RE: Focus RS is Car of the Year
Friday 28th February 2003
Focus RS is Car of the Year
Top Gear dish out two gongs to Ford
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Ford's Focus RS has won Top Gear Magazine's 'Best Driver’s Car' and the overall ‘Car of the Year’ trophies.
Despite many criticisms from many quarters of its front differential affecting the steering, Top Gear granted the awards to Ford, saying "Whether carving across a B-road, tackling the test track or raging around a race track, the Focus RS fizzes with a frenzied excitement no rival can come close to capturing… We jumped out of it, grinning broadly and knew we’d found a winner".
There's been plenty of demand for the new car. The RS brand creates excitement and this is the first RS for some years. The Focus RS is now officially sold out in the UK, with all the first year’s production of 2000 cars now taken up.
Ford Focus brand manager, Cathy Davies, said: "This award, together with the news our first year's production is now sold out, truly vindicates our passion for the RS".
Over to you - have TG made the right choice? What's your drivers' car of the year?
Discussion
How about the DEFINITIVE test - Pistonheads?
I cannot honestly remember a car giving such an equal number of both positive and negative conclusions apropos handling. Certain mags I've read say its the best thing since sliced bread. Others say the Quaife (sp?) diff makes it twitchy and unpredictable.
I guess the main problem is that you can't get a test drive of one for love or money?
Oh, and the blue alcantera inside looks bloody awful, in my humblest opinion.
I cannot honestly remember a car giving such an equal number of both positive and negative conclusions apropos handling. Certain mags I've read say its the best thing since sliced bread. Others say the Quaife (sp?) diff makes it twitchy and unpredictable.
I guess the main problem is that you can't get a test drive of one for love or money?
Oh, and the blue alcantera inside looks bloody awful, in my humblest opinion.
As an ST170 owner, I didn't buy an RS because a) they couldn't get one for me for six months and b) if I were going to spend over £20k on a car, I wouldn't buy a hatchback, frankly.
So I'm waiting to find a car that can replace the ST170 (which is fine for what it is but, let's face it, after a Chimaera, doesn't quite have that je ne c'est quoi) and which I can afford to run.
Maybe a 968, having seen one at the garage the other day....
[Edited to change 928 to 968 (d'oh!)]
>> Edited by manek on Friday 28th February 12:47
So I'm waiting to find a car that can replace the ST170 (which is fine for what it is but, let's face it, after a Chimaera, doesn't quite have that je ne c'est quoi) and which I can afford to run.
Maybe a 968, having seen one at the garage the other day....
[Edited to change 928 to 968 (d'oh!)]
>> Edited by manek on Friday 28th February 12:47
The main problem with all FORDs is the dealers. They're bl**dy awful. Having owned several (and now never again) I can confidently say I wouldn't trust a dealer to polish a turd. The servicing/fixing is performed by monkeys that seem to apply a hammer to everything. They treat you like crap and thrash your car into the bargain!
manek said: As an ST170 owner, I didn't buy an RS because a) they couldn't get one for me for six months and b) if I were going to spend over £20k on a car, I wouldn't buy a hatchback, frankly.
So I'm waiting to find a car that can replace the ST170 (which is fine for what it is but, let's face it, after a Chimaera, doesn't quite have that je ne c'est quoi) and which I can afford to run.
Maybe a 968, having seen one at the garage the other day....
[Edited to change 928 to 968 (d'oh!)]
>> Edited by manek on Friday 28th February 12:47
968, niice. Handles properly too (compared to Chimpari)
The only way this car got Car of the Year is because (1) Top Gear's editor thought this would sell more copies of the magazine, and (2) the journalists were maxibg the kick backs.
Whatever gizmo you use to glue these cars to the road, you just can get round the fact they are front wheel drive cars and drive like front wheel drive cars do. As you can buy a brand new WRX at 4k less, why bother with this go kart.
Let's wait for the Cosworth to see if Ford can produce a true driver's car.
Whatever gizmo you use to glue these cars to the road, you just can get round the fact they are front wheel drive cars and drive like front wheel drive cars do. As you can buy a brand new WRX at 4k less, why bother with this go kart.
Let's wait for the Cosworth to see if Ford can produce a true driver's car.
trefor said:
manek said: As an ST170 owner, I didn't buy an RS because a) they couldn't get one for me for six months and b) if I were going to spend over £20k on a car, I wouldn't buy a hatchback, frankly.
So I'm waiting to find a car that can replace the ST170 (which is fine for what it is but, let's face it, after a Chimaera, doesn't quite have that je ne c'est quoi) and which I can afford to run.
Maybe a 968, having seen one at the garage the other day....
[Edited to change 928 to 968 (d'oh!)]
>> Edited by manek on Friday 28th February 12:47
968, niice. Handles properly too (compared to Chimpari)
Yes, been doing some research and the more I look at the 968 the more I like it (though a 928 might be nice, if pricey!). Pity it's only a 4-pot though that's about the only minus point. It looks good, has good performance and should be reliable.
Having done a trip to the south of France and back in the Focus, I'm find myself getting a bit bored with the car already. I mean, it's nice and all that and it goes reasonably well but...
nre said:
Thom said: Focus RS: 212 bhp FWD
Alfa Romeo 147 GTA: 247 bhp FWD
Is so much horsepower really fun on FWD cars?
>> Edited by Thom on Friday 28th February 15:23
With a 220 bhp FWD
YES
your kidding right?
fwd isnt fun it never has been fun and it never will be fun.
its sipmly a way of producing cars more cheaply and giving more space inside a car for the same wieght/engine size.
all fwd understeer horrendously.the more power you put at it the worse it gets.
how can going straight on at corners be fun?
then theres the off the line torque steer.
how can the buckung bronco start line thing be fun?
im not saying fwd cant be fast or quick round a track.
but fun?
compare round the same track.
150 bhp rwd car 1000kg lsd and a driver=big big big fun on all corners,straights are dull in any car.
same track same 1000kg,same 150 bhp.
fwd show me the fun.ok you can pull the handbrake and get the back out and ill admit that is a laugh,but nobody does it(ok hardly ever)straights are still dull.
ive driven a friends rs focus and on biliard table smooth tarmac its a very quick car(not fun just quick very quick)but on real roads with some bumps it turns into an uncontrolable monster(still not fun)but all over the road.
i wont be in the line to buy one,
accident said:all fwd understeer horrendously.the more power you put at it the worse it gets.
how can going straight on at corners be fun?
then theres the off the line torque steer.
I would challenge both those statements. You should try some more decent FWD cars before generalising like that.
I have a Corrado with over 200bhp/200lb/ft and it suffers from neither of these traits either on road or track. More to the point though I have a friend with a supercharged Corrado VR6 example (280bhp) which also does not suffer from either of the traits you describe.
Of course you don't get power oversteer coming out of bends, but believe me balanced, high speed 4W drifts are not the exclusive domain of RWD cars.
>> Edited by corozin on Saturday 1st March 00:54
your kidding right?
fwd isnt fun it never has been fun and it never will be fun.
its sipmly a way of producing cars more cheaply and giving more space inside a car for the same wieght/engine size.
all fwd understeer horrendously.the more power you put at it the worse it gets.
how can going straight on at corners be fun?
then theres the off the line torque steer.
how can the buckung bronco start line thing be fun?
im not saying fwd cant be fast or quick round a track.
but fun?
Simply not true the M100 Elan for example was definately fun to drive. You can happily balance the understeer and oversteer by using the throttle. Not that you got understeer unless you were trying to break the laws of physics it was that good.
Equally I have a lot of fun in my mini cooper (old style). Okay so its not the fastest car in the world but its still a good giggle esp on the nice twisty country roads. It has go-kart handling which puts a smile on most peoples faces.
I think you are generalising Accident, there are a lot of fine FWD cars out there that are definately fun to drive (I've named just two as I have experience and owned both). The problem is that there are also a lot of awful FWD shopping trolly cars that aren't, perhaps your experienec was in one of those.
manek said:Yes, been doing some research and the more I look at the 968 the more I like it (though a 928 might be nice, if pricey!). Pity it's only a 4-pot though that's about the only minus point. It looks good, has good performance and should be reliable.
You shouldn't think it's a pity as it definitely isn't like any given four pot. You would be amazed how flexible and responsive that engine is.
Like many people who judge only on the engine I suppose you haven't driven one yet otherwise I'm sure you would not bother it being "only" a four pot
Try one as soon as you can. I bet you will enjoy it.
Someone has a case of "I dislike FF setup therefore, I must be a racer". There's more to life than power oversteer.
Anyhow, a 1000kg FR won't race a 1000kg FF. It'll race a cheaperoutright 960kg FF. The chassis doesn't need to be braced so much for reasons of torque flex and secondly no driveshaft weight and more compact mountings.
FR may be better but that doesn't make it hard to have a fun FF. All you need is the right balance and feel.
I'd have voted for the 350Z ahead of the RS... saw one the other day. Just beautiful. I bet it handles nicely, brakes well and would revv quite a treat with no snail.
Anyhow, a 1000kg FR won't race a 1000kg FF. It'll race a cheaperoutright 960kg FF. The chassis doesn't need to be braced so much for reasons of torque flex and secondly no driveshaft weight and more compact mountings.
FR may be better but that doesn't make it hard to have a fun FF. All you need is the right balance and feel.
I'd have voted for the 350Z ahead of the RS... saw one the other day. Just beautiful. I bet it handles nicely, brakes well and would revv quite a treat with no snail.
smeagol said:
Equally I have a lot of fun in my mini cooper (old style). Okay so its not the fastest car in the world but its still a good giggle esp on the nice twisty country roads. It has go-kart handling which puts a smile on most peoples faces.
dont get me started on how i feel about mini's
i dont know perhaps i just dont like fwd.
or perhaps i cant drive fwd cars properly.
but i grew up on a diet of bad handling under powered rwd cars.so i got used to going slowly and accepting that the only way to steer these barges was with the back end.
so as more money became available the cars got more power better handling but the whole steer with the back attitude remained,i still dont go fast but i do go sideways a lot.
as for 4wd yes there is a lot of pleasure to be had doing massive 4 wheel drifts through corners.the problem is that the speeds involved get so high that if you do get it a bit wrong,instead of just a mild spin in a rwd it turns into a massive off in a 4wd.
i dont know pehaps im missing the "fun" of fwd due to my attitude(prejudice?)toward fwd.
ill admit that fwd can be fast,the focus rs will drive rings round a rwd sierra cosworth on track.
oh and ive driven a whole bunch of vw range including corrado,and yes it understeed like a moose(love the superchaged engine though).
lets agree to differ and leave it at that.
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