Focus RS Vs CUP

[cuptastic]

just a quickie not meant to start any arguements, i saw a RS today with some bloke well he looked more my age (19), he cam flying up behind me sitting on my offside rear bumper, next thing i know he blitzed past me, now it must have been my inexperience and youth or the fact that i have a cup i chased him,

i thought they were sposed to be quick, through a big roundabout opening onto A10 i was all over him even when we hit the straight i got past him onto the sliproad he had nothing he only got past me at a ridiculous speed, must have been the turbo eh? or maybe just i had my girlfriend in the car?

anyone else tried racing one yet>?

Tom

 

[weyland]

Yes. 2 weeks ago, absolutely f***ed all over it, mind you I was not driving the 172 though. It must be said said he came beside me looking to do a traffic light gp and I thought why not? if I had an rs an saw a ferrari parked at the lights I would have a go.

Bye Bye

 

[Simon172]

No, havent seen one yet. Nice one for giving it a go!

 

[JonC]

Focus RS are quick, Id say the RS driver was inexperienced as theyre pretty new the engine would be pretty tight and maybe still in the running in period.

 

[Simon172]

Weyland - what do you do for a living!!? i want your bank account contents!!!! driveway contents would be nice too!

 

[cuptastic]

ahh sod him he saw the back of my cup for longer than i saw his backside

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by cuptastic on 06 February 2003


I thought they were sposed to be quick...

They are VERY quick and a Clio, even a Cup, WOULD get toasted!!!


Focus RS:

Power - 212bhp @ 5500rpm
Torque - 229lb/ft @ 3500rpm
0-60 - 5.9secs
0-100 - 14.9secs
1/4 Mile - 14.6secs @ 99mph

Midrange performance is even more impressive.


He was either running it in, not trying, or both!

 

[paul172cup]

Yes they are very quick but look w**k inside.

Alex got his just over a week ago and has been recalled for a over boost problem in cold weather, causing it to misfire under hard acceleration.

He has not had the problem due to still running the car in, it is quick but dont like the way diff throws the car around at low speed when you put your foot down. I thought my Cup was bad for touque steer.

 

[teady172]

Rich those figures are from EVO, and IMHO are complete bullsh*t. I concede it would be slightly qucker than a Cup when going but I wouldnt think it would put it out of sight, the Cup as standard can do a 14.8 over the 1/4 mile!

And.....didnt I see somewhere that the Focus RS waas struggling to get into the 15s at the pod last weekend.

P.S I dont beleive those figures are accurate due to the fact that every other mag hasnt even come close, possibly due to this over boosting problem that plagued the early cars!

 

[geordiepaul]

Rich-D Those are Evo figures and well over a second quicker than any other road test.

The Focus got a right slating in this months evo!!

 

[007]

Most people Ive spoken to that have one love it. Which is all thats important really - mag reviews seem to be all over the place from brilliant to not great. I have noticed quite a few posts on various forums claiming to beat them quite easily - either they are slower than claimed or the drivers havent yet fround the accelerator pedal.

 

[RobFenn]

Not really, one magazine, Car is standing by the fact its great for enthusiasts. The rest say its great on track but is irratating on your average road. Lets face it would you really buy one for the track when an elise or caterham would be better?

I do think the RS looks really good (exterior not interior!) but im a person more impressed my handling than acceleration and performance so if i had a Cup, i wouldnt be losing any sleep over it. Also, its half the price!!

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by teady172 on 07 February 2003


Rich those figures are from EVO, and IMHO are complete bullsh*t. I concede it would be slightly qucker than a Cup when going but I wouldnt think it would put it out of sight, the Cup as standard can do a 14.8 over the 1/4 mile!

Well, if the Evo times are "bullsh!t", then why do they have the Cup down as 1/4 mile in 15.2secs @ 94mph?!

This is an article where they actually tested the cars back-to-back at Millbrook and were all done on the same day, at the same time, in the same way...

Surely this is a more accurate way of comparing them, rather than picking stats from different sources?!



An RS would beat a Cup in a straight line race, no probs and the mid range punch of the RS makes it much quicker for in gear times, so in a true cross country race (not drag racing) then the gap would be bigger.

 

[paddymph]

We all know i love the 172 but i think itd get beat in nearly all aspects by the RS. Does good to admit defeat sometimes!

 

[RobFenn]

Err no, in a drag race it would quicker, on a real road its hard to drive it fast, thats the whole reason why they dont like it.

 

[mikeherts]

Autoexpress road tested the Focus RS and only got a 0-60 of 6.4 which wouldnt put it a million miles away from a Cup.

It came first in the test and closely followed by the CTR. So if you think the Cup is a good match for the CTR performance wise, then it would also be a good match for a Focus RS. Personally I think that the turbo would win, but I dont think it would be as far out as some people would think at first glance.

 

[paddymph]

Probably not, but winning is winning (excuse the cheesy line)

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by paddymph on 07 February 2003

We all know i love the 172 but i think itd get beat in nearly all aspects by the RS. Does good to admit defeat sometimes!

The voice of reason...

I also love the 172 and am still considering getting a Cup (why did I buy a new feckin house?!), but the Clio is not unbeatable.

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by RobFenn on 07 February 2003

Err no, in a drag race it would quicker, on a real road its hard to drive it fast, thats the whole reason why they dont like it.

Depends on the road...

Only a crap road surface full of ruts & potholes would make the RS a handful due to the diff, but it would still be in front!



You have an RS and a Cup side by side, both at a given speed, in a given gear, then see what happens if they both accelerate...

The RS would waste the Clio as it has a hell of a lot more low end grunt and mid range. Its not all about peak power.

 

[telford_mike]

Just out of interest, what is the price difference between a Cup and a Focus RS? Assuming its quite a lot, shouldnt Ford have done rather better with the Focus?

 

[cuptastic]

does it reall matter about book times,

i knew the bit of road very well and where i could go and what my cup can do, and the RS did not stand a chance on the roundabout, he was toasted,

as said before winning is winnng, second place is the first loser,

and its a bloody FOCUS?

Tom

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by telford_mike on 07 February 2003

Just out of interest, what is the price difference between a Cup and a Focus RS? Assuming its quite a lot, shouldnt Ford have done rather better with the Focus?

Focus RS - £19,995

Clio Cup - £12,995



It is a LOT more money...

Price for performance though, the Cup is the winner.

 

[Daz]

When I first saw the RS Focus I thought "big deal" but its kind of grown on me.

You park an RS Focus next to an Escort Cosworth though.. and the Escort would probably win everytime.

Daz.

 

[Pillesnoppen]

I wouldnt say no to one...

 

[teady172]

Rich,

Im not for one minute saying that a Cup will beat a Focus, the Focus is still quicker. All im saying is the figures that EVO published are not a true reflection of the RSs speed. No other mag had got close to their times, almost 2 secs diff from 0-100!!!! Now, admittedley driver skill and giving the clustch little respect will get a quicker time, but there is no way it will account for such differences. IMO the car was overboosting and hence giving much better times!

 

[KDF]

I quite believe that the RS is faster than the 172/Cup infact I would be shocked if it wasnt.

Having recently raced a ford focus ST170 I can say that they were also quite fast, although I pulled away steadily from about 40 mph up to 110mph (at which point I thought about my license) by that time i was about 150 yards infront. I have no doubt on a standing start it would have been worse for him.

 

[KDF]

However I would like to add that the RS is 2.0l and turbocharged, I garantee you put a turbo charger in a 172/Cup and the RS will get slaugtered and It will still cost less than the RS.

Quite nice on the outside, absolute cack on the inside, If I had to own one I would strip it down and drive it rally style.

 

[Ben_1uk]

The bloke in the Focus RS OBVIOUSLY wasnt trying!!! The RS is fast (220 bhp with a turbo)! It would swallow a Clio Cup whole mate!

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by teady172 on 07 February 2003


Rich,

Im not for one minute saying that a Cup will beat a Focus, the Focus is still quicker. All im saying is the figures that EVO published are not a true reflection of the RSs speed. No other mag had got close to their times, almost 2 secs diff from 0-100!!!! Now, admittedley driver skill and giving the clustch little respect will get a quicker time, but there is no way it will account for such differences. IMO the car was overboosting and hence giving much better times!

We will never know if the car was or wasnt overboosting, but it would explain it...

But there are so many things that can affect the times.

They should really only be used as a guide, as we all know that in real life cars do vary in performacne and other factors such as driver skill, tyres, weather, conditions, etc.. can make all the difference.



However, like all turbo cars, all it takes to mod them is a little bit more fuel & boost and allow them to breath better, then youd have one seriously fast Ford Focus there!!!

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by _KDF on 07 February 2003


Quite nice on the outside, absolute cack on the inside, If I had to own one I would strip it down and drive it rally style.

Totally agree...

A guy at work has an RS and everyone stops and stares at the thing.

It looks superb, very aggressive, but not as in your face as it could have been with no silly big wings (Cossie stylee) or owt daft like that. Nice.

But the interior is a little on the crap side.

The main thing is that stupid steering wheel.

 

[Tricky]

Quote: Originally posted by RobFenn on 07 February 2003

Err no, in a drag race it would quicker, on a real road its hard to drive it fast, thats the whole reason why they dont like it.

My GTEs a right handful on B-roads, where other cars are putting the power down mines is bouncing around and fighting the wheel.

Just because somethings harder to drive, doesnt mean people arent going to drive it fast. The Cup would be more fun.

Maybe thats why all RS drivers look pissed off and never smile when u race them LOL

 

[172man]

The bloke in the Focus RS OBVIOUSLY wasnt trying!!! The RS is fast (220 bhp with a turbo)! It would swallow a Clio Cup whole mate!

err.. 212bhp mate and thats with 98 ron fuel, anything less and youll knacker the engine according to ford. You OBVIOUSLY havent drove one Ben.. I ve kept my 172 after a lengthy test drive after putting a deposit down over 8 months ago. I thought the damping was superb for a hard ride, the steering good and direct.... mais... i didnt like the turbo laaaag which felt like a 1.4 diesel. If you not careful you could easliy get left by numerous lesser cars. third gear had grunt. The first two nothing special didnt feel quicker than mine.. I know it has 177lbft in the 1st two gears which brings the torque per ton to around 133lbt? The Bhp per ton is 169 very close to my mk 1 172. The interior looks Okish. Superbly supported seats miles better than mine. Looks too maxpower though inside. Changing gears smoothly is the way to drive the RS.. I tried giving it full boost in third.. I didnt like it i thought it was getting on dangerous pulling on lock quite violently, whether youd get used to it i dunno. As far a Cup not keeping up hehe i think it would quite easy Keep up. i think its a flawed classic (RS) which torque steers all over the place. Brakes felt good on the RS. I wasnt sure about the colour strange purple looking eww. One ran a 16.5 at the Pod got beat by a CTR. Also EVO said that it didnt feel any quicker than a Cup on the Rd?

 

[Twit]

I have driven both the Cup and the RS and could afford both but own a Cup which says soemthing.

The Focus is faster no doubt. But it is very difficult to drive the Focus at more than 70% on most roads because the handling is just strange. Ford have given it to much grip through the diff so you can only really plant it with the front wheels completely straight. On a twisty bit of B road or twisty A road a Cup would murder it. On a good A road witha good surface or on the track the Focus would win because it cuts through flat smooth corners really well and you can keep well on top of the turbo. Even the Ford guy who worked hard to sell it had to concede it was not as good as he had hoped and although most of the years allocation is sold he told me that a fair number of buyers were walking once they had tested it, that is why it has been so hard to test the car.

The Cup is far from perfect, Ill sell mine after a years ownership because Ill be ready for something more, but it is a much better sorted car than the RS which is very flawed.

Twit

 

[007]

I have to say that the overly hard suspension is down to taste. My old 205 diesel could handle far far better than my "no-give" suspension on my Fiesta Turbo but i loved driving and fighting the turbo around bumpy bends. Its not the speed i like but the fun.

 

[172man]

i didnt think it was overly hard, i was expecting it to rattle my teeth out. It was superbly damped...

 

[172man]

i didnt think it was faster though thats just my point, it gains loads of grip on track due to the sachs dampers and huge wide grippy tyres..

 

[Tricky]

And theres the main flaw. A FWD Focus RS is going to be the preferred track weapon for loads of people - NOT!

 

[Jase1]

I think all in all not really that much between the two cars, as we all know driving abilities vary greatly take your average spotty teenager & 70 year old gran - whos gonna win a traffic light granprix mmm difficult that one.

You pays your money you take your choice.

End of story

 

[visceral]

in the wet Id give victory to the ford anyday!

If my standard Continentals are anything to go by!!! Slide heaven!!!

Christ I hate these tyres!!

 

[172man]

in the wet? It was wet at the pod and got beat by a CTR, the RS couldnt hit less than 16.. make up your own mind.. Evo have it down as being dangerous in the latest issue....