[kzg1969]

towing a glider with a Porsche Boxster? Surely everyone just thinks that's an extension to your penis extension

[RickLS7]

I did consider it, alas someone put the damn exhausts right in the centre.

Back to the Focus though, it was wayyy too heavy for any fun belting down the twisties (it weighs almost as much as my 4 series), the suspension is way too firm and constantly unsettles the ride and difficult to get any power down on our rubbish, pothole and repair ridden roads. I would actually prefer the ST to the RS day to day - would regret it on the very occasional track day though!

The attractiveness to thieves put me off buying one most of all, shame as the residuals are very impressive.

[kzg1969]

Originally Posted by RickLS7

I did consider it, alas someone put the damn exhausts right in the centre.

Back to the Focus though, it was wayyy too heavy for any fun belting down the twisties (it weighs almost as much as my 4 series), the suspension is way too firm and constantly unsettles the ride and difficult to get any power down on our rubbish, pothole and repair ridden roads. I would actually prefer the ST to the RS day to day - would regret it on the very occasional track day though!

The attractiveness to thieves put me off buying one most of all, shame as the residuals are very impressive.

are you talking about the MK2? sure that is hard to get the power down....and it really does hold its value. wish i never sold mine.

the mk3 however can use all its power......residuals are going only one way atm..... Hopefully they will settle once production stops.

MK3 for the moment are harder to steel than the MK2 - but sadly that seems to have increased the instances of house break ins.....

[AndyEssex330d]

Mk3 being a global RS was never going to retain as much value early on compared to the mk2, but what car does, it isn't why we buy them, if it is you have it confused with a house!

My mk3 is awesome and so bloody fun to drive, you forget the plastics and crappy bits, every car has one, it isn't about that, it is about how good the actual car is not the bits around the edges.

Glad I didn't go for blue though!

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by AndyEssex330d

Mk3 being a global RS was never going to retain as much value early on compared to the mk2, but what car does, it isn't why we buy them, if it is you have it confused with a house!

My mk3 is awesome and so bloody fun to drive, you forget the plastics and crappy bits, every car has one, it isn't about that, it is about how good the actual car is not the bits around the edges.

Glad I didn't go for blue though!

Did you ever do a write up on your RS? Would be interested to hear your thoughts....

[AndyEssex330d]

Originally Posted by dopper99

Did you ever do a write up on your RS? Would be interested to hear your thoughts....

No I never did, I will do a write up this week I think, I have done nearly 2000 miles in it now... lol!

In a nutshell its an amazing car, I love it, but glad I do not use it as my 'daily'.

[kzg1969]

Here's my view.

Mines is a weekend toy. But i have had it ti knockhill and as a standard car with <1000mile it was faultless. Managed round there faster than i have ever been in a car at 1m1s. And without really pushing it

It's car for people who like to drive. If I fancy a run out on a nice day, I take the focus.....the bm stays put. Driving down the motorway....its the bm

It doesn't feel as fast as the 350hp should suggest. Mountune FPM375 does make a good difference. Grip is phenomenal. It steers like a red car!

If I had to keep one car, it's the bm. Nearly as fast, handles good enough, looks good, more practical, better interior.....but is missing the "X Factor" ...no pun 😂. The extra weight means its just not quite as chuckeable




And a copy from the RS forum.....

Well, folks. Don't tend to have much to say, but thought I'd just put a brief summary of how things have gone over the past 12 months. (edit: the term 'brief' should be disputed....).
It's an average driver's, poor write-up, just one to 'add to the record'

As background, car was preorder, but not built til Nov 16, picked up on 29th Nov - NB, std seats, lux, synch, wheels (all 4 present ;-) etc.
Delivery was all good, no issues and initial drives showed no little niggles / irritations.
Booked in for a detail/ coating with Connor Birch - great job and allowed me to be my usual lax self re cleaning.

Car was always intended as a daily, tend to do a reasonable number of long journeys and try and avoid short, round town trips. Only been to the tip once, and yet to fill with sacks of logs (the Mk2 was surprisingly good at carrying firewood ;-?

Touching on some of the regular topics:

Sound:
Straightaway, sound out of the rear was poor, and couldn't tell that there was a subwoofer - resolution? remove foam in boot, remove subwoofer completely, add some thick carpet underlay and a Focus boot tray and voila: much more boot space. Oh, and if the kids are in the back they put their headphones on anyway so they don't care about low sound. Winner all round I'd say.

Steering (Veering or otherwise)
Having seen the various reports I was 'mindful' about giving it the beans in 3rd/ 4th and overtaking. In reality there were one or two times I felt an extra pull - but I was prepared. And now? not noticed anything at all except if tram lining occurs. Either vehicle has bedded in and/ or I have...

Dirt
It's a bl__dy dirt magnet - especially the rear and the wheels. Spend forever cleaning the reversing camera ;-)
But at least it has a ceramic coating underneath - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Stone chips - noticed a couple of small ones, but not too bad considering

Chinese takeaways
Sorry, but this is scandalous rumour, and in my experience the car is not allergic to chinese food and does NOT try and eject you.

Engine
Yep, major talking point and I really do feel for those who have had experienced the issues. Mine's still going, I am monitoring the coolant and all seems stable - so fingers crossed.

Some highs:
Launches : 1 (pitiful, but had a chance for one go at Bruntingthorpe). Max (gps) speed of 135 (amateur - but had to ease off with lots of runway left). As has already been said, seems unnatural to have the pedal flat to the floor, engine at 5krpm and then drop the clutch BUT it sure works! Quite an eye opener as
that initial kick hits.

Rattles - esp door pillars? None

Drift mode: 0 (inadequate) want to have a play sometime (safe environment for me essential )

Tyre squeals: 1 got a bit enthusiastic on a roundabout and all that happened was a squeal from the tyres and rocketing away - which leads on to the major high point:

The handling/ road holding is really impressive - again much reported, but I keep trying to approach (certain) corners/ roundabouts at (for me) increasing speeds to see how far I can push - and each time we just sail through with virtually no drama. Driving along the M4 near Port Talbot when storm Brian was at its peak the car was rock steady, no fighting the wheel to keep in a straight line, only tiny adjustments required for extra gusts - car was just so poised.

Suspension: yep it pogos - but only when I drive along after inadvertently hitting the sports-suspension button (took me a while to recognise the extra dash symbol that lit up as I was jolting about wondering what had happened ). Novice !

Fuel: yep, it slurps it away, but on my regular long runs it averages 30-32, I've had it average 38 for 200+ miles. But the urge to push through some corners is still strong.

And lows?
14 month wait - but mitigated by later build, synch 3
Rear sound - mitigated by extra boot space
Wheels curbed: 1 (bummer - and I can't recall exactly when/ how that happened) - still you can't see it for the dirt.

Oh, and my final surprise of being presented with two suspension transport blocks by my local garage at the 12month service ;-(
And based on many early posts on here I made an express request to salesman to ensure all blocks to be removed. I even had a quick look one side and couldn't see anything although access/ visibility was severely limited.
Blocks were well abused - and I can't believe I didn't notice. And worst of all I can't really notice anything different now (Novice - give the man an Allegro !)

Do I want something else instead - not really other than maybe a Vanquish, DB11 Zagato, V12 Vantage or one of the reborn XKSS (but not as daily;- )
To coin a bit of a Clarkson comment: there are better XXX out there, but this one's mine, and I like it.

If you've fought your way to here - I salute you! And apologies for all the dirt references to those who have a much stricter regime for looking after their pride and joy.

[73henny]

Some info here;

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/n...se-white-smoke

Looks like they're trying to fix it though.

[Mr Whippy]

Holy design flaw batman!

Not heard of a block warping over time with heat cycling before!

Ford should have kept that tuneful 5 potter!

[Soul_Glo]

Ford Focus RS engine problem confirmed to cause "white smoke" - Autocar

https://apple.news/AXYsLBB1NSxSZ44idUfZJSw

[AndyEssex330d]

Originally Posted by kzg1969

Here's my view.

Mines is a weekend toy. But i have had it ti knockhill and as a standard car with <1000mile it was faultless. Managed round there faster than i have ever been in a car at 1m1s. And without really pushing it

It's car for people who like to drive. If I fancy a run out on a nice day, I take the focus.....the bm stays put. Driving down the motorway....its the bm

It doesn't feel as fast as the 350hp should suggest. Mountune FPM375 does make a good difference. Grip is phenomenal. It steers like a red car!

If I had to keep one car, it's the bm. Nearly as fast, handles good enough, looks good, more practical, better interior.....but is missing the "X Factor" ...no pun 😂. The extra weight means its just not quite as chuckeable




And a copy from the RS forum.....

Well, folks. Don't tend to have much to say, but thought I'd just put a brief summary of how things have gone over the past 12 months. (edit: the term 'brief' should be disputed....).
It's an average driver's, poor write-up, just one to 'add to the record'

As background, car was preorder, but not built til Nov 16, picked up on 29th Nov - NB, std seats, lux, synch, wheels (all 4 present ;-) etc.
Delivery was all good, no issues and initial drives showed no little niggles / irritations.
Booked in for a detail/ coating with Connor Birch - great job and allowed me to be my usual lax self re cleaning.

Car was always intended as a daily, tend to do a reasonable number of long journeys and try and avoid short, round town trips. Only been to the tip once, and yet to fill with sacks of logs (the Mk2 was surprisingly good at carrying firewood ;-?

Touching on some of the regular topics:

Sound:
Straightaway, sound out of the rear was poor, and couldn't tell that there was a subwoofer - resolution? remove foam in boot, remove subwoofer completely, add some thick carpet underlay and a Focus boot tray and voila: much more boot space. Oh, and if the kids are in the back they put their headphones on anyway so they don't care about low sound. Winner all round I'd say.

Steering (Veering or otherwise)
Having seen the various reports I was 'mindful' about giving it the beans in 3rd/ 4th and overtaking. In reality there were one or two times I felt an extra pull - but I was prepared. And now? not noticed anything at all except if tram lining occurs. Either vehicle has bedded in and/ or I have...

Dirt
It's a bl__dy dirt magnet - especially the rear and the wheels. Spend forever cleaning the reversing camera ;-)
But at least it has a ceramic coating underneath - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Stone chips - noticed a couple of small ones, but not too bad considering

Chinese takeaways
Sorry, but this is scandalous rumour, and in my experience the car is not allergic to chinese food and does NOT try and eject you.

Engine
Yep, major talking point and I really do feel for those who have had experienced the issues. Mine's still going, I am monitoring the coolant and all seems stable - so fingers crossed.

Some highs:
Launches : 1 (pitiful, but had a chance for one go at Bruntingthorpe). Max (gps) speed of 135 (amateur - but had to ease off with lots of runway left). As has already been said, seems unnatural to have the pedal flat to the floor, engine at 5krpm and then drop the clutch BUT it sure works! Quite an eye opener as
that initial kick hits.

Rattles - esp door pillars? None

Drift mode: 0 (inadequate) want to have a play sometime (safe environment for me essential )

Tyre squeals: 1 got a bit enthusiastic on a roundabout and all that happened was a squeal from the tyres and rocketing away - which leads on to the major high point:

The handling/ road holding is really impressive - again much reported, but I keep trying to approach (certain) corners/ roundabouts at (for me) increasing speeds to see how far I can push - and each time we just sail through with virtually no drama. Driving along the M4 near Port Talbot when storm Brian was at its peak the car was rock steady, no fighting the wheel to keep in a straight line, only tiny adjustments required for extra gusts - car was just so poised.

Suspension: yep it pogos - but only when I drive along after inadvertently hitting the sports-suspension button (took me a while to recognise the extra dash symbol that lit up as I was jolting about wondering what had happened ). Novice !

Fuel: yep, it slurps it away, but on my regular long runs it averages 30-32, I've had it average 38 for 200+ miles. But the urge to push through some corners is still strong.

And lows?
14 month wait - but mitigated by later build, synch 3
Rear sound - mitigated by extra boot space
Wheels curbed: 1 (bummer - and I can't recall exactly when/ how that happened) - still you can't see it for the dirt.

Oh, and my final surprise of being presented with two suspension transport blocks by my local garage at the 12month service ;-(
And based on many early posts on here I made an express request to salesman to ensure all blocks to be removed. I even had a quick look one side and couldn't see anything although access/ visibility was severely limited.
Blocks were well abused - and I can't believe I didn't notice. And worst of all I can't really notice anything different now (Novice - give the man an Allegro !)

Do I want something else instead - not really other than maybe a Vanquish, DB11 Zagato, V12 Vantage or one of the reborn XKSS (but not as daily;- )
To coin a bit of a Clarkson comment: there are better XXX out there, but this one's mine, and I like it.

If you've fought your way to here - I salute you! And apologies for all the dirt references to those who have a much stricter regime for looking after their pride and joy.

This pretty much sums up my life with the RS, although no suspension issues or engine issues!

I get between 18 and 21mpg, 99% short journeys and town driving. I don't particularly care though.

dirt...jesus it does get filthy, but I have the grey so I can get away with it just that little bit longer in my eyes!

Chinese takeaways? KFC mate...the car drove off and left me in the drive thru.