New Focus RS Unveiled

[Fireball]

Here she is in all her glory. Only FWD though as they deemed the 4x4 too "heavy" (read difficult/cost effective/we're lazy buggers). This weeks autoexpress has the full feature and it will be at this year's Motor show

*steve cradles his tickets like they were his first born*







Pretty fit tho, eh? I'm loving the bonet vents. I just love bonet vents in general tho 

[Daz-cos]

is it from the horses mouth about the drivetrain or is this autoexpress reading into something?? finally has the look that we`ve all been waiting so long for, just a shame ford may drop the ball by goin front wheel seeings as the new scooby is a pile of wank

[Emma]

I want one!

[RST-Steve]

Oh dear i could be on my own here.............












I'm NOT liking that, sorry!!! If thats really what the car will look like, i'd much rather have a first generation ST in orange, far more better looking and subtle  Thing is tho, the badge is being kept alive and for that we must say well done .......... just a shame about the FWD as that new Scooby is fooking awful 

[Emma]

Who wants to be subtle lol! you gotta stand out

[Fireball]

is it from the horses mouth about the drivetrain or is this autoexpress reading into something?? finally has the look that we`ve all been waiting so long for, just a shame ford may drop the ball by goin front wheel seeings as the new scooby is a pile of w***

Mouth of dobbin himself sadly. They've been speculating for ages it seems but this article appears to be from ford, pics and all. Would have been a great chance to nab some of the typical scooby fans as you say, but hey ho. I believe it's got that Quaife gear up front again so it should handle like the Mk1 RS did.

Does anyone else feel its a bit poo that they're using a volvo engine for the ST (and i assume this too)?? Gone are the days of the YB pimped by Cossie, or the Turbo'd CVH. Again, just saving ?? on R&D I suppose 

I hope it comes in Imperial Blue.....

[cozmeister]

Who wants to be subtle lol! you gotta stand out

That is what RSs are all about, after all

[Daz-cos]

the volvo engine is bulletproof they go and go no matter what you do to them so its more of reliability and also cheaper as no need to start a fresh. but i cant see why they couldnt use the volvo 4x4 gear as the floorpan is perfect for the drivetrain.

oh and steve the escort cosworth wouldnt be what it is today if it was subtle. its an RS ffs it needs to shout out look at me!!!!

[RST-Steve]

Each to their own and all that


... i've always said i'd rather have a Saph than an Escort anyway 

[Daz-cos]

one and the same mate 

heres pistonheads write up of the new focus RS seems like they`ve gone all out on trick diffs suspension and interior.

http://pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=18324

[RST-Steve]

one and the same mate 

Not in looks


To be fair tho, it looks pretty hot in this pic




The jury is still out!!!!

[cozmeister]

As long as 'Ultimate Green' disappears, it'll be quite smart   and sod 4x4 - should've been RWD

[matt]

Dont mean to gloat or anything but we've blagged tickes for the VIP day on the 23rd

Lets hope that the finished article does look like the pictures, rear difuser, wide arches e.t.c

I must also point out that after spending the best part of a week being driven round in Nathan's Focus i would not be too concerned about the fact its front wheel drive. As long as it comes with the trick diff, 300-330Bhp is no problem just a bit of a hand full on the british roads.

[massivewangers]

I like aspects of the styling, but think the rear spoiler is a bit daft looking, think it needed something a bit chunkier to suit the Focus shape.

I'm sure it will be a fantastic car, but I think they've made a big mistake by making it FWD. As said, Subaru have made a massive balls up of the new Impreza, think this would have been the perfect opportunity to steal some of their customers. But, that's Ford for you these days, more interested in trying to compete with Audi's etc than building decent, well priced cars for the masses!

[NathR]

More detailed pics here...

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Se...ontent-block=0

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/au..._up_close.html

I think it looks the absolute bollocks!    If it was 4x4 and 400BHP then it would just wipe the floor with Evos etc in terms of appeal but I'm not too put off with it being FWD.

As Matt said, we're going to see it at the first day of the Motorshow so am very excited now, especially after thinking it was going to look like the disappointing looking black one on the Ring recently.

Matt, as for the handfull on Brit roads, you saw first hand what they can be like but I've discovered poly bushing reduces that problem as, at the moment, with the diff fighting each wheel there is upto 25mm of front/back movement in the front wishbones!!    So this will be resolved on mine one day. 

[Churchy]

Oh dear i could be on my own here.............


I'm NOT liking that, sorry!!! If thats really what the car will look like, i'd much rather have a first generation ST in orange, far more better looking and subtle  Thing is tho, the badge is being kept alive and for that we must say well done .......... just a shame about the FWD as that new Scooby is fooking awful 

But the focus st's didn't know what they were, they didn't look like sports cars, too bright for executive etc.... It was just a mix up. This will hopefully go as fast as it looks, liking everything bar the colour, it looks like an RS!!!

And what were you on about subtle Steve, like the S1 you just god rid of yeah

[Churchy]

As a side note, its still not a cossie, or a cossie beater!!!

[Fireball]

"Developing an incredible 296bhp, the car will be the most powerful road going RS Ford has ever built."

Really? I mean seriously? How much was a cossie out the box?

It pisses me off how they quote only the power. Prime example - Take the Fiesta ST150. When that came out they said it was the fastest and most powerful Fiesta ever. Magazines failed to point out that it needed that 2.0l 150bhp engine to haul it's large soundproof'd/spoiler'd/intelligent protection system/1000 air bags etc. ass around, and that the old Fiesta RS at 130bhp would woop one because of power to weight. New cars are fat, fact!

Still if it delivers nearly 300bhp, that'll be a step in the right one. Cosworth aftermarket bits like the ST got maybe.....? 

(Motor show is gonna be SWEEEEET)

[cozmeister]

204 for standard 2wd Cossies, 224 for a standard RS500, and 227 for a standard Escort.  BUT, here's the good bit - they were sold with 'flexibility', basically meaning that the engine's performance could be as flexible as your wallet allowed.  They were designed for 300, but detuned for the general public, not tuned up...

[Fireball]

204 for standard 2wd Cossies, 224 for a standard RS500, and 227 for a standard Escort.  BUT, here's the good bit - they were sold with 'flexibility', basically meaning that the engine's performance could be as flexible as your wallet allowed.  They were designed for 300, but detuned for the general public, not tuned up...

bloody hell a lot lower than i thought, but as you say - respond massively to tuning.

I do wonder how well the new engines will tune, or whether they're already at the reliability/high power type threshold. (i realise you lose reliability with tuning, but you know what i mean, so engine like the YB aren't even breaking a sweat at factory power)

[cozmeister]

Put it this way, for the sake of argument, With a Cossie,  in less than an hour you can go from standard to Stage 1 (270hp)

[Nash]

Makes me laugh this about FWD bashing. The FRS is the best handling RS for have ever made, as standard wipes the floor with an Escos and Sierra. Most people who slag FWD have never driven a performace FWD car, if you have never driven one how can you say its shit?

Also having driven both a Fiesta ST and an old FRST i can say a Standard FRST would get its arse handed to it on anything but a straight road.

[Fireball]

Makes me laugh this about FWD bashing. The FRS is the best handling RS for have ever made, as standard wipes the floor with an Escos and Sierra. Most people who slag FWD have never driven a performace FWD car, if you have never driven one how can you say its s***?

Also having driven both a Fiesta ST and an old FRST i can say a Standard FRST would get its arse handed to it on anything but a straight road.

Really? I always got the impression it was a heavy lump, i stand corrected. I suppose it has an extra 10 years of development behind it too. As for FWD bashing, i dont care either way. My first "real car" purchase will be a Focus RS (first one), and from what you and the other guys on here say, i look forward to putting the keys in that bad boy! (sadly never been in one tho  )

[RST-Steve]

"And what were you on about subtle Steve, like the S1 you just god rid of yeah "

You can't really compare the new RS to a Series 1 RS Turbo, thats now a classic car with classic status... first european turbo charged ford etc etc.... That was the style of the time and yeah, i think it is a reasonably subtle car compared to say the Escort Cosworth... Although the new Focus RS does look quite bad boy, i wouldn't call it subtle.... i mean look at it... Kawasaki green, vents, spoiler, bucket seats, body kit.... totally different kinda thing!! Not arguing with ya, just my view   




I get what your saying about the ST not knowing what it is BUT it still does look like a bit like a hot hatch..... By that, i mean it doesn't exactly look like a Ghia.... its funny like that!! 

204 for standard 2wd Cossies, 224 for a standard RS500, and 227 for a standard Escort.  BUT, here's the good bit - they were sold with 'flexibility', basically meaning that the engine's performance could be as flexible as your wallet allowed.  They were designed for 300, but detuned for the general public, not tuned up...

bloody hell a lot lower than i thought, but as you say - respond massively to tuning.

I do wonder how well the new engines will tune, or whether they're already at the reliability/high power type threshold. (i realise you lose reliability with tuning, but you know what i mean, so engine like the YB aren't even breaking a sweat at factory power)

A lot of the more modern engines DO seem tuned to the max, i mean the RS2000 needs a fortune spent on it to get minimal gain, just as Matt lol, and as for my ST200... well thats the Duratec V6 already maxed out with an extra 30bhp squeezed from it so i'd never bother trying to tune it..... it'll be VERY interesting to see how the new RS fares in the tunability stakes!! 

[rstaaron]

A lot of the more modern engines DO seem tuned to the max, i mean the RS2000 needs a fortune spent on it to get minimal gain, just as Matt lol, and as for my ST200... well thats the Duratec V6 already maxed out with an extra 30bhp squeezed from it so i'd never bother trying to tune it..... it'll be VERY interesting to see how the new RS fares in the tunability stakes!! 

The rs2000 and the st200 are both n/a engines thats why its more difficult to get more power out of them.

The new FRS should be quite tuneable with the volvo engine as they have been tuning them for years in Scandinavia and you know what sort of power figures they can get