My RS Focus.

[BelperJim]

Very nice. I see one of these most mornings on the way to work very purposeful.

[winshent]

I think Blukoo hit the nail on the head.. lots of these cars have been locked up in garages.. and used for weekends/ trackdays.. I've had mine for nearly two years now.. i bought it from the first owner with 12,000 miles on it.. and i've just cracked 20,000 miles only a couple of weeks ago..

They are great cars.. and with a few inexpensive tweaks can easily run 300bhp without problems.. most peeps upgrade the internals when going above 350bhp.. the standard engines strong.. and apparently are only £1900 new from Ford if you need to replace it..

Mine is still standard, but have got some bits on order.. will be the first time i've modded a car and cant wait until everything is on !!

Enjoy the car mate.. they look stunning.. and are a great drive..

PS I reckon Ford missed a trick with the new RS.. they should have offered a track specific option pack with cage.. semi slicks etc.. would have helped reduce the weight also.. as the MK2 is around 300kg heavier than the MK1 !!

[*Al*]

winshent said:

I think Blukoo hit the nail on the head.. lots of these cars have been locked up in garages.. and used for weekends/ trackdays.. I've had mine for nearly two years now.. i bought it from the first owner with 12,000 miles on it.. and i've just cracked 20,000 miles only a couple of weeks ago..

They are great cars.. and with a few inexpensive tweaks can easily run 300bhp without problems.. most peeps upgrade the internals when going above 350bhp.. the standard engines strong.. and apparently are only £1900 new from Ford if you need to replace it..

Mine is still standard, but have got some bits on order.. will be the first time i've modded a car and cant wait until everything is on !!

Enjoy the car mate.. they look stunning.. and are a great drive..

PS I reckon Ford missed a trick with the new RS.. they should have offered a track specific option pack with cage.. semi slicks etc.. would have helped reduce the weight also.. as the MK2 is around 300kg heavier than the MK1 !!

I'm quite excited about the MK2 FRS but it does look a bit on the lardy side!

[Mutton]

Very nice mate. I've had mine for over 4 years now and have loved every minute of owning and driving it - you won't be disappointed! If you are planning on modifying the car, make sure you get yourself on the FRS section of the RS Owners Club forum as there is a great amount of advice to be had about the various mods available for the car as well as the specialists you can use.

I caught the modding bug about 6 months into ownership (check my profile if you want to see the spec), and once you start it is hard to stop as the car handles the extra power very well indeed. Mines a daily driver (50K miles plus now) running nigh-on 300bhp with no problems.

[Allyc85]

I want one of these soo bad, awesome car

[JAYGTI]

id love one of those, it just looks so well put together, everything looks amazing as standard which is pretty rare lol

[vectra vxst200]

this is just me but i have never liked the focus find it to boring to drive and look at i prefur the astra vxr shame i cant affort 1

[winshent]

vectra vxst200 said:

this is just me but i have never liked the focus find it to boring to drive and look at i prefur the astra vxr shame i cant affort 1

I've driven an Astra VXR on track at brands and i've tracked my Focus RS a couple of times now. I would say that the astra was ok, nothing spectacular.. and from what i remember the gearbox and brakes werent all that.. and obviously 6 gears is more of a pain than 5 !! The Focus RS is renowned for being a well sorted car 'out of the box'..

Astra's are dull.. i dont think anyone can argue with that.. a bogo focus is pretty dull.. but an RS is a different kettle of fish altogether..

[wanacoop]

looks great! SW lad eh? Near Exeter?

Also, is that red TVR in the background with you??

[swanny71]

Did I see this Focus in Burley yesterday Al?

[*Al*]

swanny71 said:

Did I see this Focus in Burley yesterday Al?

Sorry not me.

Yes there is a TVR T350 in the background, well spotted.We were just after a location to take a few pics.

[ChapppeRS]

Nolar Dog said:

*Al* said:

Might have to get down to Fords for a test drive.

Don't. You won't want yours afterwards.
Seriously. Don't drive the new one if you've only just bought this one and you're not looking to change.

Back to yours: It looks lovely.

When these came out I went to see and drive one and I wasn't impressed and to this day I've not owned one as a "keeper" (I had one for 3 days )

Now though, the more I see them the more I want one. Yours is the second one I've seen on here in the last few weeks and they are really growing on me.
(I think the other guy is called ChappeRS? if you want to dig up his thread)

Good luck with it and keep us updated on it please?

Indeed it was me, i'll do an update soon. Biggest problem i'm having is bug splatter.. lol!

Can't fault mine. I've only ever had FWD cars mind and I don't mind a bit of a challenge. A professional rally driver recently drove mine (on a driver training day). He said they're all different because they were all finished away from, he had some input in the development of them. He also seemed to think mine was very well set up. Some can be very tail happy and some can be very nose heavy. Most of that could be to do with the tyres.

How many miles has yours done OP? Mine had been garaged all its life and only driven rarely. It's actually running a lot better having been driven, although i'm enjoying it too much I think.. piling on the miles!!!!

Edited by ChapppeRS on Tuesday 26th May 16:13

[*Al*]

ChapppeRS said:

Nolar Dog said:

*Al* said:

Might have to get down to Fords for a test drive.

Don't. You won't want yours afterwards.
Seriously. Don't drive the new one if you've only just bought this one and you're not looking to change.

Back to yours: It looks lovely.

When these came out I went to see and drive one and I wasn't impressed and to this day I've not owned one as a "keeper" (I had one for 3 days )

Now though, the more I see them the more I want one. Yours is the second one I've seen on here in the last few weeks and they are really growing on me.
(I think the other guy is called ChappeRS? if you want to dig up his thread)

Good luck with it and keep us updated on it please?

Indeed it was me, i'll do an update soon. Biggest problem i'm having is bug splatter.. lol!

Can't fault mine. I've only ever had FWD cars mind and I don't mind a bit of a challenge. A professional rally driver recently drove mine (on a driver training day). He said they're all different because they were all finished away from, he had some input in the development of them. He also seemed to think mine was very well set up. Some can be very tail happy and some can be very nose heavy. Most of that could be to do with the tyres.

How many miles has yours done OP? Mine had been garaged all its life and only driven rarely. It's actually running a lot better having been driven, although i'm enjoying it too much I think.. piling on the miles!!!!

Edited by ChapppeRS on Tuesday 26th May 16:13

Mileage is 53K.

[MattyB_]

Ford got the RS look spot on here, the Mk2 FRS is a mess.

Liking it alot

[nismo48]

Most "bogo" cars are a tad dull...I don't think you can say a VXR Astra is dull...Perhaps more common than the RS Focus...But still a good alternative in my opinion...

winshent said:

vectra vxst200 said:

this is just me but i have never liked the focus find it to boring to drive and look at i prefur the astra vxr shame i cant affort 1

I've driven an Astra VXR on track at brands and i've tracked my Focus RS a couple of times now. I would say that the astra was ok, nothing spectacular.. and from what i remember the gearbox and brakes werent all that.. and obviously 6 gears is more of a pain than 5 !! The Focus RS is renowned for being a well sorted car 'out of the box'..

Astra's are dull.. i dont think anyone can argue with that.. a bogo focus is pretty dull.. but an RS is a different kettle of fish altogether..

[ChapppeRS]

nismo48 said:

Most "bogo" cars are a tad dull...I don't think you can say a VXR Astra is dull...Perhaps more common than the RS Focus...But still a good alternative in my opinion...

winshent said:

vectra vxst200 said:

this is just me but i have never liked the focus find it to boring to drive and look at i prefur the astra vxr shame i cant affort 1

I've driven an Astra VXR on track at brands and i've tracked my Focus RS a couple of times now. I would say that the astra was ok, nothing spectacular.. and from what i remember the gearbox and brakes werent all that.. and obviously 6 gears is more of a pain than 5 !! The Focus RS is renowned for being a well sorted car 'out of the box'..

Astra's are dull.. i dont think anyone can argue with that.. a bogo focus is pretty dull.. but an RS is a different kettle of fish altogether..

Oh the astra VXR isn't dull... quite the opposite but it's a bit of a handful. Yes the Mk1 Focus RS can be a bit of a handful on bumpy lanes (until you get used to it - magazines that slated them never really had the luxury of owning one long term), but the VXR was a handful even on track. It never seems to settle on a course, perhaps has a bit more power than its chassis can handle.

That's the difference though. When Ford make an RS model, they do it properly and spend a lot of time on the engineering. Vauxhall put a bigger engine in, some larger tyres and firmer suspension and pray for the best... hence why they can do it across their entire range while Ford have to assess the profitability of each one they do, because the whole process takes longer and costs more.

Sorry to go off topic OP, feel free to drag my thread up and post an unrelated discussion in it... or we can seperate this out into a VX vs RS/ST thread if someone has any more to add!