RE: Ford Focus RS Red Edition: Driven

RE: Ford Focus RS Red Edition: Driven

Author
Discussion

dxbtiger

4,389 posts

172 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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Wish this was available here, it's completely the wrong kind of car really but I would chop the ST in immediately.

Grey for me.

MartinVert

46 posts

74 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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culpz said:
When i did a track day at Anglesey, last September, a guy from Belgium drove down in his Focus RS, hoofed it round the track all day, then drove back the next day and even went the long way and spanked it round some lovely roads around Wales. No issues, no fuss. He even took me out for a few passenger laps in it and he was peddling that thing hard. I was left very impressed, even after driving a 997 Carrera S all day.
Good sir you don't seem to realise how low you have set the bar by taking it to the point where if someone can drive an RS round a track for a few hours once without it conking out then that constitutes a victory. The other poster describing it as driving around in a hand grenade with the pin pulled out is apt. I've never been happier since I flogged mine (although I did have to lose more bags of sand than I'd wanted in the process but c'est la vie).

culpz

4,881 posts

111 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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MartinVert said:
Good sir you don't seem to realise how low you have set the bar by taking it to the point where if someone can drive an RS round a track for a few hours once without it conking out then that constitutes a victory. The other poster describing it as driving around in a hand grenade with the pin pulled out is apt. I've never been happier since I flogged mine (although I did have to lose more bags of sand than I'd wanted in the process but c'est la vie).
Ford are fixing all cars FOC, warranty or no warranty. Another option, rather than selling what appears to be a very good car, would be to get the work done and never experience the issue again.

However, It's good to see people who are more than happy to throw money away, get rid of the car and not go down the obvious route that Ford has quite openly admitted to and get the issue rectified wink

jonosterman

74 posts

91 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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culpz said:
Ford are fixing all cars FOC, warranty or no warranty. Another option, rather than selling what appears to be a very good car, would be to get the work done and never experience the issue again.

However, It's good to see people who are more than happy to throw money away, get rid of the car and not go down the obvious route that Ford has quite openly admitted to and get the issue rectified wink
That's all well and good, but how are you supposed to get rid of all your bags of sand otherwise?

MartinVert

46 posts

74 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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culpz said:
Ford are fixing all cars FOC, warranty or no warranty. Another option, rather than selling what appears to be a very good car, would be to get the work done and never experience the issue again.

However, It's good to see people who are more than happy to throw money away, get rid of the car and not go down the obvious route that Ford has quite openly admitted to and get the issue rectified wink
That wasn't the reason I got rid of the car. It was just an extra hassle worrying if it was going to go bang before I got shot of it. It's not 'throwing money away' to decide a car isn't for you and get rid of it - I think you'll find 99% of cars depreciate. I was just hoping I wouldn't lose quite as many bags of sand as I ended up doing but because this Focus hasn't lived up to the MK II it's not holding its value anywhere near as well as expected. Basically i got conned by the hype, hype that extends to blokes paying circa £40k for a red Focus. At 6% that money would be worth north of £150,000 in 30 years.

If you must know the final straw was when I was trying to turn round a mini roundabout in Luton and blokes in a white BMW were laughing at the turning circle.

RacerMike

4,192 posts

210 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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IanJ9375 said:
RacerMike said:
Worth mentioning that you can buy a kit that lowers the seats to a sensible height. I have them in mine and it transforms the car:

http://www.jcr-developments.com/ford
The later car has lowered seats compared to the early car already, this review has the feel of someone who's picked any negatives from previous reviews and collated them here.
The standard seats are only lowered 10mm over the originals which is still pretty high. The JCR kit drops it another 50mm which means it actually feels like your in the car for a change....

RacerMike

4,192 posts

210 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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Jonesy23 said:
IanJ9375 said:
RacerMike said:
Worth mentioning that you can buy a kit that lowers the seats to a sensible height. I have them in mine and it transforms the car:

http://www.jcr-developments.com/ford
The later car has lowered seats compared to the early car already, this review has the feel of someone who's picked any negatives from previous reviews and collated them here.
Only about half an inch lower but it's still better than nothing. Nothing particularly wrong with the seat height anyway unless you're a journo recycling copy.
I found the standard seat position horrendous. It was genuinely like being in a Transit. I appreciate that I probably like the seat lower than many (I've yet to drive a car that I don't end up having the seat as low as it'll go) but for someone who's 6ft 1 with long legs it was awful. If I put the sun visor down, I couldn't see the road as blocked the entire view of the road!

IanJ9375

1,467 posts

215 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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MartinVert said:
That wasn't the reason I got rid of the car. It was just an extra hassle worrying if it was going to go bang before I got shot of it. It's not 'throwing money away' to decide a car isn't for you and get rid of it - I think you'll find 99% of cars depreciate. I was just hoping I wouldn't lose quite as many bags of sand as I ended up doing but because this Focus hasn't lived up to the MK II it's not holding its value anywhere near as well as expected. Basically i got conned by the hype, hype that extends to blokes paying circa £40k for a red Focus. At 6% that money would be worth north of £150,000 in 30 years.

If you must know the final straw was when I was trying to turn round a mini roundabout in Luton and blokes in a white BMW were laughing at the turning circle.
Humandoing - you own a Fiesta ST not an RS, we're not even sure you actually took one for a test drive...

RacerMike

4,192 posts

210 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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MartinVert said:
That wasn't the reason I got rid of the car. It was just an extra hassle worrying if it was going to go bang before I got shot of it. It's not 'throwing money away' to decide a car isn't for you and get rid of it - I think you'll find 99% of cars depreciate. I was just hoping I wouldn't lose quite as many bags of sand as I ended up doing but because this Focus hasn't lived up to the MK II it's not holding its value anywhere near as well as expected. Basically i got conned by the hype, hype that extends to blokes paying circa £40k for a red Focus. At 6% that money would be worth north of £150,000 in 30 years.

If you must know the final straw was when I was trying to turn round a mini roundabout in Luton and blokes in a white BMW were laughing at the turning circle.
So to be clear:

1) You were worried that you might have to claim on the warranty again? Despite the fact that the issue is now fixed? And despite the fact that all cars have warranty issues.
2) You bought a £35k hot hatch and losing £7k on it is a surprise (bearing in mind you'd have left £10-15k on a Golf R over the same time)
3) £40k at 6% interest would be worth £150,000 after 30 years correct. How does this relate to a Focus RS? What did you have planned for your £150k (or £70k equivalent due to inflation) in 30 years time?
4) You got rid of a car because someone you don't know laughed at you. In Luton? Are you sure they weren't laughing at you because you didn't have a BNP sticker in your car?

IanJ9375

1,467 posts

215 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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RacerMike said:
The standard seats are only lowered 10mm over the originals which is still pretty high. The JCR kit drops it another 50mm which means it actually feels like your in the car for a change....
I wasn't sure on the drop - I've not looked into it as I'm actually quite happy with the seating position, I tend to sit upright due to a back bad years ago, think if the seat was any lower it would be more awkward to get in and out also (for me personally)

IanJ9375

1,467 posts

215 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
quotequote all
RacerMike said:
So to be clear:

1) You were worried that you might have to claim on the warranty again? Despite the fact that the issue is now fixed? And despite the fact that all cars have warranty issues.
2) You bought a £35k hot hatch and losing £7k on it is a surprise (bearing in mind you'd have left £10-15k on a Golf R over the same time)
3) £40k at 6% interest would be worth £150,000 after 30 years correct. How does this relate to a Focus RS? What did you have planned for your £150k (or £70k equivalent due to inflation) in 30 years time?
4) You got rid of a car because someone you don't know laughed at you. In Luton? Are you sure they weren't laughing at you because you didn't have a BNP sticker in your car?
It's Humandoing - an oxygen stealer, ignore him

culpz

4,881 posts

111 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
quotequote all
jonosterman said:
culpz said:
Ford are fixing all cars FOC, warranty or no warranty. Another option, rather than selling what appears to be a very good car, would be to get the work done and never experience the issue again.

However, It's good to see people who are more than happy to throw money away, get rid of the car and not go down the obvious route that Ford has quite openly admitted to and get the issue rectified wink
That's all well and good, but how are you supposed to get rid of all your bags of sand otherwise?
hehe

culpz

4,881 posts

111 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
quotequote all
MartinVert said:
That wasn't the reason I got rid of the car. It was just an extra hassle worrying if it was going to go bang before I got shot of it. It's not 'throwing money away' to decide a car isn't for you and get rid of it - I think you'll find 99% of cars depreciate. I was just hoping I wouldn't lose quite as many bags of sand as I ended up doing but because this Focus hasn't lived up to the MK II it's not holding its value anywhere near as well as expected. Basically i got conned by the hype, hype that extends to blokes paying circa £40k for a red Focus. At 6% that money would be worth north of £150,000 in 30 years.

If you must know the final straw was when I was trying to turn round a mini roundabout in Luton and blokes in a white BMW were laughing at the turning circle.
Sorry, all i heard there was "bags of sand" biggrin

RacerMike

4,192 posts

210 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
quotequote all
IanJ9375 said:
RacerMike said:
The standard seats are only lowered 10mm over the originals which is still pretty high. The JCR kit drops it another 50mm which means it actually feels like your in the car for a change....
I wasn't sure on the drop - I've not looked into it as I'm actually quite happy with the seating position, I tend to sit upright due to a back bad years ago, think if the seat was any lower it would be more awkward to get in and out also (for me personally)
Yeah, I'm also similar. I don't like the 'reclined' position many people seem to go for in cars (a friend of mine being literally terrible), but I'm just a lot happier being lower with the back upright. I added extra rake in the seat too which supports my thighs better and takes the pressure off my back. I also find it a lot easier to get in as you sit into the seat rather than up onto it.

IanJ9375

1,467 posts

215 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
quotequote all
RacerMike said:
Yeah, I'm also similar. I don't like the 'reclined' position many people seem to go for in cars (a friend of mine being literally terrible), but I'm just a lot happier being lower with the back upright. I added extra rake in the seat too which supports my thighs better and takes the pressure off my back. I also find it a lot easier to get in as you sit into the seat rather than up onto it.
Did you fit the diff in yours - can't remember if you did or not?
Be interested to hear your thoughts if you get a run in one of the Edition one's.

RacerMike

4,192 posts

210 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
quotequote all
IanJ9375 said:
RacerMike said:
Yeah, I'm also similar. I don't like the 'reclined' position many people seem to go for in cars (a friend of mine being literally terrible), but I'm just a lot happier being lower with the back upright. I added extra rake in the seat too which supports my thighs better and takes the pressure off my back. I also find it a lot easier to get in as you sit into the seat rather than up onto it.
Did you fit the diff in yours - can't remember if you did or not?
Be interested to hear your thoughts if you get a run in one of the Edition one's.
No diff in mine no. Just the FPM375 kit, Cup 2s (which have no actually been replaced with the SuperSports again) and seat frames. Would be interested t try a car with the diff. On track I can see where it might help, but I suspect on road you'd struggle to notice much of a difference. Many suggest that it helps with the torque steer, but I've found it's more to do with tyre pressure than anything else. If they're a bit low or imbalanced it's really bad.....

Swine Enthusiast

312 posts

103 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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I don't get this, the author complains about wrestling the steering wheel while piloting a hatchback with 376lb of over-boosted torque. How about we just take away any physical aspect of the car so you could turning on a kenwood blender while sliding up the road?

What is with this fascination to take all of the feel away from the experience of driving so it feels like you're actually driving pixels via a controller? If you want serene progress with barely any notion of fast progress, buy a second-hand flying spur.


gigglebug

2,611 posts

121 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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MartinVert said:
If you must know the final straw was when I was trying to turn round a mini roundabout in Luton and blokes in a white BMW were laughing at the turning circle.
Well all I can say is that it's a crying shame for you that something so trivial as the opinions of a couple of random folks ultimately made the difference Humandoing and I am genuinely surprised that you allowed this to be the case. I honestly would have expected more persistence and a whole lot less caring attitude to others thoughts from yourself especially considering the fact that your constant fabrications of reality on these forums have always been met with ridicule and derision from equally unknown other parties to yourself and yet you have always had the inclination to stand by your 'stories' and keep returning. I assumed you would have more backbone than that.

Alternatively it also begs the question that if you are so concerned as to take what strangers think of you and your actions so seriously why you would still be here and not have chopped in Pistonheads for something different a long time ago especially when all you have ever received on here is strangers pointing out how unfathomably pathetic you are? You wouldn't even have to worry about the depreciation considering it's a free forum.


Edited by gigglebug on Thursday 19th April 14:07

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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The blue looks better than the red. At least, from what's shown in this thread. I do wonder if this car is better suited to a range of pastel colours. No need for anything understated on this car, IMO.

An accessible price.


IanJ9375

1,467 posts

215 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
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RacerMike said:
No diff in mine no. Just the FPM375 kit, Cup 2s (which have no actually been replaced with the SuperSports again) and seat frames. Would be interested t try a car with the diff. On track I can see where it might help, but I suspect on road you'd struggle to notice much of a difference. Many suggest that it helps with the torque steer, but I've found it's more to do with tyre pressure than anything else. If they're a bit low or imbalanced it's really bad.....
I'll look for some PS4s when the time is due, be interested to hear any feedback if you get a chance at a diff equipped car - I'm enjoying the FPM kit so far, I'd consider it a must have to be honest.