Hating on the Focus RS

[kevm14]

I think the disagreement stems from a simple difference in preferences: I look at the Focus RS and I see a lot of compromise. Compact car, low end interior, bone crushing ride - this thing ought to take me to the moon for what I am giving up to drive it (but it's as fast as a 10 year old CTS-V you can buy for $12k). Meanwhile, people who like this kind of car look at the Focus RS and see zero compromise. And for each of our preferences, we're both right. So this "argument" is never going to go anywhere.

When it comes down to it, enthusiast cars are measured in fun. You may enjoy going fast, you may enjoy steering precision and feel, brake feel, brake performance, engine sound, or maybe dropping the top is the most fun someone can have in a car. Shit maybe you like rock crawling. What I enjoy is cars that meet my specs for space and luxury (both in features and chassis refinement), while still being fun and high performing (speed and handling) - these characteristics are usually mutually opposed, which means it takes engineering to achieve. The final criteria is that it is affordable and maintainable as a USED car. To me that's the most uncompromised vehicle you can get.

I also like sleepers and vehicles that highly outperform their segment. I'm not sure the RS does that (it's certainly not a sleeper).

Cobalt SS: LOOOW expectations (not a luxury car but it rode well and put away some AWD and RWD cars at VIR, including all but one of the cars in the Focus RS turbo AWD OMGRALLYCAR class, while being good to drive, not just fast and numb) - my reverence for the Cobalt SS need not be questioned.
Chevy SS: Looks like a rental car - low expectations unless you know what it is

I like that.

If the C7 Z06 was merely about as fast as other cars in its price range, I'd say...that's a lot of flash for being on par. But it's not - it outperforms.

There are literally two competitors to the Focus RS that aren't that different in performance or cost, and as a daily driver, I think the Golf R is probably the one to buy.

[kevm14]

Let me go on another soap box for a minute, about "feel."

Feel is part of the fun. It's engaging. And, done right, feel gives you confidence and allows you to bring the car to its limits without either feeling like you are going to lose it, or actually losing it (forgiving).

Feel is great. I don't discredit it as an important criteria in a performance car. However, I DO discredit feel when the result is not something that's actually performing at the same level that it seems like it is. Ultra quick steering and very hard riding cars usually feel very high performance, but are often outperformed by vehicles with slower steering and more compliant suspension. Reality bites.

You want to buy a Miata and carve up some back roads? Hey, don't let me stop you. But if I come up behind you in my CTS-V, and unless the road has continuous 20 mph corners, don't be surprised or annoyed when your feel-mobile isn't as fast as you thought it was. That's all I'm saying.

Now the Focus RS has very high limits. However, I don't think they are much higher than the STI or Golf R.

Motorcycles are the same way. VERY fast in a straight line. Cornering speeds, however, are not that high, and you are putting your life on the line each time you lean that thing over to the ground. But you sure feel like king shit doing it.

[Adam]

Let's face it, almost no one is going to cross shop the RS against a Camaro.

Yes! And even less people are going to cross shop an RS against an SS (the Holden, not the Camaro).

[kevm14]

I think comparing classes of car is important.

But I guess what ends up happening is comparing preferences.

[Bob]

This is one of the better, more complete, honest reviews of the car that I have read: http://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/4138/a ... d-focus-rs

This section spoke to me:

The Focus RS just ‘feels’ like Motorsport

This is very hard to explain, but roll with me here. Certain road cars feel like Motorsport. The Shelby GT350 and Fifth-Gen Camaro Z28 have it. The Porsche 911 GT3 has it. And now, the Focus RS has it. Certain cars offer a level of feel, feedback, and connectivity that really, truly, feel like race cars. It’s a feeling of power moving from the engine through the driveline to the wheels. It’s an engagement of the driver on another level that goes beyond the performance of the car. It’s a combination of robustness, well-tuned engine vibrations, perfect controls, and harmony. There are good cars—great cars, even—that do not have Motorsport feel. The Ferrari 488 GTB and Lamborghini Huracan, for instance. Both are excellent cars, incredible performance machines, and lightning fast. But they feel like road cars. McLarens feel like Motorsport; like they took the race car and made it streetable, and not the other way around. This, more than anything else I can tell you about the Focus RS, is why I’m happy to pay $750 per month for this thing. Motorsport feel can’t be quantified, it can’t be measured objectively, and so far, it hasn’t been mentioned in any reviews. The Focus and Fiesta ST are both great cars, but do not offer Motorsport Feel. The Mitsubishi Evo and Subaru STI are great performance cars, but neither offers Motorsport Feel. The Focus RS does, and that’s why:

[kevm14]

All due respect, not sure how unbiased a guy who is paying $750/month for the car can be, especially when he's the only one with that opinion. I guess you'll have to drive one.

And I still go back to the performance being similar to the Golf R. All that "this is a racecar" talk doesn't seem to amount to much.

[Bob]

I think this is a philosophical difference we have. I would argue that the racecar feel is independent of numbers. For example, my C5 Z06 will run circles around the Elise on anything but the tightest most technical road course, but that doesn't mean it has superior racecar DNA.

[kevm14]

Why is "superior racecar DNA" (whatever that means) important if the numbers don't substantiate it? That is the ENTIRE point of a racecar. It's to win races. Nobody in the history of racing has said, hey, we didn't win, but this thing sure is fun to drive.

I dunno, I see what you're saying, but in the end, if you have racecar DNA, and aren't any faster than the more refined and comfortable competitor which costs the same, I'd say it didn't amount to anything.

[kevm14]

The most "racecar-like" you can get is the fastest around the track. Not trying to be a dick, but my problem is with the racecar argument. Does it have direct steering feel? Sure, it sounds like it does. It probably has other intangible characteristics that are enjoyable. But the racecar argument is not going to fly imo.

[Bob]

I think we may have to agree to disagree on this one; perhaps "racecar" was the wrong choice of word. I believe that some cars are just better to drive than the numbers would indicate and that the opposite is also be true. In the end, numbers are an imperfect measurement of how good a car is to drive and although two cars may look similar on paper, the experience can be vastly different.