Ford Focus RS 2.5

You can have two choices... the cliched "handles like its on rails" type opinion... or the genuine blown away, white knuckle ride of a opinion. Lets go for the latter.

Firstly, let me come clean. I DON'T own an RS Focus. But a guy I know does, and he let me have a blast in it. Unfortunately, he's not on ciao, so I hope the members can put up with an opinion based on my half an hour behind the wheel.

I'll start with a statement that I hope will make sense.
EVERYONE CAN DRIVE A FAST CAR.... BUT NOT EVERYONE CAN DRIVE FAST.

By this I mean that if you are only used to driving your family run about and then get into a car thats does 140mph, chances are you may come a cropper.

So its just a Focus with a body kit on it, and a big engine under the bonnet eh?
Wrong wrong wrong wrong!!

The RS Focus is basically a road going version of the Focus rally car. Its got a bigger body shell and is generally a lot more rigidly built than a normal Focus.
Here's the stats:-

Price. £22000
Engine. 2.0ltr dohc, turbo charged spawn of satan.
Colours. They do come in red, but the colour to have is Ford Racing Blue. It used to be known as imperial bue, but its used mainly on the sports models in the Ford range.
Top speed. 140mph-ish
0-60. Not sure, I had my eyes closed while he was driving, and while I was driving I was concentraring on the blur of tarmac we travelled along. But its damn quick.

The way this cars sticks to the road makes it very hard to stick to speed limits if out on open highways. You can, like any car, drive it very sensibley but you really do have to remind yourself that if you are a bit heavy on the accelerator... its off down the road like a rocket.

Don't forget you've got 200 brake horse power and you feel every bit of it.
Brake horse power (or BHP) was explained to me like this. If you were going at this cars top speed, how many horses pulling in the opposite direction would it take to stop you. So if you have 200bhp, thats a powerful car. ( I'm not sure if thats an acurate description, but its easier to understand than the off side rule)
The performance is why most people will buy this car. It accelerates fast, it corners fast, it looks fast, it sounds fast. But don't worry, it stops fast aswell due to the very efficiant brakes. Like all sports cars, the power is matched by its ability to bring you to a safe and rapid halt should the need arise.

Enough about the speed etc etc.

Interior. Basically its the same as a normal Focus. Theres a couple of different dials on the dash-board and of cousre its got fantastic sports seats that are there for a genuine purpose (to hold you in) and not just a cosmetic accessory.
The interior tim panels are in black and blue which is particular to the RS Focus and of course you have the sports steering wheel in leather trim. If you read my review on the 1.6 Focus, I've explianed sports suspension and alloy wheels... The RS goes far beyond any of that.

Each car is numbered. I don't mean the reg number or the chassis number. Next to the gear lever is a little disc with a number on it. Someone out there will have RS Focus number 00001. And that car will be worth an absolute fortune. Which brings me onto another reason people buy RS's.

You can buy a new one for about £22000. BUT if you look in the relevant motoring magazines, second hand ones are going for £24000. It's all about supply and demand. You may have to wait 4-6 months for a new one, but for a couple of grand more you can have one now. And believe it or not, thats what people do.

But its a Ford!! Why do people pay that sort of money for a Ford.
This is one thing I can't really explain. But thoughout the history of motor sport, Ford have have always had cars that capture the public's imagination. I think its all about affordability.
Who remembers Magnum Pi on tv. Remember his Ferrari, nice eh? The Sierra Cosworth was faster and handled better and was about £30000 cheaper . Affordable performance for you and I.
There are a few cars that perform a little better than the RS Focus, the Subaru Imprezza for example. But you can pick one up second hand for about £15000. The Old mark two Escort RS 2000 when found in mint condition can be sold for £10000. Thats right, a car that stopped production in 1979 and is "an Escort" is still fetching a shed load of money. And all for just ONE reason. It's got RS on it.

The RS Focus is an outstanding performance car, it'll definately hold its value and a lot of its componants are similar to a normal Focus, so its not going to be too expensive to maintian.
And because its a Ford, you can easily get spare parts for it. I've no idea where my nearest Subaru dealer is, but there's 3 Ford dealers in my area.

There are lots of reason to buy an RS Focus. But unfortunately, its one of those cars that EVERYBODY wants... including car thieves. The car is fitted with Ford's PATS system (passive anti-theft system) which totally immobilises the car, and only the correctly coded key will start it. Plus it has shielded dead locks (as do all Fords now). That means the door panel is reinforced where the lock barrel is and the dead lock system is like modern upvc windows with the double locking system if you get what I mean.

But its not going to be the joy-riders you have to watch for, its the professional car thieves stealing to order.

My friend who owns the car has also been the victim of vandalism. Someone scratched the entire right hand side of the car whilst it was parked in his company car park. I imagine it was just pure jealousy.

To sum up.... Fantastic car, very fast but also very safe. It'll always be worth a few quid. If you,ve worked hard and can afford it, then its a good investment.
But as mentioned, at the moment they are a target for the envious and criminal alike.

Focus with a body kit and a big engine. More like the England rugby team. May not be your favorite sports model but you can't deny its poularity and strength and power. And it wins.