Well, I’m 1000 miles and 1 autocross into my Focus RS ownership adventure, and am loving every minute of driving it. I’ll highlight some pros and cons, starting with the cons.
Cons: The ride is pretty stiff. The wife hates it, and that’s even after the Fiesta ST, which she didn’t seem to mind at all, but I found equally stiff but in a more jiggly kind of way. The Focus is more firmly damped but not as harsh, mostly because of better shocks and a longer wheelbase. I wonder if she just finds the seats too confining. The deeply bolstered Recaros definitely hold you locked in place. Secondly, the shifter is taking a while to loosen up. There seemed to be a lot of binding in the joints at first, and while this is improving, it can’t hold a candle to the light, positive shift action in the Fiesta. Finally, and this is pretty minor, I was not a fan of the fake engine noise that made it sound like a Subaru from the inside, so I disabled two of the three speaker outputs from the sound generator box. I left only the right rear speaker active, making the noise sound like its coming from the exhaust rather than the intake and at a much lower volume.
Pros: Just about everything else. The power is, of course, in another league than the Fiesta and more linear than the Sentra. The Fiesta had a very annoying boost dropout right after every shift, and its off-boost performance was pitiful. The Sentra, which had a pretty similar power to weight ratio, had a huge surge of torque at 3500 rpm but peaked out at 5500, acceleration flattening some after that. The Focus pulls strongly right from the bottom of the rpm range and stays perfectly linear right to the redline, with the same feeling you get in a jet aircraft on a takeoff roll. Engine smoothness and tractability are also excellent. The interior is tight and rattle free, and generally several quality classes up from the Fiesta. The Brembo brakes are outstanding, with smooth engagement and unbelievable stopping power. At the beginning of my first run at the autocross on Sunday, I hit the brakes at the end of the first straight and almost came to a complete halt. I had to move my braking point further in with each run; that’s one of the driving adjustments I’ll have to make to get the most out of the car. I found the handling to be just a little difficult, having to manage understeer at the entrance to the turns and balance oversteer at the exit. The tight confines of the kart track made that more difficult; a more open parking lot or airport runway would probably suit it better. That said, it was very fast; 7th overall on the PAX out of 159 on my first time with the car is pretty good. The stock Michelin PSS tires are just outstanding in the rain. I was driving home in a torrential downpour yesterday and had to sneak into a gap in traffic. Full throttle application produced zero wheelspin; the car just got up and scooted with nary a slip from the tires. It frequently makes me shake my head in disbelief of its abilities.
I could go on all day, but suffice it to say that I’m driving my dream car and one of the coolest cars in the world.
That thing sounds pretty slick. Color this Focus SE owner just a little jealous. Or a lot, as it may be...
And I've heard that it's damn near impossible to stall it. And if you do, it starts itself and drives off. I wonder if it does the "burnout of embarrassment," too.
That brings up one thing that I'm not really a fan of, the auto stop/start. In heavy stop-and-go traffic I just shut it off because it gets annoying. The big problem is that if you catch it by surprise, it stumbles a bit on the launch. It needs a second or two of idling before it takes off smoothly.
Something I didn't mention before is how good the steering is. I bragged about the Fiesta's steering when I first got it, but now I realize how little feel it had at the limit. The Focus's has much better feedback, one of the better electric racks I've driven.
I've read a fair amount about initial lower power and shutting off the rear diff on track. Like basically a break-in limp mode. Curious if you'll notice anything different after a few thousand miles.
Great to hear you're enjoying it! Having any issues with heat soak between runs?
The track wheels look great, what wheels and tires?
Hi Kevan! I was planning to write you a private message, but no, I experienced no heat soak or any issues with the RDU at the Daytona autocross. The runs were around 40 seconds, and though it was a beastly hot day, we had around 40 cars in each heat, so there was a good cool-down time between each run. As soon as I returned to grid, I raised the hood and let the engine idle for a few minutes to cool off gradually. I then shut the engine off and left the hood open until my next run. In 4 runs, there was no loss of power or RDU action.
The wheels and tires are 18 x 8 Sport Edition P4's with Bridgestone RE-71R tires in size 235/40-18.
Post about it
I'm not sure how many miles you're up to now, but would you buy the car again?
I haven't sat in them yet, but I keep hearing the seat complaint pop up - too much bolster, not enough adjustment... is there any basis to those points?
I'm dangerously close to ditching my truck for a black one and adopting the hatchback life whole heartedly.
jstein77 wrote:
That brings up one thing that I'm not really a fan of, the auto stop/start. In heavy stop-and-go traffic I just shut it off because it gets annoying. The big problem is that if you catch it by surprise, it stumbles a bit on the launch. It needs a second or two of idling before it takes off smoothly.
Something I didn't mention before is how good the steering is. I bragged about the Fiesta's steering when I first got it, but now I realize how little feel it had at the limit. The Focus's has much better feedback, one of the better electric racks I've driven.
You can order a tune that will disable the auto stop/start.
I only know this because I poking around the Monotune site last night.
collinskl1 wrote:
I'm not sure how many miles you're up to now, but would you buy the car again?
I haven't sat in them yet, but I keep hearing the seat complaint pop up - too much bolster, not enough adjustment... is there any basis to those points?
I'm dangerously close to ditching my truck for a black one and adopting the hatchback life whole heartedly.
I'm up to almost 4000 miles now and still have no complaints. I leave it in normal mode for the most part, where the throttle response is deliberately lazy to promote smooth driving. If I feel feisty, I'll put it into Sport mode and turn off the traction control. That really wakes up the throttle response and lets the tail slide a little, which is the hot ticket for curvy roads. Every time I take a corner astonishingly fast, I think of that quote from C&D that called it the "Velcro Focus". It's just an amazingly capable sports car in a practical body.
The foam insert under the trunk floor subtracts about 3" of depth from the volume, so the space back there isn't huge with the back seats up. Of course, the beauty of a hatchback is its versatility, so pivoting the seat cushions forward and folding the backs down opens up a massive amount of space. Going to autocrosses, I piled my 4 race tires back there and all my gear for the day and still had extra room.
The seats feel weird at first - high and tight - but the bolsters loosen up a bit with age and after an acclimatization period now feel normal and comfortable. It isn't the easiest car to get in and out of, but the driving rewards make the extra effort worth it.
I still love driving the car and can't wait to autocross it again in January.
And I STILL drive on three wheels. 
I got a black one last night. It's going to take a little getting used to the seats - both position and bolstering. My truck had nice wide broken in comfy seats. The RS ones are good, just different.
Congrats, Collins! Yeah, the seats take some getting used to. I've put 4000 miles on mine, and I think they feel really good now.
Enjoy your new car!
