

[LuS1fer]

Don't much give a stuff about interiors if it's a trade-off for something in the engine department. That's why I drive American cars I suppose (though the new generation seem to be proving you can get a semi-decent interior without compromising).

[UncappedTag]

Attention to detail does not apply to the outside too. Those black vents on the wings close up look very tacky are are simply stuck on tat.

[Roop]

You know the cover on the steering column actually covers a proper key barrel...? You can pull it off and use the key to start the car in case of problems with the proximity immobiliser.

As for interior quality, it's no different to any other hot hatch. Seen the forthcoming Mugen Civic...? Stock Honda dash, the same as you get in a 12k Civic. No manufacturer, let alone Ford is going to redesign the whole dash for a short-run halo model. Notice how the dash in a £60k M5 looks the same as a 520d...? For £60k I'd want it hewn from unobtainium. Oh no, wait a minute, maybe BMW spent the money on the motor, drivetrain, suspension and other performance related items. Ford do the same.

What I do agree with you on is that at £27k it doesn't really represent great value for money if all you see is a Focus. Let's face it, why not just buy the 1.6 and spend the rest on coke and hookers...? Well, that's the case UNTIL you try and find another BRAND NEW car that is as powerful (300bhp), as quick (163mph), as practical (will seat 4 6-footers with ease and swallow two full size suitcases ++) for the money. Tough act...

Edited by Roop on Tuesday 1st June 19:29

[Fabric 2.2]

Roop said:

and spend the rest on cocke

On WHAT?!

[Roop]

Fabric 2.2 said:

Roop said:

and spend the rest on cocke

On WHAT?!

Yeah, noticed that. Freudian slip yannow. Bhaha

[Fabric 2.2]

Roop said:

Yeah, noticed that. Freudian slip yannow. Bhaha

lol

[Ved]

Roop said:

You know the cover on the steering column actually covers a proper key barrel...? You can pull it off and use the key to start the car in case of problems with the proximity immobiliser.

As for interior quality, it's no different to any other hot hatch. Seen the forthcoming Mugen Civic...? Stock Honda dash, the same as you get in a 12k Civic. No manufacturer, let alone Ford is going to redesign the whole dash for a short-run halo model. Notice how the dash in a £60k M5 looks the same as a 520d...? For £60k I'd want it hewn from unobtainium. Oh no, wait a minute, maybe BMW spent the money on the motor, drivetrain, suspension and other performance related items. Ford do the same.

What I do agree with you on is that at £27k it doesn't really represent great value for money if all you see is a Focus. Let's face it, why not just buy the 1.6 and spend the rest on coke and hookers...? Well, that's the case UNTIL you try and find another BRAND NEW car that is as powerful (300bhp), as quick (163mph), as practical (will seat 4 6-footers with ease and swallow two full size suitcases ++) for the money. Tough act...

Edited by Roop on Tuesday 1st June 19:29

All fair points but it struck me as cheap. No doubt a stunning car to drive and you clearly love yours with a very good reason - it goes like stink - but for a halo total package I'm not sold on one. But as you say, nobody does a total package for 27k in hot hatch guise. Maybe a 2nd hand S3 would match but new they are veeeeeery expensive.

[thebigmacmoomin]

I like the Focus RS interior, but as an ST driver, its isnt different enough. The boost guage is different, RS badge instead of ST on the steering wheels and different seats. It doesnt look special enough.

[Roop]

Ved said:

Roop said:

You know the cover on the steering column actually covers a proper key barrel...? You can pull it off and use the key to start the car in case of problems with the proximity immobiliser.

As for interior quality, it's no different to any other hot hatch. Seen the forthcoming Mugen Civic...? Stock Honda dash, the same as you get in a 12k Civic. No manufacturer, let alone Ford is going to redesign the whole dash for a short-run halo model. Notice how the dash in a £60k M5 looks the same as a 520d...? For £60k I'd want it hewn from unobtainium. Oh no, wait a minute, maybe BMW spent the money on the motor, drivetrain, suspension and other performance related items. Ford do the same.

What I do agree with you on is that at £27k it doesn't really represent great value for money if all you see is a Focus. Let's face it, why not just buy the 1.6 and spend the rest on coke and hookers...? Well, that's the case UNTIL you try and find another BRAND NEW car that is as powerful (300bhp), as quick (163mph), as practical (will seat 4 6-footers with ease and swallow two full size suitcases ++) for the money. Tough act...

Edited by Roop on Tuesday 1st June 19:29

All fair points but it struck me as cheap. No doubt a stunning car to drive and you clearly love yours with a very good reason - it goes like stink - but for a halo total package I'm not sold on one. But as you say, nobody does a total package for 27k in hot hatch guise. Maybe a 2nd hand S3 would match but new they are veeeeeery expensive.

I like my Focus, but equally I'm not about to put it on a pedestal. There's no doubt that an S3 (an S3 here in CH is in fact cheaper than the RS) is a better screwed together piece of kit and has a better quality interior. The plastics inside are as good as the base hatchback at the same price point. The cheapest A3 is a LOT more than the cheapest Focus - like a third more. When you jump them up to the halo model, the plastics don't improve, the Audi just started off with better ones in the first place.

I reckon the Focus interior is pretty good, but the exterior plastics on the Focus are crap. All that "piano black" stuff looks like it came from a 1980's Dixons stereo. There's a chap making beautifully crafted plug-in replacements from 4-twill carbon fibre. I'll be changing mine as soon as I can get my hands on the carbon stuff. The chap makes parts for F1 teams and as such the quality is right up there.

[Ali_T]

Ved, as long as you stay away form the options list, the S3 is the same price. And I do agree, despite driving around in an equally bad interior. At least my £27k bought a proper AWD system , after all! And the new Scooby dash is every bit as brittle and scratchy as the Focus, and the soft touch of old is gone. Subaru seemed to be going the right way with the previous Legacy interior, but it's all gone down the pan again.

Just think how owners of the £50k Impreza Cosworth will feel when it all starts to squeak and rattle....

Edited by Ali_T on Sunday 6th June 11:58

[300bhp/ton]

Ved said:

From the outside they look great to me. Very purposeful, aggressive and more importantly very different to the ST and regular models. However, inside I was shocked. Aside from the Recaro seats, which are great as usual, the thin scratchy plastics made it look very cheap indeed. Which at 27k, it just ain't.

The thing that really got me was the circular plastic blanking plate that was stuck over the ignition barrel. Literally stuck on! It just pulled down the entire car and turned me off it, when I wanted to like it and did have it on the list for the V6 replacement next year.

My STI had better materials on the dash and Subaru Imprezas are a joke inside. Do RS owners really care very little for this stuff or am I getting old?

I did like the boost gauge though

Some people seem a bit wierd??

Isn't moaning about the interoir missing the point with a car like this? And to expect Ford to build a totally dfferet interior into a limited run model is a bit unrealistic IMO.

[Dracoro]

Many other manufacturers manage to use nicer materials on their higher spec cars. Doesn't require much redesign, just using better plastics.

[Ali_T]

300bhp/ton said:

Isn't moaning about the interoir missing the point with a car like this? And to expect Ford to build a totally dfferet interior into a limited run model is a bit unrealistic IMO.

It wouldn't take too much to trim it better though. Use better quality inserts or even add an Alcantara covering to the dash top. Or they could do what Subaru and Cosworth have done and replace the naff and easily scratched silver plastics with naff and easily scratched black plastic...

[Steameh]

Roop said:

You know the cover on the steering column actually covers a proper key barrel...? You can pull it off and use the key to start the car in case of problems with the proximity immobiliser.

As for interior quality, it's no different to any other hot hatch. Seen the forthcoming Mugen Civic...? Stock Honda dash, the same as you get in a 12k Civic. No manufacturer, let alone Ford is going to redesign the whole dash for a short-run halo model. Notice how the dash in a £60k M5 looks the same as a 520d...? For £60k I'd want it hewn from unobtainium. Oh no, wait a minute, maybe BMW spent the money on the motor, drivetrain, suspension and other performance related items. Ford do the same.

What I do agree with you on is that at £27k it doesn't really represent great value for money if all you see is a Focus. Let's face it, why not just buy the 1.6 and spend the rest on coke and hookers...? Well, that's the case UNTIL you try and find another BRAND NEW car that is as powerful (300bhp), as quick (163mph), as practical (will seat 4 6-footers with ease and swallow two full size suitcases ++) for the money. Tough act...

Edited by Roop on Tuesday 1st June 19:29

This is what I cannot grasp, the base R20 golf doesn't cost a lot more than the Focus RS, has similar power output and, IMO, looks a hell of a lot better, with a much nicer interior.

Yet everyone slates it for being 30k for just a golf.

[swamp]

Isn't the whole point of these 'hot' car versions is that they are just bog-standard normal cars which have been given more power and sporty characteristics? This is what makes them cool. They are just a run of the mill cars that are capable of taking on much higher class machines. They are the working class underdogs, and they are supposed to be a bit st inside. And outside. If they were to get posh dashes and thick carpets they would only be fit for ponces.