RE: Ford Focus RS (Mk1): Spotted
Discussion
DoubleD said:
Ha ha. Well I consider purchase costs, obviously so I can see if I can afford to buy it. Something that wont lose a ton of cash while I own it is also rather nice, but I wouldntbuy a car that I didnt want just because it held its value.
I can only actually think of one car that I have had any sort of ownership regrets over and that had nothing to do with the car itself, it's just my partner decided that getting pregnant was the obvious thing to do just after we'd spent all of our disposable cash on a tiny two seat sports car. It had to go before I'd had the chance to enjoy it properly for a while which was a shame. I've done OK on a few cars when I've sold them on but it was only pot luck really and had nothing to do with me being clever or forward thinking about it. I just don't personally see the point of worrying about what a car will be worth when I'm done with it. So long as I've had my enjoyment from them their worth at the end is largly irrelevant to me. I don't but to invest, I buy because I want. I don't change cars very often and I've hardly ever traded in so I don't take depreciation into account when I make a purchase. I buy what I fancy at the time within a price bracket I can afford then enjoy it. Car-Matt said:
Unless you’re buying cheap cars and running them into the ground the yes I’d say your not honest.
I am of course using the unsaid caveat that we are talking about cars with a value at purchase price and will still have a value at resale time
Not £1k snotters
Ooh. I'm a bullsI am of course using the unsaid caveat that we are talking about cars with a value at purchase price and will still have a value at resale time
Not £1k snotters
tter apparently according to Matt. I won't be losing any sleep over it. DoubleD said:
Renault interiors arent very good, but the interior of that focus is plain nasty. I dont know if I want to laugh, or be sick.
It's not aged well has it!Externally it's one of those car that just look right to me though. It's got subtle aggression. Not overly flashy. The M3 CSL had it in spades too.
gigglebug said:
DoubleD said:
Renault interiors arent very good, but the interior of that focus is plain nasty. I dont know if I want to laugh, or be sick.
It's not aged well has it!Externally it's one of those car that just look right to me though. It's got subtle aggression. Not overly flashy. The M3 CSL had it in spades too.
Jonesy23 said:
s m said:
Looks like you can get a Focus RS for under 10k with a 60 second search on EBay.
Quite possibly full of rot though, or otherwise needing expensive/unobtainium bits. Not that a £15K modified one would be top of my list anyway if I wanted to get back into one.
They always seem to find a more expensive example of the car for the Spotted threads though, irrespective of the marque
I always wanted one of these or the mk4 Escort RS turbo! too young to afford to buy or insure either though.
Has anyone driven or owned the mk1 focus RS and driven or owned the mk7 fiesta ST. Both are similar weight and power, be interesting to know how close the fez is to the old focus RS.
Has anyone driven or owned the mk1 focus RS and driven or owned the mk7 fiesta ST. Both are similar weight and power, be interesting to know how close the fez is to the old focus RS.
SidewaysSi said:
ZX10R NIN said:
SidewaysSi said:
For similarish money you are into 265/275 Cup territory which would slaughter the old Ford. If it is Ohlins equipped then even more so.
An R26 is about a third of the price of the Focus so in today's money not really a competitor.
You're not comparing apples with apples though are you, it's comparable competitor was the R26 R which was a better drivers car but didn't slaughter the FRS & also remember the FRS came out a fair bit before the R26.R take a look at the prices of those:An R26 is about a third of the price of the Focus so in today's money not really a competitor.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
In 2002 when this was launched there was nothing close to it & when the RS225 was launched in 2004 it wasn't a great hot hatch & it didn't actually become a good drivers hatch until the R26 was introduced.
I set a budget then buy a car as opposed to the other way around.
I remember when these were about £7-8K about 3 Christmas' ago and I said to my wife, they would be a brilliant buy, due to the way Escort Cossie prices were going. They certainly haven't disappointed me and I reckon the hot Mk1 Focus' will continue to appreciate, just like all the other old Fords which frankly were far inferior to drive, i.e. Escort XR3i, XR2 etc.
I'd happily give a home to a Focus RS or a Meg RS Btw, I'm a huge fan of both!
stargazer30 said:
Has anyone driven or owned the mk1 focus RS and driven or owned the mk7 fiesta ST. Both are similar weight and power, be interesting to know how close the fez is to the old focus RS.
I was always a huge fan of the mk1 RS to look at, but unfortunately I've never had the opportunity to drive one.My current car is a mk7 ST. I can't tell you how it compares to the RS, but I can tell you that it's a complete blast. Depending on what you plan to use it for, it has the added benefit of being (I suspect) far easier to maintain.
I imagine the RS is a fair bit more hardcore, despite the similar power/weight statistics. But to me at least, the ST is a fabulous compromise given the level of driving enjoyment it provides, while still being affordable to run.
I owned one from new. I had come from a RS Cosworth 4X4 and was a bit underwhelmed, it didn't really seem to be progress. It was marginally faster and the handling felt sharper, but the grip and feel were not as good. The seat was too high, and it drank a fair bit more than the Sierra. The biggest disappointment was the brakes, the abs came in way too early, and really detracted from my confidence, although I seem to be in a minority on that. Mine did suffer from torque-steer, it was just about manageable. Its greatest party piece was the phenomenal traction out of tight bends wet or dry, the locked-down feeling never failed to amaze me, and was better than several 4 wheel drive cars including the Sierra.
Would I buy another one now? No, I would probably be disappointed, the game has moved on. But they still look really good as standard, sadly far too many have been chavved-up.
Would I buy another one now? No, I would probably be disappointed, the game has moved on. But they still look really good as standard, sadly far too many have been chavved-up.
SidewaysSi said:
I largely agree re. closest competitor. But if today you wanted a road and track hot hatch with your £15k and it was between this and the later Meg, I can't see why you would go for the Ford.
I set a budget then buy a car as opposed to the other way around.
They're two different markets though a ones a modern classic that'll be someone's garage queen the other (RS265/VXR/Giulietta TBI etc) are modern day hot hatches that will be most people's daily's. So while the prices are the same there usage will be very different.I set a budget then buy a car as opposed to the other way around.
I wouldn't have bought one 10 years ago to use, let alone now.
I still think they're a great looking thing from the outside and an interesting thing when you look what was done to put it together. So great as a thing to possess.
But even 10 years ago I'd have been jumpy about maintaining one and for driving although it was nice at the time things did move on quickly and in many ways it wasn't even that spectacular when new. The ST170 generally felt a more special car to drive even if the RS was quicker - my main memory of the RS is that the in-gear acceleration was good but quite a lot else wasn't notable. And by the time the Mk2 ST came along there was little driving argument to support having the RS.
And the interior was a real mix of special bits (the mats, the leather handbook, carbon, aluminium and real leather in place of faux) and stuff from the absolute bottom of the range (and pre-facelift at that). When new it felt cheaper than it should have and although the Mk1 ergonomics were great the styling didn't age well.
They're an interesting thing and deserve to be cherished but I think we're well outside the window of something you'd sensibly choose as a normal car purchase for anything like daily or track use. There are better options. Buy one to keep standard, keep dry and polish.
I still think they're a great looking thing from the outside and an interesting thing when you look what was done to put it together. So great as a thing to possess.
But even 10 years ago I'd have been jumpy about maintaining one and for driving although it was nice at the time things did move on quickly and in many ways it wasn't even that spectacular when new. The ST170 generally felt a more special car to drive even if the RS was quicker - my main memory of the RS is that the in-gear acceleration was good but quite a lot else wasn't notable. And by the time the Mk2 ST came along there was little driving argument to support having the RS.
And the interior was a real mix of special bits (the mats, the leather handbook, carbon, aluminium and real leather in place of faux) and stuff from the absolute bottom of the range (and pre-facelift at that). When new it felt cheaper than it should have and although the Mk1 ergonomics were great the styling didn't age well.
They're an interesting thing and deserve to be cherished but I think we're well outside the window of something you'd sensibly choose as a normal car purchase for anything like daily or track use. There are better options. Buy one to keep standard, keep dry and polish.
blade7 said:
Car-Matt said:
Funny that, you seem to know the current market value so you have considered the price and quoted it back to us for posterity
Lololololol
The hard of thinking are easily amused. Lololololol
Last time I looked in any detail ie going to see them after finding the ad online there were a lot out there that weren’t quite as nice as the owners thought ( either known or unknown to the owner )
When these dropped to £6-7k they were accessible to people who couldn’t afford to look after them well and there’s also a lot of badly repaired and badly modded ( and subsequently badly unmodded) ones out there.
That’s not to say you won’t find a good one for less then £15k but you may have to do a fair bit of sifting first IMO
When these dropped to £6-7k they were accessible to people who couldn’t afford to look after them well and there’s also a lot of badly repaired and badly modded ( and subsequently badly unmodded) ones out there.
That’s not to say you won’t find a good one for less then £15k but you may have to do a fair bit of sifting first IMO
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