RE: Volkswagen T-Roc R vs Ford Focus ST Estate

[G.Fraser]

RemarkLima said:

Ended up doing this last year and went down the "Buy cheap, buy twice" mentality, so splurged on a Thule kit

Thule 927002 VeloCompact
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B078G9QVF4/r...

Thule 926101 (Additional bike extension)
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B019PYQY6K/r...

So about £500 all in but it's a really solid bit of kit - had some friend following us around the peak district and they said it did not budge one bit... Plus it can flip down so you can still access the boot with it attached. Oh, and everything locks into place and has keys so a well done solution.

Thanks ever so much, I’ll take a look!

[mooseracer]

HardtopManual said:

I'd really like to replace our Golf estate with another Golf (or Octavia) estate. But the roads are now in such a crap state, and are full of SUVs to the point that it's a genuine disadvantage to sit at "normal car" level in traffic. So it'll have to be a SUV. I really wish this wasn't the case.

Go the whole hog and buy a lorry.

[MC Bodge]

mooseracer said:

HardtopManual said:

I'd really like to replace our Golf estate with another Golf (or Octavia) estate. But the roads are now in such a crap state, and are full of SUVs to the point that it's a genuine disadvantage to sit at "normal car" level in traffic. So it'll have to be a SUV. I really wish this wasn't the case.

Go the whole hog and buy a lorry.

HardtopManual wants an SUV, he is just pretending that there are important reasons.

[Kenny Powers]

G.Fraser said:

I picked up my Focus ST estate last weekend and I'm dead chuffed with it! It was very, very difficult to part with my Mountuned Mk2 ST but the new car is great for my kids now that they're getting bigger. I've not properly got my toe down yet as still running in, but it feels much more serious than my Mk2 did when it was standard.

I'm a big fan of the Mk2's looks and I did feel as though one of the compromises of changing was aesthetic appeal, but actually I am much happier with the looks now I have the car.

Just to pick up the article on a couple of points, firstly only the hatchback has adaptive dampers as they are fixed on the estate. Secondly, track mode is only available as part of the Performance Pack, which itself is only an option for the hatchback. That is, unless Ford have changed the option availability since I ordered last November, which would be a bit annoying as I would've had the Performance Pack!

Some pics of my new baby at collection last week!

That is really nice! I tip my hat to you sir. Although it continues to bug me that this colour is referred to as being orange. It's YELLOW

(with some orange in it)

[anonymous-user]

Looks about as orange as an actual orange to me. Yellow is a totally different colour.

[hothatchery7]

Focus st all the way. The way it’s written you can just tell there’s a bias towards the vw, when actually the only drivers car out the two is the ford.

[anonymous-user]

Kenny Powers said:

That is really nice! I tip my hat to you sir. Although it continues to bug me that this colour is referred to as being orange. It's YELLOW

(with some orange in it)

It's orange.

I thought it was called Tangerine Scream, or is that just the old orange ford colour?

[Kenny Powers]

Elatino1 said:

Looks about as orange as an actual orange to me. Yellow is a totally different colour.

I think it’s possibly one of those colours that borders on the edge and is interpreted differently by different people. To my eyes it’s more yellow than orange. But, the important thing is that it looks great. I love a good Ford, and I’d be happy for that to be my daily steed for a few years.

EDIT: cross-posted with above. Yes I know it’s supposed to be orange, but it’s yellow

EDIT2: Granted it does look tangerine, but that begs the question - is a tangerine orange or yellow. Or both?

Edited by Kenny Powers on Sunday 26th January 08:09

[G.Fraser]

[Puts on spectacles and voice becomes adenoidal] The ST only orange colours from the last few years are as follows:

Mk2 = Electric Orange
Mk3 = Tangerine Scream
Mk4 (current one) = Orange Fury

I can confirm that the current one is definitely orange! Although it is admittedly it’s a fairly yellowy orange.

[selym]

ToothbrushMan said:

Water Fairy said:

And for good reason I say.

The Focus is more practical, more economical, a lot cheaper, just as quick once you're off the mark and more fun when you're on it.

They'll sell loads more T-Rocs.................................

some might just see the 4.8s to 62 time and think thats all there is to their life.....

Exactly, it's a really bad representation of an SUV's performance (or lack thereof), but a good way to hook punters. Ragging something like that up and down a straight is going to get boring fast.

[Hackney]

nickfrog said:

macky17 said:

If you insist on needing to see over hedges or have a ‘high kerb’ to contend with I suppose I get it but otherwise, accept that you’re buying a vehicle which is inferior dynamically to a good estate. It just is. And if that doesn’t bother you, surely this is the wrong site? Add in greater practicality of the estate and what does that leave of

I don't understand your rationale. I find SUVs far more practical than estates, yet they are shorter for the same interior volume (a good thing for me). Also, with the added wheel travel and ground clearance they take me places an estate won't without the need for an off roader. I prefer the driving position too for mere road use and they are much better on potholes, what with the taller tyres and longer travel.
Are they inferior dynamically? Of course they are, but to some like me it's of absolutely zero importance for family transport and on the road. I don't use them for track days, I have the Meg for that.
Why is this the wrong site? Can't people have more than 1 car for different purposes?
Go to any TD paddock and many track cars are trailered by SUVs. Should the owners not be on PH?
Estates are brilliant for some, which is fair enough Just accept that SUVs are better for others without necessarily drawing conclusions about their driver.

Edited by nickfrog on Saturday 25th January 18:27

If you have more than one car then there's much less reason to compromise.
For most / many people they have one car, so they don't have a Megane for track and an SUV to get it there. They have a car that has to take the family on a day trip and be fun on track or B road.
The fact is an SUV is a compromise too far if you want fun.... and space. These two cars are in the same price band (as is the Golf R estate) and the estate has loads more space for passengers and luggage. You need to go up a size of SUV to get the same space as the Focus and therefore face a significant increase in cost.

The tire wall argument doesn't hold either given the complete lack of taller tyres on the Troc R.

I've had a Golf R estate and a Focus ST Estate. And while I've looked at sporty SUVs the compromises are too great for me to even consider one.

[ajap1979]

I’ll stick with this thanks, the T-Roc is hideously overpriced, especially once you get in to “must have” options.

[Howrare]

Just ordered a Focus Estate ST Line X 2.0 Ecoblue. I had given up on the idea of buying a Ford. The dealer's are awful and trying to get a proper test drive was painful. Was going for an A Class AMG Line but then ended up in a rental Focus Hatch for a month and it was such a hoot to drive I changed my mind. The interior is awful to look at and quality is laughable but it does work well. Far easier to get the bike in the back too, and if like me you may be doing a day's work whilst needing to carry the bike, using racks is a non starter.

[nickfrog]

Hackney said:

If you have more than one car then there's much less reason to compromise.
For most / many people they have one car, so they don't have a Megane for track and an SUV to get it there. They have a car that has to take the family on a day trip and be fun on track or B road.
The fact is an SUV is a compromise too far if you want fun.... and space. These two cars are in the same price band (as is the Golf R estate) and the estate has loads more space for passengers and luggage. You need to go up a size of SUV to get the same space as the Focus and therefore face a significant increase in cost.

The tire wall argument doesn't hold either given the complete lack of taller tyres on the Troc R.

I totally agree. If I could only have one car, it wouldn't be a SUV, sadly.

We were talking about SUVs in general, where the direct equivalent of a Golf or Focus estate is the Tiguan or Kuga. Both are more expensive but depreciate slower so very little in it. As for tall tyres, you're quite right about the R but all others tend to have taller tyres. Our Karoq was on 17' balloon tyres which have a great ride.

[Hackney]

ajap1979 said:

I’ll stick with this thanks, the T-Roc is hideously overpriced, especially once you get in to “must have” options.

Excellent choice. Short of a lottery win the replacement for my Focus ST will be a 310PS Golf R estate.
Only got rid of the last one because I was going waaaaaaaay over the agreed PCP mileage and the longer I kept it the more it would cost.

[wab172uk]

I always thought it a shame VW didn't give the Tiguan the Golf R engine. Best you can get is 230bhp, which is quite poor really.

Given the Q3-RS has 400 bhp, it was hardly going to step on it's toes.

[ajap1979]

wab172uk said:

I always thought it a shame VW didn't give the Tiguan the Golf R engine. Best you can get is 230bhp, which is quite poor really.

Given the Q3-RS has 400 bhp, it was hardly going to step on it's toes.

At one time there were rumours they were putting the 5 pot in it.

[James_33]

wab172uk said:

I always thought it a shame VW didn't give the Tiguan the Golf R engine. Best you can get is 230bhp, which is quite poor really.

Given the Q3-RS has 400 bhp, it was hardly going to step on it's toes.

But then to be fair the Q3 RS is about the best part of £15-£20k difference in price, even if you did want to tune the Tiguan it wouldn't cost you the difference in price to get close to that level of power.

[G.Fraser]

ajap1979 said:

I’ll stick with this thanks, the T-Roc is hideously overpriced, especially once you get in to “must have” options.

Very nice!

[Water Fairy]

The thing is though, there is sooo much choice these days that there really isn't a need to compromise imho.

Each to their own at the end of the day. Just don't buy a howler then try and justify it to everyone.