New Hot hatch competition

[Preen59]

Pity they're built by Kia...

[geoff_gti]

If I remember correctly, someone in Perth I heard about on the ECCA forums has an RS Focus, brought it over with him from the UK.

[Bubu]

you think? the xr5 turbo didn't tickle your fancy? they are quick.

I dont like the body shape of the XR5. The Focus RS makes up for what the XR5 lacks.

[gareth_oau]

I sat in a new XR5 recently, and the interior felt quite low-rent. didnt really inspire me.

Unless this model is very different, which I doubt, if I was going to spend $60k I'd much rather get a low km secondhand S3 or R32

[Pullstarter]

This would have to go down as one of the best cars Ford has made in the past 20 years.

Are we forgetting the MK5 Escort Cosworth RS? AWD too Oh........and it says Cosworth on it too

[gareth_oau]

Are we forgetting the MK5 Escort Cosworth RS? AWD too Oh........and it says Cosworth on it too

Agreed the Escort cosworth were brilliant, and their shape and interior seems to have aged quite well also.


By comparison the Sierras of the same era have aged incredibly badly, especially the interiors

http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars/private/FORD/SIERRA/details.aspx?__Ntk=CarAll&__D=cosworth&__Dx=mode+m atchany&State=All%20States&Cr=2&state_id=0&keyword s=cosworth&R=5018461&__N=4294966463+0+834+285+257& distance=25&__Ns=pCar_PrivateSpecialFlag_Int32|1|| pCar_ImageCount_Int32|1||pCar_LastModifiedDate_Dat eTime|1&__Ntt=cosworth&trecs=6&__Nne=20&__Ntx=mode +matchallpartial&silo=1003&__sid=11B0A8B65DD9&seot =0&Make=FORD

[jayjay]

speaking of hot ford hatches, ford fiesta st/xr4? any of you polo guys consider this?

ford uk have a 185hp fiesta that comes with a manufacturer's warranty. also some filthy hot recaros

[Pullstarter]

A guy at my work has an XR4, all I can say is..........unimpressive... feels slow (even tho its not) and isn't that nice to drive, would take a pogo over this any day.

[Pullstarter]

Sierra interiors were never much chop Gareth, even when they were new the quality was questionable. They did, however, go like stink!

[gareth_oau]

Sierra interiors were never much chop Gareth, even when they were new the quality was questionable. They did, however, go like stink!

Ive gotta have a nice interior. i have to sit in it and use it everyday. even the steering wheel has to be nice, its the closest thing to my eyes!! ( i remember a few years back spending $600 on a Momo, just coz i wasnt happy with a factory unit - it now sits on my bookshlef in the study

[Golf Houso]

A guy at my work has an XR4, all I can say is..........unimpressive... feels slow (even tho its not) and isn't that nice to drive, would take a pogo over this any day.

The car is utter fail... Its only marginally quicker than my 2.slow and thats mainly due to gearing, doesn't put out till 4500+ Motor claims 8.8 for the car as well mind you, closer to 10 or 11 when given to a ham fisted teenager as well as I have discovered.

Plus, you'll look like a knob when you've got one with stripes on it...

[dangerous_daveo]

Mazda brought out a 'sports' or 'gt' version of the MPS3 a while back, and that was up around that power. But as mentioned, it really is too much for a FWD car, no matter how good the set up is, your only ever going to be able to use the grunt in straight lines where you have a lane spare on its torque steer side.

[evorobin]

Having driven Gavin H100VW's A3 with a very nervous phaeton in the passenger seat I can tell you 165KW@the wheels is fantastic and not the monster people assume

[Zed!]

I wouldnt say the car is a 'fail' but I am mystified as to why Ford would want to produce a performance hatch, that's FWD with that much power. There is a place in the market for powerful FWD hatchbacks, but when you start talking about serious power 200kw+ then it needs to be RWD or AWD. What would they expect to sell it for? I can't imagine more than $45K, much more then you've got a whole range of AWD/RWD performance cars for competition - R32, Sti, Evo X, S3. And then you've got the WRX which is butt ugly but cheap, fast and not FWD! I really think car companies can sometimes struggle to figure out what people really want. You look at the $55k Toyota Aurion Sportivo. You would have thought in one of their R&D meetings someone would have said look no-one wants a 200kw FWD drive costing $55k, surely it must have come up? Someone would have said, look if someone wants a performance car then at $55k the Aurion will be competing against the R32, 6MPS, Evo, XR6T (10k less), why is someone going to choose out product over theirs? And then during testing, surely one of their test drivers would have said "er we seem to be having problems with traction on acceleration. Problem being there isn't any"

[dubbed]

I used to hate FWD. It still pisses me off in my Golf in some cases, but it's not that bad. Anyway the point I want to make is that it's usually the same people ranting about the RS, or any car for that matter, having too much power and being FWD that would've been the same people ranting about the Golf MKV GTI, Renault Clio S etc having too much power and being FWD five years ago... That hasn't really been a huge issue with these hatches often outpacing their larger RWD and sometimes AWD brethren. With technology and advancements FWD isn't becoming that much of an issue with handling or getting the power down; unless it's copious amounts. Granted it's not the best performance choice but it's generally lighter than other alternatives and the diffs/transfer of power is much more advanced than that of only a few years ago.

Pity they're built by Kia...

I don't know if this has been edited by someone, but THEY ARE NOT BUILT BY FRIGGING KIA OR ANY OTHER CHEAP KOREAN/CHINESE MANUFACTURER. It's not a Festiva (South Korean-made back in the 90s POS) and it's not a Fiesta (the smaller European designed hatch. I think Oz get the German/Brazilian made ones)!!! Ford Europe is much the same as VW in the design and manufacturing sense!!