Focus RS... looking for feedback

[jerm182]

Regarding Focus: I had a ‘16 RS and currently own an ‘18 RS. I don’t think there is a more fun driver’s car in that price range or class of car. I’ve owned a lot of cars, and also race in a built 86. Just saying I’m not just an RS fanboy.

The RS is not a commuter vehicle though. The ride is too harsh for daily driving, the seating position is awkward for long drives, and manual is tough in bad traffic imo.

The only real difference between the 18 and 16 is limited slip diff. Suspension is identical. Aftermarket support is pretty good except for wheels due to the funny bolt pattern. The head gasket issue did not affect the 18 model year. The issue was the wrong hg installed at the factory on 16 and 17 cars. The recall surgery was not fun and many cars ended up with new engines.

The RS is way more fun to drive than the Golf R (which would be a fine commuter), and the only real competition is the Civic Type R imo, but I still believe the RS slays that car.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[SamB]

Ok so I've owned a Focus RS for about a year and did about 22k miles on it. I LOVED that car. The sounds that came from it were amazing with a Borla of course . The car is very sporty so not the most comfortable ride but you really do feel connected with the car. It's like a mini go kart you can throw it everywhere you want and the steering will respond fantastically.

Compared to the Golf R, the RS is way more fun in every way. Golf R is more of a daily driver, more comfortable ride. Don't get me wronf the car still pulls hard and everything but the RS is more tracky than the R if you know what I mean. The RS is also getting alot of attention in meets and stuff. Not much on the road tho since people think it's a normal Focus. Still, mine was on bags so it was a different story lol.

As the negative parts, I'd say the seats. If you plan on driving it for more than 3 hours, your back is gonna be screwed. The suspension is also very harch and if you have the guts to put the suspension in track mode well that's a RIP to your back even more. Also, the tuning for this car is very scary. I've seen more blown up ST-RS than any cars in the market. If you buy a Cobb Accessport, be sure to get a custom tune from Stratified, Tune+ or JST Tuning.

I traded in my RS for a Stinger because of the depreciation of the RS. I got $25.5k for 2017 RS a month and a half ago and they're already going for less than $22k. I wouldn't even think about getting rid of my RS if it wasn't for that. In all, the RS was the best car I've driven in my life. The Stinger is close but won't beat it.

 

[DiabloStinger]

Regarding Focus: I had a ‘16 RS and currently own an ‘18 RS. I don’t think there is a more fun driver’s car in that price range or class of car. I’ve owned a lot of cars, and also race in a built 86. Just saying I’m not just an RS fanboy.

The RS is not a commuter vehicle though. The ride is too harsh for daily driving, the seating position is awkward for long drives, and manual is tough in bad traffic imo.

The only real difference between the 18 and 16 is limited slip diff. Suspension is identical. Aftermarket support is pretty good except for wheels due to the funny bolt pattern. The head gasket issue did not affect the 18 model year. The issue was the wrong hg installed at the factory on 16 and 17 cars. The recall surgery was not fun and many cars ended up with new engines.

The RS is way more fun to drive than the Golf R (which would be a fine commuter), and the only real competition is the Civic Type R imo, but I still believe the RS slays that car.

Hope that helps a little.

Thank you. I don't care about the manual trans... that is not a thing that annoys me. The longest drives I have are about an hour, they are just a straight shot up the highway. I've driven a Golf R very recently, so I think I should get behind the wheel of an RS to see the difference.

 

[MisterMac]

There is absolutely no scenario where you will come out ahead getting another car just to save mileage expense (depreciation) on your Stinger lease. Zero.

Keep in mind that the residual value estimate in your lease is an estimate of wholesale/trade-in value. Not retail.

I suggest you keeping driving the Stinger. Then, about 1-2 months before lease maturity, put it up for sale by owner. I bet you break even or make a little money.

 

[NismoDPB]

Like others have said, there is no benefit to getting a second car to mitigate mileage fees unless you plan on getting a 1k to 2k junker. Your best option would be to drive the stinger and buy it and the lease end price, then you can sell it or do whatever you want at that point.
Alternatively eating the fees on trade in would be less expensive than purchasing another car, I would say that is your second best option depending on the overage.

 

[DiabloStinger]

Ok so I've owned a Focus RS for about a year and did about 22k miles on it. I LOVED that car. The sounds that came from it were amazing with a Borla of course . The car is very sporty so not the most comfortable ride but you really do feel connected with the car. It's like a mini go kart you can throw it everywhere you want and the steering will respond fantastically.

Compared to the Golf R, the RS is way more fun in every way. Golf R is more of a daily driver, more comfortable ride. Don't get me wronf the car still pulls hard and everything but the RS is more tracky than the R if you know what I mean. The RS is also getting alot of attention in meets and stuff. Not much on the road tho since people think it's a normal Focus. Still, mine was on bags so it was a different story lol.

As the negative parts, I'd say the seats. If you plan on driving it for more than 3 hours, your back is gonna be screwed. The suspension is also very harch and if you have the guts to put the suspension in track mode well that's a RIP to your back even more. Also, the tuning for this car is very scary. I've seen more blown up ST-RS than any cars in the market. If you buy a Cobb Accessport, be sure to get a custom tune from Stratified, Tune+ or JST Tuning.

I traded in my RS for a Stinger because of the depreciation of the RS. I got $25.5k for 2017 RS a month and a half ago and they're already going for less than $22k. I wouldn't even think about getting rid of my RS if it wasn't for that. In all, the RS was the best car I've driven in my life. The Stinger is close but won't beat it.

I haven't seen that rate of depreciation here in the states for the RS... most of the 2016s are going for around 30K while the 2017s are closer to 35K. Thanks for the info!

 

[SamB]

I haven't seen that rate of depreciation here in the states for the RS... most of the 2016s are going for around 30K while the 2017s are closer to 35K. Thanks for the info!

Yup US car market is always alot more expensive than here. I got my brand new GT2 fully loaded 20th anniversary for about $35kUSD.

 

[bpang1]

There is absolutely no scenario where you will come out ahead getting another car just to save mileage expense (depreciation) on your Stinger lease. Zero.

Keep in mind that the residual value estimate in your lease is an estimate of wholesale/trade-in value. Not retail.

I suggest you keeping driving the Stinger. Then, about 1-2 months before lease maturity, put it up for sale by owner. I bet you break even or make a little money.

I think the only scenario would be to buy a beater Toyota or something like that.

 

[jerm182]

There is absolutely no scenario where you will come out ahead getting another car just to save mileage expense (depreciation) on your Stinger lease. Zero.

You all seem like nice people, but if my wife finds out about this “absolutely no scenario” business, then my car collection isn’t gonna last much longer. That would suck, and I’d have to leave this group after I only recently joined and haven’t even taken delivery on my Stinger yet.

In my opinion, which is 100% rational, you should always have one more car than you can afford. This will teach you the value of things. It will always leave you with an easy fix for financial problems (just get rid of one, or get a better job). Besides, each car serves it’s own purpose, and you NEED a spare car anyway — cars break down sometimes.

Im kidding around of course (kinda), but if cars were purely rational purchases, we’d all be driving a Prius or similar. If you can afford it, go for it. If you can’t; go for it anyway, and hop on the hamster wheel of consumer debt. Or start a YouTube channel about cars. Or start a wish list of all the cars you’ll buy one day. Or rent cool cars from Turo every once in a while.

...what was the question again? Sure, I’ll race you in the RS...wait, that wasn’t it either...

 

[itguy61]

I haven't driven a RS myself, but if it rides anything like my Speed 3 did, you're going to be very uncomfortable after a while.

I hear that, I had a first gen speed 3 and it was pretty brutal. Fun car and practical but too hard core for me now.

 

[wtam1100]

I'm not going to comment on the money factor for u. I had a 16 RS rode, it was a very fun car to drive (I had it tuned and ran E30) but it rode way too harsh and the seats were not good. U will never be able to use track mode on the street. Even on the smoothest hwy track setting made the suspension way to stiff. If all you are going to do with the car is take it to auto x or track yes the the car is great. For more than that I would say look for something else. I haven't driven a 18 where a lot of people say they fixed the the ride some. If you do go the RS route I would defy try to get an 18.

 

[DiabloStinger]

I hear that, I had a first gen speed 3 and it was pretty brutal. Fun car and practical but too hard core for me now.

I had a Speed 3... It really wasn't too stiff. Now, I didn't slam it or run 22s either. There is local RS for sale that im going to drive. Even has a winter set of wheels with it. To reiterate, this isn't an additional car, I'd sell my stinger after winter.

 

[Stiletto]

I traded my 16 RS in for the Stinger. Needed more room, and to get a more steetable ride. If I had the money, I would've keep the Ford as a toy.

The RS is not a commuter vehicle though. The ride is too harsh for daily driving, the seating position is awkward for long drives, and manual is tough in bad traffic imo.

Agree, except for the distance driving part. I found it just fine...provided the roads were smooth.

The only real difference between the 18 and 16 is limited slip diff. Suspension is identical.

Not *entirely*. Ford changed the struts in 17. They were a teensy bit softer.

Aftermarket support is pretty good except for wheels due to the funny bolt pattern.

Aftermarket is adequate. I was surprised to find the modicum of support given the Focus and Fiesta ST have gobs of parts.

Yeah, 5x108 is odd. But, I found some nice rollers.

The RS is way more fun to drive than the Golf R (which would be a fine commuter), and the only real competition is the Civic Type R imo, but I still believe the RS slays that car.

100% agree the Golf R is a peppy, comfortable ride. The CTR just lacked oomph, IMO. The RS pulls you from 0-100...once it's tuned.

 

[G-996397]

I looked at the Focus RS before getting my Stinger. I found the RS to be much less refines with a harsh & uncomfortable ride. And expected reliability was poor, as was the warranty (at least compared to Kia's). No regrets with my Stinger.

 

[Mike_TX]

Seems a lot of people don't realize you can trade a leased car anytime you want. The lease has a payoff just like any other kind of loan (which is what a lease is).

In fact, I'll admit that I often lease a vehicle at the lowest mileage allocation (usually 10,000) to get the lease payments down, then trade well be fore the end of the lease. That way the actual miles don't matter.

 

[DiabloStinger]

Seems a lot of people don't realize you can trade a leased car anytime you want. The lease has a payoff just like any other kind of loan (which is what a lease is).

In fact, I'll admit that I often lease a vehicle at the lowest mileage allocation (usually 10,000) to get the lease payments down, then trade well be fore the end of the lease. That way the actual miles don't matter.

Exactly what I'm trying to determine right now. However, if I drive the piss out of this and try to trade it with 45K on the odo i might not be in the same position I am now.