I have the day off to recover from a miserable amount of money lost at the Bath racecourse yesterday, all my horses lost and to my frustration all my girlfriend's won 
. Whilst at Bath racecourse, there was a white Focus RS showcar parked up near the bar which inspired me to be a bit impulsive today when I dropped my girlfriend at work, so I stopped by the dealer to have a proper look and see if I was missing out on anything after seeing a few articles on the car.
Went in and spoke to a friendly chap, similar age and was a car nut who sees me drive to work every day in the opposite direction. Had a chat about my car and then he grabbed the keys for the Focus RS in Green and away we went.
In case you have never seen one, they look like this one:
http://cdn.images.pistonheads.com/aimg/1949/1949350-3.jpg
First impressions is that the interior is very plastic and doesn't seem to want to flow. I found it mismatched to the racing seats and pretty inconsistent coming from the Z4. It's by no means a bad place to be or even cheap/rattly, just didn't work for me. It also felt a bit weird having lots of room behind me as my last two cars have felt quite cosy and enclosed.
I wasn't very keen on the feel of the ride either. I am quite happy with a firm and tough ride, but the RS felt really soft by comparison and this spoilt most of the test drive for me. The car doesn't have noticeable bodyroll, but just feels disconnected. The handling on the road is impressive for a FWD hothatch
eek:
) and there is lots of feedback from the steering wheel, but it just didn't feel right somehow. The steering felt almost simulated and it was very unconvincing. Chuck it into a corner and it would handle fine, but I personally wasn't happy in this area.
Once on an open straight, put the power down from 1st through to 5th and there is plenty of tug and a lovely noise on boost to keep you smiling. It feels fast due to the turbo kick and you would be very happy with the performance on our roads. The torque steer is noticeable and coming from a few RWD cars, quite off-putting. This frustrated me, as I have read many opinions on torque steer and thought that maybe it was over exaggerated by die hard RWD fans. I would live with it, but it can be intruding and I can see where many people are coming from on this point.
The noise of the RS is superb and puts a childish grin on my face, despite my love for NA cars (throaty V6 and classic straight 6 "M" engines as my history). The noise wasn't intruding to the cabin and wasn't ASBO loud, but had plenty of character. The sales person left me by the side of the road to do a couple flyby's so that I could grin some more I haven't matured enough to stop enjoying the turbo woosh yet
The gear change is very smooth and it's too easy to find a gear when driving progressively.....but it's not a very satisfying gear change. A small enjoyment for me is a solid shift with a decent throw, but this almost felt like a soft wet handshake. This I didn't like.
From my brief experience, I found that the RS didn't entirely blow me away or give me any reasons to look at other hothatchs. I like the exterior styling (in white or blue), I love the noise and enjoyed the fresh change in power delivery that it provided. However, I have a feeling that I set my expectations far too high, possibly expecting a rather hardcore and brutal focused tool....not convinced, but a great car nonetheless. I'd need more time with it really.
Would I buy one if I was in the market for a hothatch? Yes. But not for the price they currently hold and not without looking at other cars, to which I would probably settle elsewhere for the price and package
Disclaimer - don't worry, I'm not itching to change car anytime soon...but I did manage to keep myself busy for an afternoon!
No hotlinking.
. Whilst at Bath racecourse, there was a white Focus RS showcar parked up near the bar which inspired me to be a bit impulsive today when I dropped my girlfriend at work, so I stopped by the dealer to have a proper look and see if I was missing out on anything after seeing a few articles on the car. Went in and spoke to a friendly chap, similar age and was a car nut who sees me drive to work every day in the opposite direction. Had a chat about my car and then he grabbed the keys for the Focus RS in Green and away we went.
In case you have never seen one, they look like this one:
http://cdn.images.pistonheads.com/aimg/1949/1949350-3.jpg
First impressions is that the interior is very plastic and doesn't seem to want to flow. I found it mismatched to the racing seats and pretty inconsistent coming from the Z4. It's by no means a bad place to be or even cheap/rattly, just didn't work for me. It also felt a bit weird having lots of room behind me as my last two cars have felt quite cosy and enclosed.
I wasn't very keen on the feel of the ride either. I am quite happy with a firm and tough ride, but the RS felt really soft by comparison and this spoilt most of the test drive for me. The car doesn't have noticeable bodyroll, but just feels disconnected. The handling on the road is impressive for a FWD hothatch
eek:) and there is lots of feedback from the steering wheel, but it just didn't feel right somehow. The steering felt almost simulated and it was very unconvincing. Chuck it into a corner and it would handle fine, but I personally wasn't happy in this area. Once on an open straight, put the power down from 1st through to 5th and there is plenty of tug and a lovely noise on boost to keep you smiling. It feels fast due to the turbo kick and you would be very happy with the performance on our roads. The torque steer is noticeable and coming from a few RWD cars, quite off-putting. This frustrated me, as I have read many opinions on torque steer and thought that maybe it was over exaggerated by die hard RWD fans. I would live with it, but it can be intruding and I can see where many people are coming from on this point.
The noise of the RS is superb and puts a childish grin on my face, despite my love for NA cars (throaty V6 and classic straight 6 "M" engines as my history). The noise wasn't intruding to the cabin and wasn't ASBO loud, but had plenty of character. The sales person left me by the side of the road to do a couple flyby's so that I could grin some more
I haven't matured enough to stop enjoying the turbo woosh yet The gear change is very smooth and it's too easy to find a gear when driving progressively.....but it's not a very satisfying gear change. A small enjoyment for me is a solid shift with a decent throw, but this almost felt like a soft wet handshake. This I didn't like.
From my brief experience, I found that the RS didn't entirely blow me away or give me any reasons to look at other hothatchs. I like the exterior styling (in white or blue), I love the noise and enjoyed the fresh change in power delivery that it provided. However, I have a feeling that I set my expectations far too high, possibly expecting a rather hardcore and brutal focused tool....not convinced, but a great car nonetheless. I'd need more time with it really.
Would I buy one if I was in the market for a hothatch? Yes. But not for the price they currently hold and not without looking at other cars, to which I would probably settle elsewhere for the price and package
Disclaimer - don't worry, I'm not itching to change car anytime soon...but I did manage to keep myself busy for an afternoon!
No hotlinking.
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