Focus RS is a winner

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mPWRD
Wait... what Honda makes 220 hp and is fwd? The Civic Type R? Because the S2000 is rwd... actually that makes more like 240, right?

And I mentioned the BMW because they are roughly 5k pricewise apart.
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Teggy Type-R (DC5R)
 
Keef
The best all-round FWD performers now come from America and Europe. Sorry Honda, I love you, but 220hp simply is not enough.
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This has been beaten to death in the Golf VI thread, but I think you are missing the point of hot hatches. Horsepower is still a little important, but it is far from everything. They're mostly about good handling and being enjoyable to drive, and then doubling as an everyday grocery-getter.

And that almost puts the RS into a different class from the Type Rs and the GTIs.
 
mPWRD
Wait... what Honda makes 220 hp and is fwd?
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The 200-220hp FWD ballpark hits three generations of Civic Type-R, two generations of Integra Type-R, two generations of Accord Type-R and a Legend. The current Legend shovels 300hp but is 4WD.
 
Welcome To Detroit, RS

Focus_RS_Spied_Jalopnik-topshot.jpg


The internets are showing that an RS mule has shown up in the Detroit area, and while this does little to confirm or deny the previously reported rumors that the RS could come to the US on an extremely limited basis, that's still cool to see that at least one has crossed the pond.

Which reminds me, the Mexicans had the ST a year or so ago. I still want to cross the border and pick one up...
 
Heh so it's in Royal Oak, hopefully the engineer that has it will take it out on Woodward Friday night.
 
Today, 8:39 PM

Heh so it's in Royal Oak, hopefully the engineer that has it will take it out on Woodward Friday night.

If they take it out on Shaeffer (sp ?) near the Dearborn Plant, those wheels won't stay round very long!!!
 
My guess is that it has something to do with the lax laws. Or, that's what I assume. They get Renaults and Peugeots, which is a major disappointment to me. I wants them allz, bad, srsly.
 
Cool, Autocar has compared one favourably with the GTR on real-world roads. Interesting that the advantage of the 4WD diminishes on bumpy roads.



Even better to me: It's BLUE! I thought it could only be white, black, or green. But BLUE?! GORGEOUS
 
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yes.. but I still think that they should offer optional AWD for it, just to make it capable winter driver.
 
Leonidae
yes.. but I still think that they should offer optional AWD for it, just to make it capable winter driver.
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Three letters for you: LSD. That should help tremendously with cold-weather grip... that and some winter tires (AWD cars aren't as much of an advantage in the snow if they're running on summer tires, mind you).

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Sigh... Unless Ford loses their marbles and actually brings in a White market unit that they'll allow the media to test, I'll never get to drive this beast.
 
niky
Three letters for you: LSD. That should help tremendously with cold-weather grip... that and some winter tires (AWD cars aren't as much of an advantage in the snow if they're running on summer tires, mind you).
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And is it just me or would AWD with all diffs being open be worse off than a FWD with a limited slip?
 
Y'know... that's actually a good question... and would make for an interesting comparison.

I have driven an AWD with open differentials successfully on bad surfaces, though... climbed the CR-V up a thirty-forty degree gradient of loose sand just to see if it could do it... and slowly... surprisingly, as long as you don't sink too deeply, it works!
 
I have a little experience here...

Back in the Late 1996/97, I ran a Subaru Impreza (series McRae) as my company car. I remember one winter we had a lot of snow and I went out to 'play' in the Derbyshire countryside with a mate in a rally prepared Vauxhall Astra GTE. My Impreza had a basic LSD at the rear (IIRC) and was running on regular all season road tyres, the Astra had a proper quaife LSD and was running on very heavily treaded gravel tyres. The Astra had a little less power (around 20bhp less), but weighed less as it was completely stripped.

The Impreza left the Astra for dead everywhere and was so much more fun to drive - once you'd got the front end in to a bend you could jump on the power and hold it sideways on the lock stops pretty much as long as you wanted (with 4 rooster tails of snow flying off all 4 wheels). The Astra worked OK up to a point, but still struggled with power on underseer.

On regular road tyres the Impreza would go anywhere on the road as long as the snow was below the front bumper (easily as good as a Range Rover in these conditions) which I guess was down to it's relatively low weight.
 
This car looks like the king of all hatches but I want to see how it perform with the current hot hatches..

What I would like to see is a 4 car race to see who comes out as the best performance hatch available...

09 Mazdaspeed 3
09 Subaru WRX hatch
new Ford Focus RS
09 Chevy Cobalt SS (not a hatch... but still)

But them through a series of performance tests... and see who comes out victorious. I am biased for the MS3 since I own one but I think it will have its hands full
 
rollazn
What I would like to see is a 4 car race to see who comes out as the best performance hatch available...

09 Mazdaspeed 3
09 Subaru WRX hatch
new Ford Focus RS
09 Chevy Cobalt SS (not a hatch... but still)
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I'd be tempted to throw the Megane R26.R in there too given that it's supremely capable around a circuit. We've probably all seen the recent Top Gear where it manages a quicker time around their track, but more telling is the fact that Drivers Republic managed to beat the RS by around three seconds at the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit which you'd think would advantage the Focus given it's high average speeds:



I'd also put up the Audi S3 which Autocar rated very highly - just behind the Megane in fact in a test a year and a bit ago. It has 260bhp or thereabouts so power-wise it's up there.
 
I don't think Focus RS vs R26R is a fair comparrision. The R26R is fairly unique proposition, being pretty much a stripped out track day car that's all but useless for everyday use for all but a select few individuals... not may people could live with semi-slicks, roll cage, no AC, no radio, no back seats and harnesses on a day to day basis over any sort of decent mileage.
 
You'd be surprised. And in reality, there don't need to be "many" people who could live with those things, there only need to be "some". In the same way that thousands of people can live with Lotus Elises day to day, or even the smaller number who run a Caterham 7 as an everyday car.

And this to me still looks like a fair bit of boot space:
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More than you'd get in say, an Audi TT, and the roll cage is probably no less useable than a TT's rear seats :lol: And you forget there are plenty of us who've never had AC in a car. In the UK, AC is not essential equipment. It's simply a luxury.

I like the RS a lot (I never really liked the ST but the RS impresses me) but I'd still choose the Megane if I had access to the money. Realistically it's still probably more refined, quieter at a cruise and better equipped than my Fiesta. And nobody could force you to run the semi-slicks. I'm pretty sure it would still be rather fast on tyres like the RS is running (which incidentally are still supposed to be very soft).
 
Fair comments 👍 but then by rights, you could also compare the R26R to the Caterham and Elise as they have similar practicality levels ;) And both would be significantly quicker.

I'm not 100% sure how much advantage the Toyo's on the R26R give it round a track, but I've heard some pretty big claims made for them in terms of time advantage. The Conti's on the Focus might be soft, but I doubt they'd be in the same league as the Toyo's.
 
rollazn
What I would like to see is a 4 car race to see who comes out as the best performance hatch available...

09 Mazdaspeed 3
09 Subaru WRX hatch
new Ford Focus RS
09 Chevy Cobalt SS (not a hatch... but still)
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I think you could add the new Renault Megane RS 250 as well. Although the details aren't fully-there on the new car, it seems like it would have the gusto to at least keep up with the RS, but maybe not dominate. But seeing as how it has the DNA of its predecessors with the crisp handling and such, that would be my preference anyway. I really do think the Cobalt SS would come out as a surprise contender in this segment, but is an absolute shame that GM pulled the plug for 2010. Fair enough, I suppose, that the Cruze is coming. Furthermore, that a Cruze SS seems somewhat likely. But a bigger car does not make a better sports car, and that is unfortunate.

I do have to wonder what the resale values would be like on a Cobalt SS in the near-future. Its fair to say it would be my third choice in a lineup filled with Japanese roadsters.
 
YSSMAN
Furthermore, that a Cruze SS seems somewhat likely. But a bigger car does not make a better sports car, and that is unfortunate.
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So far we've only seen a 4dr Cruze haven't we? What are the chances of Chevy bringing out a slightly smaller, sportier version of the Cruze in hatchback/two door format which would have an SS version?

Funnily enough though with the Cobalt I actually liked the look of the 4dr more than the 2dr.
 

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