MarkCup's 2017 Ford Focus RS

[mr bognor]

Sounds like a cracking day

So the Sierra feels it's age then ?

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Today has been interesting! I'm about to be one of 50 cars in the Dunton 50th Anniversary parade around the test track.

I managed to get a couple of passenger laps around it earlier in an original Sierra Cosworth from Ford's press fleet. Wish I hadn't. Never meet your heroes LOL

 

[MarkCup]

Sounds like a cracking day :smile:

So the Sierra feels it's age then ?

Oh yes, very much. I know I'm spoilt by modern machinery but I was hoping at least some part of the experience would feel a little bit special...but it didn't. It just felt like a mildy quick very very old car.

The track parade was fun...we got to drive around the 45 degree banking which was a bit, err, steep.

Then tonight, having done boring motorway miles in it yesterday, I took the long quiet way back from filling it up...

I'm ignoring the MPGs for now. I'm sure I'll weep when I finally start updating spreadsheets.

 

[shiftspark]

Are they you're tyre marks ? Lol

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

The track parade was fun...we got to drive around the 45 degree banking which was a bit, err, steep.

Try walking up it :grin:

First time I drove it, I had my very pregnant supervisor in the passenger seat of a Transit ! Mildly terrifying haha.

Glad you're enjoying the car..! Track time booked yet ?!

 

[MarkCup]

Are they you're tyre marks ? Lol

Not quite but I did try when we had to do a U-turn right at the far end of the track...you know, crap turning circle etc. full lock and WOT in 1st sorted that right out. It wasn't pretty though.

Try walking up it :grin:

First time I drove it, I had my very pregnant supervisor in the passenger seat of a Transit ! Mildly terrifying haha.

Glad you're enjoying the car..! Track time booked yet ?!

When I went out on the Sierra Cosworth he stopped on the banking to demonstrate just how steep it was...in a transit I can't imagine how they stay upright?!

No track time booked yet although I'm determined to get to Goodwood before the year is out.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Sierra Cosworths are poop standard. If you're a fan of soot trails, try a 500bhp one on for size.

Just saw Smoking Tires posted this, not watched yet but might get your wallet groaning.

 

[MarkCup]

Sierra Cosworths are poop standard. If you're a fan of soot trails, try a 500bhp one on for size.

Just saw Smoking Tires posted this, not watched yet but might get your wallet groaning.

Oooh, he likes it a lot on track doesn't he! Having watched that I have to sort something before summer is done now. I can see the RS being 5 seconds a lap quicker than my ST was around Goodwood and that does scare me a little.

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

I appreciate Sierra/Escorts, but i don't get the money they command.

I seen an RS500 not long ago for 120k, thats just absurd.

 

[alistairolsen]

Thing is its no more or less absurd than 59k for a yellow hatchback with the engine installed in the wrong place, but people will pay it.
The problem with cosworths now is that even the bottom end useable cars are through the roof.

Whereas you can buy a clio 172 or 182 for buttons compared to the trophy or V6, even a Sapphire Cosworth is now 15k and the bottom end of the escort or 3DR market is 20k

 

[MarkCup]

Anything with a blue "RS" on it that's even remotely original, low mileage, and with just one owner will command ridiculous figures!

I got chatting to a chap when the crowds came onto the track after the parade on Saturday who had an immaculate 1970s Escort RS - he said he always obsessed about keeping everything...new bonnet once needed for his Sierra Cosworth, he sourced one but kept the original slightly rusty one too.

I told him my plans and that I had all the delivery protection from when it was delivered to the dealer and he just LOLd..."I wish I'd done that".

 

[MarkCup]

Here's a short film of the day I had last weekend at the Ford Dunton Technical Centre 50th Anniversary event. It was a employee/family only day but I was invited as part of the focusrsoc.com crowd. I got to see some of the inner workings of the place and just generally soak up the atmosphere and lots of sunshine. My rare colour also meant I was part of the 50 vehicle track parade at the end of the day too.

 

[MarkCup]

...and a short one of the RS's ridiculous exhaust. Only when giving it some though...otherwise you'd barely notice it. They've got it all 'tuned' quite well.

 

[imprezaworks]

Chav

 

[MarkCup]

Aye

 

[Smiffyboy1990]

Fantastic. I'd never tire of that lol.

 

[imprezaworks]

Nope me neither

 

[RDH]

The more I see and hear them the less I actually like the popping and banging. Most of those I've seen seem to pop after every change, and it just sounds abit stupid. A random pop on an upchange when you are flying down a b road is excited, a pop on every upchange driving at 25 down your local high street not so much.

Stunning cars though, would love a drive of one.

 

[BoatNonce]

You're not wrong.

Wish they'd made it much more random.

 

[MarkCup]

On the early cars it was very very regular, nothing in normal mode, and almost the exact same at every shift/blip in sport.

On mine, and I believe on any early cars that have had the PCM update, it is very random.

What I edited together here were all those that I found in succession...I tend to get as many in normal as I do in sport, yet in both modes I'll sometimes go hard through a couple of gears with nothing. The pops themselves range from single to four or five quick fire.

The other things is that mine doesn't do it unless I specifically ask it to. Driving 'normally' and I hear nothing...I have to specifically make it do it as in full WOT and an abrupt lift over 3k rpm.

So if you're not hearing random pops and you're hearing it at 25 mph in the High Street chances are it's an early car being driven by an ASW.

 

[Budgie]

Mark - were you out with a white Alfa on Saturday around the bottom of the M3?

 

[mace¬]

Here's a short film of the day I had last weekend at the Ford Dunton Technical Centre 50th Anniversary event. It was a employee/family only day but I was invited as part of the focusrsoc.com crowd. I got to see some of the inner workings of the place and just generally soak up the atmosphere and lots of sunshine. My rare colour also meant I was part of the 50 vehicle track parade at the end of the day too.

Who were doing the ladies proud at 2:15ish? Did they talk RS?

 

[MarkCup]

Mark - were you out with a white Alfa on Saturday around the bottom of the M3?

Not guilty. Why, what was 'I' doing?

Who were doing the ladies proud at 2:15ish? Did they talk RS?

Nope. I tried but all I heard was vowels.

 

[Budgie]

Not guilty. Why, what was 'I' doing?



Nope. I tried but all I heard was vowels.

Lol, nothing. I just saw a grey one in convoy with a Giulia Quadrifoglio and thought it might be you..

 

[Rob]

@MarkCup did I see you on the m25 on Tuesday night? I was in the 650, gave he driver of a grey one of these a nod.. if it wasn't you he was a friendly chap anyway.

 

[MarkCup]

@MarkCup did I see you on the m25 on Tuesday night? I was in the 650, gave he driver of a grey one of these a nod.. if it wasn't you he was a friendly chap anyway.

Yep that must have been me! I was on my way home from Thorpe Park...I remember seeing a 650 and thinking "big engine" LOL

 

[Rob]

Yep that must have been me! I was on my way home from Thorpe Park...I remember seeing a 650 and thinking "big engine" LOL

I could hear it popping and stuff from a few cars back so I gave you a nod as I passed! Sounded great tbh

 

[cat171]

Mark was the Sierra Cossie you went in the white one with the roll cage in it ? iirc that's the one that gets whored out all the time.

 

[MarkCup]

Mark was the Sierra Cossie you went in the white one with the roll cage in it ? iirc that's the one that gets whored out all the time.

That sounds likely...he said, as he was giving me his spiel, that it spent most of its time with the press. It was on 40k or something too so has been around a bit!

 

[cat171]

I saw Keith Duffy from Boyzone drive it on some TV show, he didn't hold back!!!

 

[MarkCup]

So having run through a couple of tanks at or below 20 mpg I've now worked out how to keep it above 25 and nearer 30 mpg...basically I just have to stop driving it like a c**t.

The trouble with that is that it's so hard. Without the pops and bangs, and without feeling the 4WD working, it really is just a normal, but very firm/sharp, Focus.

In that respect the Fiesta ST was a much better daily as you didn't need to kick its arse for it to feel really good. It just felt really good all the time.

Hmmmm.

 

[Matthew]

From that, any regrets switching mate?

 

[MarkCup]

From that, any regrets switching mate?

Nope! I'm more than happy enough...but day to day the ST is such a good thing to drive, there's a connection that's missing in the Focus unless you're at six tenths and above.

Driving the Focus in 15 mpg mode is soooo good though. It's incredible how well it makes progress. I've started playing with drift mode recently and it's so bizarre how it makes the car feel when just driving normally. Any corner, any speed, any road surface, any grip level, the rear constantly feels like it's about to break away and how much it does go is directly and linearly connected to the throttle pedal.

I think this set of tyres is not going to last long LOL

 

[imprezaworks]

Interesting reading, can't say I'm to suprised really. Not driven a fiesta for a distance but as an overall car they seem hard to beat. Similar ish to the clio just newer.

 

[mr bognor]

Is that because you can push the Fiesta harder in everyday driving so feel like you are really pressing on as in the Focus RS you could go that pace with out the car even braking sweat .

The Focus will leave the little Fiesta in any form of quick driving and is an all round upgrader quicker car but is that the problem you are feeling that it is too good and too quick ?

Alan

Nope! I'm more than happy enough...but day to day the ST is such a good thing to drive, there's a connection that's missing in the Focus unless you're at six tenths and above.

Driving the Focus in 15 mpg mode is soooo good though. It's incredible how well it makes progress. I've started playing with drift mode recently and it's so bizarre how it makes the car feel when just driving normally. Any corner, any speed, any road surface, any grip level, the rear constantly feels like it's about to break away and how much it does go is directly and linearly connected to the throttle pedal.

I think this set of tyres is not going to last long LOL

 

[shiftspark]

So having run through a couple of tanks at or below 20 mpg I've now worked out how to keep it above 25 and nearer 30 mpg...basically I just have to stop driving it like a c**t.

The trouble with that is that it's so hard. Without the pops and bangs, and without feeling the 4WD working, it really is just a normal, but very firm/sharp, Focus.

In that respect the Fiesta ST was a much better daily as you didn't need to kick its arse for it to feel really good. It just felt really good all the time.

Hmmmm.

Easy, swap my new FiST and i will throw in my 172 Cup for your RS, everyones a winner

 

[MarkCup]

Is that because you can push the Fiesta harder in everyday driving so feel like you are really pressing on as in the Focus RS you could go that pace with out the car even braking sweat .

The Focus will leave the little Fiesta in any form of quick driving and is an all round upgrader quicker car but is that the problem you are feeling that it is too good and too quick ?

Alan

Not too quick, no, you can get it moving about without doing anything license losing.

Easy, swap my new FiST and i will throw in my 172 Cup for your RS, everyones a winner

Good try!



I think I worked out the driving like a c**t thing last night...it's because the RS, unlike my ST in any of its three guises (standard, MP215, MR230) is very very keen to rev out.

The Fiesta was always wallop, low down, then grab another gear at 4.5 or 5k as it tailed off a fair bit. In the RS if I go much above 3k I find myself wringing it out to the limiter.

This is all the time. It has a really zingy zippy top end. This makes sense as the lead engineer kept going on about making the car, and the engine, rewarding to drive. It does urge you to take it all the way up there.

For now though I'm sticking to a 3,001 rpm limit for day to day driving. This a) keeps my MPG in a vaguely reasonable range and b) gives me the odd pop and bang if I want it yet c) is still quick enough to leave all but the most committed diesel A6 driver behind.

I should have another video up this weekend...finding the time has been a real headache lately!

 

[c4pob]

I find that to get into the 30's mpg wise on short journeys (my commute is 5 miles each way on all A and B roads) I literally can't use the accelerator. My norm is about 22-23mpg and on motoroways I can get 35 with cruise set to 70mph. It's certainly not going to win any economy runs!

Totally agree with what you say about using the revs. It's just SO rewarding getting the power down early in the corners and feeling the rear pushing you out the other side.

On a side note, my tyres still look ok and I'm just shy of 12k miles. Whilst I've not taken it on track, I don't drive like a grandad either so quite pleased.

 

[Gally]

I think that's been the case for decades. It's like any small hot hatch compared with it's big brother.

I've drive an MR230 Fiesta a lot, probbaly over 500 miles of driving now and on Michelins for the last 200 and they're just brilliant cars. The thing is unreal for a small "cheap" car. I've now driven 3 Focus Rs', my good friends at length and it would be silly to not appreciate that point and squirt small car is more useable and more fun. The RS although a useable hyper hatch a lot keep it as a sunday driver for blasts, to drive at those speeds and bends that you simply can't and wouldn't every day of life.

I wouldn't want my RS as a second car as I think it's too good for that and too useable but it's genuis is that it can still pootle about doing the school and then on the way home do warp speed cornering and b road blasting. Is 10mpg between the 2 cars really going to bothyer you that much? Or does it have too much power?

People have said for years... what can you do with 50/600/700bhp.... it's a fair question. I've said for the last year and a half of driving the Fiesta ST... especially in MR230 guise... it's really all the car you would want... if that's what you want! Oh and decent tyres make a massive massive difference!

 

[MarkCup]

On a side note, my tyres still look ok and I'm just shy of 12k miles. Whilst I've not taken it on track, I don't drive like a grandad either so quite pleased.

That's good to know...although as I hear mine, ahem, working, far too much I struggle to see them making it that far.

I wouldn't want my RS as a second car as I think it's too good for that and too useable but it's genuis is that it can still pootle about doing the school and then on the way home do warp speed cornering and b road blasting. Is 10mpg between the 2 cars really going to bothyer you that much? Or does it have too much power?

People have said for years... what can you do with 50/600/700bhp.... it's a fair question. I've said for the last year and a half of driving the Fiesta ST... especially in MR230 guise... it's really all the car you would want... if that's what you want! Oh and decent tyres make a massive massive difference!

The RS doesn't have too much power, far from it, its mechanical grip and immense traction and undramatic power delivery, at times, make it feel a bit ordinary.

As for the MR230...yup, totally agree. Good tryes make a huge difference in making the engine usable rather than simply a means of smearing rubber on the tarmac.

 

[MarkCup]

Latest effort here...I'm sure I'll uipset a few that swear by pedal spacers but meh.

Oh and noise, oooohhh the noise...