After owning a 2016 VW Golf R (manual) for the past ~1.5 years, I recently picked up a 2017 Focus RS. Before buying my Golf R, I actually tried to pickup an RS, but the only local dealer allotments left were marked up far higher than I was willing to pay... So, I'm getting to the FoRS game a bit later than I originally intended.
After owning both cars, I feel like I can give a pretty in-depth comparison. Be forewarned, this post is very long winded... I'll break it down by category:
-Interior: The VW is a nicer place to be. The fit/finish looks nicer and everything has a premium feel to it. The little lady used to always refer to my VW as my “fancy car” every time she hopped inside of it. The VW honestly felt more on par with a luxury car. The FoRS is a nice car as well; nicer than say, an STI... but it can't quite touch the overall look/feel of the VW. Everything inside the VW just feels solid, thoughtfully placed and well put together.
However, there are a few areas where Ford really paid attention to details that I prefer on the FoRS: namely the FoRS' steering wheel is softer, grippier and much preferred for performance driving. The VW's wheel is very nice, with very tightly wrapped leather, but it doesn't feel as sporty as the Ford's.
The seats and seating position is a mixed bag for both cars. I prefer how low you sit in the Golf R and the VW's seats are definitely more comfortable for long drives, with the adjustable seat bottom rake being a solid bonus in my book. But the Recaro's in the FoRS are more supportive for hard cornering and I really like the cloth inserts in the middle of the FoRS' seats (I'm not a big leather fan).
There's one area that I always disliked in the Golf R: my right knee was always pressed into the corner of the center console; whereas the Ford has no such problem. Most people might not notice this aspect, but I've had pain in my right knee for years, so it's something that frequently created some discomfort for me, especially on longer drives.
Another high point for interior features: the Ford has a backup camera that actually works, every time! Since brand new, the Golf R's backup camera had problems, where about ~25% of the time it would display a message that it wasn't available. Ze Germans, zhey kannot kontrol ze electrons.
Window switches were another complaint on the VW. I don't know if there was something wrong with the OEM programming of the VW, but the 1-touch window switches were a pain in the neck to adjust if you didn't want them all the way down. I actually had to put a decent amount of thought/effort into just cracking the windows a few inches, as the switches were annoyingly overzealous. The Ford just works like any other car; which is a win.
Both have decent stereo systems in them, but neither is anything to write home about. For the record, the VW had only the “base” system, but still sounded pretty good. I'm not enough of an audiophile to give a more detailed review. I suppose the Ford's 10-speaker Sony system sounds maybe slightly more “hollow”, but it's not bad at all. Both have a huge advantage over the horrid systems in my old Subaru's!
One big advantage for the VW: when you toggle the drive mode in the VW it stays that way every time you get into the car! 1 million points to you VW! By comparison, the Ford resets itself every time you turn the car off; to include turning the damn automatic-off/start-stop feature back on. I despise that feature. It might save me some gas and “works as designed” just fine, but I could care less, it just doesn't “feel” right.
-Powertrain: on paper the FoRS should have a big acceleration advantage, given it's substantially higher power output (350hp vs 292hp). In the real world, they're pretty equal under full throttle. Occasionally the FoRS feels a bit faster (probably during it's “over-boost” feature), but for the most part, they're pretty comparable and pull very hard at this elevation (5200 ft- Denver, CO).
Although it should be mentioned: while they might accelerate at a similar pace, they don't ever “feel” the same. The FoRS feels more visceral and angry. In the VW, you get “German car acceleration”- smooth and powerful, but without any real drama. The Ford actually has just a tad bit of a torque steer sensation under full throttle at low speeds on certain surfaces, but it also feels more alive, wild and pissed off.
The Ford's bigger engine (2.3L vs 2.0L) is noticeable down low. I never thought the Golf R had a “laggy” motor; it would blow the doors off of the old Subaru EJ-motors in terms of lag! But the FoRS definitely has a power advantage down low. Lag is non-existent in the FoRS, and only slightly noticeable in the lower part of 1st gear in the VW. Both are outstanding engines in my book.
With that said, the Golf R has a few advantages in the engine department: it's a more consistent engine and it's power curve feels more “natural”. In the FoRS, you can feel the ECU altering power and some occasional spikes in power that make it feel like 2 different motors sometimes.
Both engines sound pretty good for 4-bangers, but they're different. The VW has fake noises thru the “soundaktor” speaker, but they sound pretty cool, even if VW is just faking it. VW tries to emulate the noises of a 5-cylinder, so the fake noises don't sound much like the inline-4 that's in the car; but they do sound burly! The Ford actually pipes resonated engine noise into the cabin; which also sounds pretty good. But the Ford has a HUGE advantage in Sport mode where it makes sweet popping and crackling noises between shifts! It's childish, but I love it!
These cars have incredibly different feeling clutches. Which one is “better” is debatable. The VW's clutch is softer and engages much more smoothly. It's probably the easiest clutch to work on the planet. So easy that I would forget I was driving a manual in traffic. But it's not without fault: the clutch delay valve means it doesn't engage very quickly and it's almost impossible to “launch” without bogging badly. Also I had a problem with the clutch a handful of times- when going full throttle from 1st to 2nd quickly, the clutch actually stuck to the floor a few times. Very disconcerting to say the least. I feel like I probably could have solved that problem by removing the clutch delay valve and bleeding the clutch, but I never got around to it.
The Ford's clutch is more springy/abrupt and has a smaller engagement point, but it's not what I would call “rough”; much lighter and easier to work than say my old 2006 STI's clutch. Just not as light and smooth as the VW. With that said, it's almost too easy to launch the car from the stop. Slipping the clutch just a bit in the FoRS while giving a moderate amount of gas results in it taking off like a bat out of hell... it also has more feel, engages more quickly and is my preferred clutch for sporty car driving.
The shifters are great in both cars, but for different reasons. The VW's shifter is extremely smooth and almost impossible to miss a gear. It's so easy to work that it's just effortless. Great for the daily grind... but it's not overly engaging to say the least, and it doesn't feel like it wants to be worked quickly.
As nice as the VW's shifter is, I prefer the Ford's. Perfectly weighted, a joy to row, more engaging and I love the odd shape of the weighted knob. It's easy to work in traffic, but more fun to play with when the time comes.
Although I prefer the gearing in the VW. The Ford's gearing is just a bit taller. Some people might prefer the wider powerband and taller gearing of the FoRS, but I enjoy working a good manual! I like the FoRS' wide powerband, but it would be more fun with shorter gearing.
The pedal position in the VW is awful. Heel-toe downshifts are almost impossible in the Golf R due to the gas pedal being so far away, both vertically and laterally. Even worse: no one makes a pedal spacer for the MK7 GTI/Golf R due to the complicated mounting design of the OEM gas pedal. I honestly could never believe that VW let “the fastest production VW ever” leave the factory with such poor pedal spacing.
The Ford's is much better. Not perfect like a Miata, but certainly a big step up from the VW. I used to own a Focus ST and the pedal spacing was atrocious. Ford raised the gas pedal in the FoRS about an inch or so in order to fix that problem. It could still stand to be a bit higher for street work, but I think it would probably be great for hard braking on a race track. As a bonus, if you want to alter the pedal height, there are several companies that offer pedal spacers to change the height of the FoRS gas pedal.
-Braking: these cars both have outstanding brakes! Easy to modulate, lots of stopping power, and solid fade resistance for anything street-related. The Focus' big Brembos have a bit more feel through the pedal vs the VW's single-piston caliper setup, but both are tuned just about perfectly for street cars with sporting intentions. I haven't brought either car on a racetrack, so I can't comment on hard lapping fade resistance, but they're both wonderful for canyon carving/street driving.
-Handling: this is where the FoRS really pulls away from the Golf R. The Golf R handles very well. It stays fairly flat, puts down power without an issue and is easy to control at the limit. But the VW's simple Haldex AWD setup never really feels like a real full-time AWD setup when you start cornering hard. You never get the rally-inspired AWD feel of say an STI, EVO, or the Focus RS. Really, the VW just feels like a well setup FWD with extra traction. You never feel the rear wheels trying to help you rotate. If I'm being honest, when it comes to cornering, I actually had more fun in a GTI with the Performance Pack than I did in the Golf R. Open diffs + Haldex isn't exactly a recipe for fun-filled excitement. It could really use the electronically controlled LSD that the GTI comes with to help it rotate.
The steering in the Golf R never feeds you much information and the car's default attitude is understeer. It's capable, but not involving. Fast, but detached. In a word: German.
The FoRS is in an entirely different league. It's AWD setup is considerably more rear-biased and the torque vectoring helps you rotate in a way that the VW never could. It's neutral, bordering on “controlled oversteer” in certain settings. It just rotates so effortlessly.
The FoRS also has more steering feel and the steering rack ratio feels quicker (it's a fixed rack vs variable in the VW), so it transitions much more rapidly as well. Pitching these 2 cars around in the corners isn't even close. The FoRS wins by a mile and puts a much bigger smile on your face.
-Ride quality: There's no doubt that the FoRS has an advantage in the corners, but it comes at a price. The Golf R with it's “base” suspension is a decent bit softer/more compliant. I don't think the FoRS is overly harsh, it's certainly much more compliant than every STI I've ever driven, but it's certainly bumpier than the VW with it's shocks in “Normal” mode. If I put the FoRS shocks into “Sport” mode, it becomes incredibly rough. So rough that it's not really usable for street driving. I don't ever feel “beat-up” in the FoRS, but for a cross-country drive, the VW would be the car you would want to take, as it's much softer. Unfortunately, I can't speak to the optional adjustable suspension on the VW, as my Golf R only had the “base/non-adjustable” suspension.
-Size/ergonomics: I will mention that the Golf R is a slightly smaller car, with better ergonomics. Despite being a smaller car, it actually seems to have just a bit more space in the back seat and in the trunk. The smaller, boxier lines of the VW also give it better visibility, making it just a tad bit easier to place when carving through traffic.
-Exterior: Looks are subjective, so it's somewhat irrelevant. With that said, while I like the clean lines of the VW, my inner boy-racer prefers the FoRS! For the amount of money you spend on the Golf R, you can't hardly tell it's anything more than a base sub-$20k Golf. Whereas the more aggressive looks of the FoRS really help it to stand out.
When I first bought my Golf R, no one at work said anything about it, or even noticed... by comparison, the first week after buying my FoRS, I've had at least a handful of people approach me to talk about the car. It definitely is more of an eye-catcher, even in the more mundane Frozen White color. I really love the black 19” forged wheels on the FoRS, whereas I never cared for the OEM wheels on the VW. Overall, from looking at the outside, the FoRS appears to be a much more “special” car vs the Golf R. YMMV.
-Fuel economy: It's probably too early to make a ruling here, as I haven't owned the FoRS for very long and I've been constantly varying the revs since I bought it; but the Golf R is rated at getting better fuel economy by a decent margin (VW= 22/31mpg vs FoRS= 19/25mpg). I never quite got the fuel economy numbers that VW rated the Golf R at, but then again, I kept the car in “Race” mode since the day I bought it and wasn't ever very conservative with my driving style. From what I've seen thus far, I think the FoRS will likely get 3-4mpg less than the VW on average. It would probably do better if I didn't turn the automatic-off/start-stop feature off and enable Sport mode every time I drove the car.
VW gets another win in the practicality category, as it not only gets better fuel economy, but it also has a larger gas tank (14.5 gallons vs 13.4 gallons). In my VW I would regularly get ~300 miles out of a tank before the gas light came on. In the FoRS, it looks like that number will drop to about ~200-250 miles (if that).
-Costs: Things like insurance are essentially a wash, with them being within ~$3/month of each other. Both cost considerably more to insure than my S2000.
Purchase price is also very close. Base MSRP (with Destination) is $36,470 for the Golf R and $36,995 for the Focus RS. Basically within $500 of each other. You get get just a bit of money off of their prices with some negotiation, but they pretty much sell themselves, so don't expect huge rebates or dealer discounts. According to Truecar, the average selling price for the base version of both of these cars is actually OVER MSRP. They say the Golf R is selling for 0.23% over MSRP and the Focus RS is selling for 0.73% over MSRP. What they're getting at is that most of them are selling for around MSRP, some with a bit of markup, and very little markdown.
They both also offer strong resale value, so you're not losing much money either. I punched in numbers for both on Kelly Blue Book, both 2016 models, with 12,000 miles, excellent condition. They came back and said the Golf R's trade-in value on average around $30,200 and the Focus RS was trading for $32,389. Both of those figures are considered very strong for this price range in my opinion (much stronger than your average/loaded mid-size sedan in this price range), with the FoRS having a bit of an edge here.
Both cars have similar maintenance schedules, calling for oil change intervals every 10k miles. I would assume the FoRS would be cheaper to maintain, because 'Murica, but I can't say with any certainty. Tires are smaller for the base Golf R- 225/40/18 vs 235/35/19 for the FoRS, so there's some cost savings when it comes to replacing rubber. However, most of the new Golf R's now come with the same sized tires as the FoRS, so your costs will depend on the trim level you buy.
Hard to say which one will be more reliable. Again, my guess would be the Ford based on my experiences with the Golf R, but I won't know for certain until time goes by. In just under 1.5 years of ownership I had a few reliability issues with the Golf R:
-As mentioned above, the backup camera wouldn't work about ~25% of the time. Did that since the day it was new. -Under hard acceleration in 1st gear, going into 2nd gear, a handful of times the clutch stuck to the floor. It would pop back up a second or so later, but it was unnerving and definitely not what I would expect out of a performance car; or any car for the matter. -A couple of times within my last month or so of ownership, the VW's engine just turned off without warning. No CEL, no other symptoms, started right back up. When VW couldn't diagnose this issue, that was the prime factor in me selling the car. Yes, the car was still under warranty, so I'm sure it would have been covered in the event of a major failure; but I despise electrical issues and love new cars, so....
-Overall: Which one is the “better” car? That's a tough call to make. During my ownership, I repeatedly said the Golf R was the best overall car I've ever owned, as it was literally good at just about everything. The Focus RS checks a lot of the same boxes; they're both quick, they handle well, great brakes, great driver's seats, great powertrains, usable back seats, trunk that my dog can fit in, AWD for the winter, etc. Really, they're the definition of “hot hatch”, as they're fun cars that can be used everyday to do real car things.
In the end, it really comes down to preference. The VW is a slightly nicer car and the Ford is a slightly sportier/more fun car. Neither one really blows the other one out of the water in any major way. The Ford still feels like a nice car and the VW still feels like a sporty car. In my book, they're pretty much equals, depending on the day of the week. My opinion may change over time, but I think they're both the best cars in their segment and honestly, just about the best overall sporty & practical cars you can buy for the money.
I only have 1 real argument against the Golf R: you can get a GTI for almost $10k less and have just as much fun. In some ways, I actually preferred the GTI, due to it being lighter/more tossable and I preferred the way it cornered with the fancy electronic front diff. I'm also a sucker for the GTI's plaid seats and the dirt cheap ($1500) performance pack on the GTI nets you the EXACT same brakes as the Golf R! The Golf R gets more power vs the GTI, but really, there isn't as much of an acceleration advantage as you might think and the GTI's engine is more low-end friendly, making it great for the daily commute. Keep in mind that the GTI is notoriously underrated in order to avoid stepping on the Golf R's toes. On dry pavement, VW has done such a great job with the GTI, you can't hardly tell it's a FWD car: there's no real torque steer or wheelhop to speak of. It's just a refined as the Golf R and just as much fun in my opinion. For a lot less money.
Really, with the Golf R the extra money really just gets you the Haldex AWD setup. It works great when the snow starts falling and was my prime motivation for buying the R. But the addition of AWD doesn't hardly change the feel of the Golf R vs the GTI. It stills feels more like a FWD car, but with more traction. If you don't live in a snowy area and you're not planning on adding lots of power (making the AWD more of a necessity to put power down), you might want to consider the GTI over the Golf R.
I can't make the same argument with the Focus RS vs the Focus ST. I used to own a Focus ST and the FoRS feels like a massive upgrade. The FoST had lots of torque steer/wheelhop; whereas that's been well-solved in the FoRS. The FoST's brakes were annoyingly grabby and hard to modulate; whereas the Brembo's on the FoRS are incredibly easy to modulate while having considerably more stopping power. The FoST handled well, and the tail would kick out under mid-corner lift. It used brakes to act as the poor man's torque vectoring. The FoRS is in a different league. No need to lift to swing the tail around! The FoRS' clever drivetrain puts the power where it needs to be to get the car to rotate and it doesn't need to use brakes and scrub off speed to do it! There also feels like a much more substantial difference in acceleration in the FoRS (around a ~10mph difference in trap speeds), without sacrificing in the turbo lag department. Instead of just adding a bigger turbo to the same sized engine like VW did with the GTI vs Golf R (both 2.0L), Ford actually upped the engine displacement (2.3L vs 2.0L) to avoid a loss of low-end torque. Really, the FoRS feels like a major upgrade over the FoST; whereas the GTI to Golf R upgrade is more of a “meh, I suppose it's a bit better” upgrade.
To illustrate a point: every year, Car and Driver puts on their annual Lightning Lap event. By comparison, the MK7 GTI ran a 3:14.6 around VIR vs the Golf R's 3:12.3. The R is the faster car, but not by a huge margin given it's power and traction advantage. The Focus cars? The Focus RS ran an impressive 3:03.9 vs the Focus ST's 3:17.6. That's a massive gap, and does a great job of demonstrating the vast improvements in the FoRS vs the FoST; whereas you can see that the 2 VW cars are much closer, making the GTI a potentially better value proposition.
In other words, if you like the Golf R, but don't live in a snowy climate, or need the extra traction, you should strongly consider the GTI for less money. Whereas if you're looking for a Ford, the FoRS is the car to have. If AWD is a priority/preference and you're shopping in the $35k-$40k range, you can't go wrong with either of these cars.
