Mk1 Focus RS vs R26

[sandbagsniper]

Has anybody driven a mk1 focus RS? What are they like? They seem to be holding value between £6-8k. I don’t remember them getting excellent reviews when they came out but I quite want one.
However:
For the same money, I could get my hands on a good low mileage R26(5 years younger) which I guess is the better/faster/safer more comfortable drivers car. Ugly car in my opinion, but as a tool I think it will be better day-to-day and when pressing on.

Please don’t suggest other cars I could get for £6-8k. I know. But thanks

[stew-S160]

No, no one has ever driven a MK1 RS.

Nor have there ever been comparisons between them on PH...

[sandbagsniper]

stew-S160 said:

No, no one has ever driven a MK1 RS.

Nor have there ever been comparisons between them on PH...

Thanks Stu, I should have made it clearer in my title so you wouldn't accidentally stumble on my thread thinking it was about ripped abs and deadlift advice. What would you like to talk about? More of your topics about protein shakes and communal showers?

Edited by sandbagsniper on Tuesday 15th January 12:53

[mat205125]

sandbagsniper said:

stew-S160 said:

No, no one has ever driven a MK1 RS.

Nor have there ever been comparisons between them on PH...

Thanks Stu, I should have made it clearer in my title so you wouldn't accidentally stumble on my thread thinking it was about ripped abs and deadlift advice. What would you like to talk about? More of your topics about protein shakes and communal showers?

touche

On topic:

I've never driven the Mk1 RS, however ridden in one, and the only R26 I have driven was teh R26R that I hired from RSR at the Nurburgring last year.

From those experiences, I think you are right to hypothesise that the R26 will be the faster car against the clock in any given situation. If the normal non-R car is half as good as the R, it will be a great drive too.

HOWEVER:

The Mk1 RS is worth £7k today, and will be worth £7k (ish) forever. It's an RS Ford, and as such will plateau in value at an increasingly uncomfortable price for those looking to experience one. It also looks fabulous, and has a real "personality" - it's idiosyncratic ATB diff adds to it's appeal IMO. It'll always be linked (tenuously) to the one and only Colin McRae, just as the NSX is equally linked to Ayrton Senna.

Both are great cars, IMO, however I think from the above you can guess where my money would go .... I'd love an R26R, and would choose an R26 if I wanted to use it as a base for an awesome tool that I'd accept would depreciate to pennys, however as a longer term proposition, and a car to covet, I'd take the RS personally.

[sandbagsniper]

Yeah, the RS will hold its value as it is almost a cult car now. I really like them. However I test drove an R26 when we bought the wife's clio197 and it was a really nice place to be.
RS may be a case of letting my heart rule my head. I am stuck. There is an RS 2 miles from my house so I might test it. However, I struggle to judge a car on a 10 minute run.

[GG89]

sandbagsniper said:

stew-S160 said:

No, no one has ever driven a MK1 RS.

Nor have there ever been comparisons between them on PH...

Thanks Stu, I should have made it clearer in my title so you wouldn't accidentally stumble on my thread thinking it was about ripped abs and deadlift advice. What would you like to talk about? More of your topics about protein shakes and communal showers?

Edited by sandbagsniper on Tuesday 15th January 12:53

[stew-S160]

sandbagsniper said:

stew-S160 said:

No, no one has ever driven a MK1 RS.

Nor have there ever been comparisons between them on PH...

Thanks Stu, I should have made it clearer in my title so you wouldn't accidentally stumble on my thread thinking it was about ripped abs and deadlift advice. What would you like to talk about? More of your topics about protein shakes and communal showers?

Edited by sandbagsniper on Tuesday 15th January 12:53

I'll even give that a

[sandbagsniper]

stew-S160 said:

sandbagsniper said:

stew-S160 said:

No, no one has ever driven a MK1 RS.

Nor have there ever been comparisons between them on PH...

Thanks Stu, I should have made it clearer in my title so you wouldn't accidentally stumble on my thread thinking it was about ripped abs and deadlift advice. What would you like to talk about? More of your topics about protein shakes and communal showers?

Edited by sandbagsniper on Tuesday 15th January 12:53

I'll even give that a

Well done mate, a bit of friendly banter. Nowt personal. Anyway - can somebody clear this up before I buy a 10 year old focus?

[RobCrezz]

sandbagsniper said:

Thanks Stu, I should have made it clearer in my title so you wouldn't accidentally stumble on my thread thinking it was about ripped abs and deadlift advice. What would you like to talk about? More of your topics about protein shakes and communal showers?

Edited by sandbagsniper on Tuesday 15th January 12:53

I would go for the Focus RS. The megane is probably technically better, but I prefer the looks and the character of the RS.

[Porkie]

Buy the Focus. Awesome car. I even like the interior!

I am trying to think of an excuse to buy one as well.

[SuperVM]

sandbagsniper said:

Well done mate, a bit of friendly banter. Nowt personal. Anyway - can somebody clear this up before I buy a 10 year old focus?

If you bought the Focus RS and hated it, you could sell it without having lost a penny on it. Can the same be said for the R26? I've not driven either, so my opinion counts for nothing really, but I'd have the Focus RS.

[LongLiveTazio]

Really like the Focus, think the shape has matured nicely and surely there are loads of specialists around now who can sort issues?

[Porkie]

I'd use Rob at SCC to look after a Focus RS. He had one from brand new and looked after zillions.

[Checkmate]

Having driven the focus and passengered in one a fair bit, I'd go for the megane. The drive isn't all its cracked up to be IMO. Not a great feel. Trying to throw you around the place. Bit unable to deal with itself. There is no way I could live with that interior either, it is awful. Horrid plastics and uncomfortable seats. They look nice, yes, and probably better as an investment, but that isn't what a car is about.

[SuperchargedVR6]

sandbagsniper said:

Has anybody driven a mk1 focus RS? What are they like? They seem to be holding value between £6-8k. I don’t remember them getting excellent reviews when they came out but I quite want one.

Wasn't that mainly because of it's Quaife diff? Having had the same diff in my old FWD lunatic machine, I can totally vouch for it's lane swapping behaviour.

Some folk blamed it on tyre choice but that Quaife will always have you gripping the steering wheel hard on uneven B roads.

Test one on such a road and see what you think!

[StottyZr]

Porkie said:

Buy the Focus. Awesome car. I even like the interior!

I am trying to think of an excuse to buy one as well.

I thought about commenting but decided against it until I saw this.

I loved the mk1 RS until I saw the interior. I have never in my entire life been put off a car I wanted so quickly. I felt sick. Words cannot express how dissapointed I was, so I'll post a picture.



Arrgghhhh look at the radio! Its from an ancient Mondildo. Look at the vents This is the interior looking as good as it gets.

Megane would be my choice

[SuperchargedVR6]

That interior is ghastly. The Escort RS had lovely Recaros with pull out knee squabs. That is just terrible.

[Silverbullet767]

Agreed! That interior is just tragic. Like a death in the family.

[winshent]

sandbagsniper said:

Has anybody driven a mk1 focus RS? What are they like? They seem to be holding value between £6-8k. I don’t remember them getting excellent reviews when they came out but I quite want one.
However:
For the same money, I could get my hands on a good low mileage R26(5 years younger) which I guess is the better/faster/safer more comfortable drivers car. Ugly car in my opinion, but as a tool I think it will be better day-to-day and when pressing on.

Please don’t suggest other cars I could get for £6-8k. I know. But thanks

You'd most likely need to spend a minimum of 8k to get a good RS.. The ones priced lower will have much higher mileage.. most likely getting on for 80k..

I have no idea how good or bad the Megane R26 is. I've had a couple of laps as a passenger around Rockingham in an R26R, but I think thats a completely different animal..

Here is some info from a post I made about a year ago for someone who had a budget of 12.5k..

===============================================================================

Residuals on RS's have always been strong and I cannot really see this changing and prices will rise and fall with the rest of the market..

For £12,500 i'd expect to get a pristine car thats done less than 30k, and ideally one that has been SORN'd most winters, as a lot of forums members do..

You need to find out if it passes the MOT on a decat.. word is that its hit and miss with a decat.. I run a sports cat to be safe..

My car has now covered 40k..

If your not going to do many miles, then i'd personally go for the best you can get.. BUT, If your going to put lots of miles on it, then like any car you will take a hit in terms of depreciation, so a low mileage car (less than 30k) will prob not be worth it..

I'd also avoid buying one with FORD service history.. I'd get one with history from a specialist.. the main ones to my knowledge are SCC in St Albans, Stanthorne Cars AKA DemonPete on the owners club forum..

I personally travel from Kent to Crewe to have DemonPete work on my car, and then have a hoon around the peak district whilst i'm up there..

Here are the specs
http://www.fordwiki.co.uk/index.php?title=Focus_RS...

General consensus is that Ford went to town when they engineered this car.. and that it cost them £27,000 to make each car.. so each made a loss..

The Ownersclub forum is very active.. the Mk1 section is the most active part of the site..

Torque steer was apparently an issue with the Press Car only.. My experience is that a new set of tyres all round and the geo sorted, the car drives like a dream.. Everyone likes to comment on the torque steer issue, but you have to remember that back in 2002, the RS was the first turbo charged hot hatch to run over 200bhp thru the front wheels..

My car is a 52 plate phase 1..

The map that came out on the FRS is 'AE'.. This does not suffer from the 4K cough.. 'AF' can suffer from the cough once you modify it.. so you would need to get it set back to AE.

Other phase differences are seat bases that are stitched as apparently phase 1 bases can sag, mine being a phase 1 are not, but have been fine over the 30k miles i've ran it..

A basic remap using bluefin or dreamscience will add around 25bhp, and will take it up to circa 240bhp..

The engine and gearbox will be fine running this.. most guys run theirs at around 300bhp.. apparently the engine internals are good for 350bhp.. as its has forged pistons and con-rods.. although one member on the forum ran his at 420bhp with the aim of trying to blow up the engine and it would not let go.. Some other members are running theirs at 450- 500bhp but I am not sure if they have internal engine work done..

I've been running mine for 2 years at 300bhp, doing track days and hosting a number of hoons.. I dont know of anyone who has had trouble with them running around 300, so you will be fine..

Two main things that fail (because of age) are Thermostat housing and charge cooler pump.. both are DIY jobs.. but dont let that put you off.. they really are awesome cars.. and have a massive following..

[Mastodon2]

Out of these two, I'd take the Megane. Neither has a particularly characterful engine, so it's about the total package. The RS will hold it's value more, but has a higher buy in price to start with (for one that has not been barried and thrashed). As a driver's car, I think the Megane is better, it just feels more sorted.

And while I'm generally not bothered about interior plastic qualities or any of that ste, I simply couldn't look at that Focus interior every day and not feel disappointed and a bit sick.