A45 vs Focus RS vs Golf R

AmDaMan

AmDaMan

AmDaMan

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,023
Location
Wellington, NZ
I’ve had the B7 RS4 for about a year now and it’s been a great car. I originally wanted an R8 but that dream had to wait (and still does) as I decided to build a house. Hot hatches seem to have got a bit mental recently and I wouldn’t mind getting back into one for a while for 6-12 months of fun. I don’t drive that much; most weekends really so my requirements are fairly light. When I do though it would be good to drive something that felt a bit special on the roads. Sometimes the gearing of the RS made it a bit difficult to fully extract all its performance on the roads around here but I’m thinking I could have a bit of fun in a fast hatch.

Requirements were:

Quick – would like a base of a least 320bhp
Tuneable – I’ll be throwing some money at each one to get it to ~400hp
AWD would be a nice to have
Basic toys – satnav, bluetooth, nice seats

A45:

I had a go in a non FL A45 last week and the performance was impressive. The brakes were also very good and it made some good noises. There were quite a few issues with it though; gearbox was rubbish at low speeds and pulling away. For the money the interior wasn’t that good other than the seats. Steering didn’t feel that engaging. I think some of that could be sorted with a tune/gearbox software though fairly easily. Probably even more of it could be sorted with the FL version (some nice interior improvements too) but those are used F10 M5 (2013), GTR (2008) money out here so not cheap for an A class.. Price range NZD - $48-70k (2014-2016)

Focus RS:

Had a go in this yesterday and I was very impressed with it. Excellent steering feedback, brakes and handling in general. Granted it had about 5k chucked at it with mountune parts but didn’t expect that at all. Interior wise the Recaro’s were nice but that’s where it ended. The rest of the interior was pretty horrible but at the price these are being offered it might be a trade off I’d be willing to take. Price range NZD - $55-65k (2017)

Golf R Mk7:

I’ve not had a change to drive one of these yet but would love some feedback from anyone that has. Looks the blandest but I can live with that. Looked through countless pictures, youtube videos and the interior looks quite nice and seems to be very capable. The lowest performance but as said I’d be throwing some money at it anyway to get it up to around 400hp which seems to be the APR/Revo tunes. That makes it a serious contender in the performance stakes. As a bonus these seem to be the lowest priced of the lot at around $35-50k NZD (2014-2015)

So people – what are your thoughts? Anyone got some real world long term experience with any of these or previously owned one?

Cheers
 
Would an RS3 not be a better shout than the Golf R? Not that I know the NZ market that well. It might not be doable in budget?

As much as I like my S3 (and thus the Golf R engine/box), the RS3 feels more special, and makes a noise far more deserving of the performance than the other three.
 
My Mrs and quite like the new type r which I realise is at the bottom end of your power requirement but probably cheaper than the others on your list. Not sure how that compares in price either as I believe they've been out less than a year and I'm not sure how your currency converts to pounds.
 
golf r is ~ 300bhp and Focus RS is ~ 345

The main other 300+ bhp hot hatch options (I can think of) are Seat Cupra R, Civic Type R, RS3 and M140i, but arguably the RS3, Golf R, M140i and A45 are the more grown up options.

Gibbo highly praises the Golf R from memory.
 
It is a shame that all 3 just scream boy racer now. Out of those I would go for the A45 purely for the higher build quality. If throwing more money at them anyway though I would be looking at other more exciting alternatives.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
It is a shame that all 3 just scream boy racer now. Out of those I would go for the A45 purely for the higher build quality. If throwing more money at them anyway though I would be looking at other more exciting alternatives.
Click to expand...

:confused: hot hatches have always been a boy racer’s car of choice.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
I just think as these offerings have come down in price more and more they are getting a worse and worse rep. It might just be the few near me that needlessly speed through the 30 road with kids on it.
Click to expand...

The Golf R got itself a bad reputation due to very cheap lease deals and high theft rates. Good cars, chavvy image.
 
A lot of the 'Golf R' I see are actually just pleb Golfs with R-Line trim and badges. VW really watered down their range a lot. The R-Line badge looks almost the same from distance.
 
The RS3 is an interesting one - the 13/14 models have a very similar interior style to the RS which 8 years older. For the price i'm not sure that's ok, plus it would be at the top end of my budget for the oldest car. The 2016+ ones are eye wateringly expensive too even though the interior and design/performance is a big step up. I might go and have a look at one this weekend though, same with the m1/240i.

I drove the CTR when they had the first demo here in NZ - it's does drive very well for it's platform and it's around 50k nzd now (~25gbp) and the shifter was slick just like the S2000 and all the previous Type R's. I'm not a big fan of the way it looks though which is my biggest issue with it.

I think the Focus looks the loudest but the A45 with no aero pack and the Golf look fairly bland to me (which I don't mind) they aren't that common around here as well which is a plus. I think they're far more common up in Auckland.
 
The first RS3 is rocking the same interior the A3 had in 2003 (yes there was a facelift along the way but it was minor).

It’s not a terrible place to be but it certainly isn’t modern by any means.
 
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