Here is a kind of silly video showing the interior lighting of the 2017 Focus RS at night.  Super short, but SUPER sexy.

2017 Focus RS After 1500 Miles

The Ford Focus RS.  It’s the car on many people’s lips recently.  All over the internet there are reviews after reviews telling you it's the top “hyper hatch.”  Videos on YouTube show people astonished when they drive it, blown away by its power and amazing grip.  On the dark side it’s also a car that has been haunted by engine issues of leaking head gaskets and cracked blocks requiring complete engine replacements.  Word is this is a 2016 only problem and Ford has fixed it in 2017?  Is the Focus RS all that they say it is?  Well I bought one so here are my thoughts after owning it almost a month with about 1500 miles on the odometer.

I think to properly understand my views you first have to know where I’m coming from, automotively speaking.  I bought the Focus RS to replace my 2007 Hummer H3 daily driver which was awesome but was also costing me $520 a month in gas.  I could accept the gas cost as part of Hummer ownership but it started going down the road of having mechanical issues and after investing over $6000 in repairs and more on the way I decided that was enough.  I also own a 2014 Shelby GT500 which is a 662hp supercharged monster.  It’s my sunny day fun car. A few hard pulls in that will leave you shaking with excitement.

To replace the Hummer I wanted something sporty but AWD for winter.  Better mileage would be nice but not essential and realistically everything gets better mileage than a Hummer.  After lots of deliberation I decided to go with the 2017 Focus RS.  I decided the Golf R was too plain, the STI was too dated, and the Audi RS3 was out of my price range.  Here in Canada the most dealerships had a strict “no test drives” rule with Focus RS.  I would assume to prevent people stopping in for a joy ride.  So if you're interested in a purchase you just had to go for it and put the money down.  Kind of a smart move on Ford's part, it not only keeps people from beating their cars but a test drive could expose things you might not like.  This would have certainly been the case with me.  If I would have drove it I doubt I would have bought it.  Instead I totally trusted the YouTube vids and made my purchase.

I wanted the Stealth Gray color which took the dealer some time to locate but after about a week I went to pick it up.  They handed me the keys and I started it up expecting to be amazed.  Slowly I left the dealership lot and pulled onto the road and gave it some juice but nothing crazy.  As my girlfriend chattered away I felt a bit “meh.”  I would call it a peppy car but mind blowing it wasn’t.  In fact it was extremely civilized.  If there wasn’t a boost gauge I wouldn’t even know the turbo existed, no spooling sounds or blow off valves could be heard.  Driving home on the highway steering was very responsive and sharp.  The seats were uncomfortably tight for me but my petite girlfriend described them as comfy.  Since my she was in the car I didn’t try to do anything fun but I was a little disappointed.  I was thinking, “If I had test drove this, I wouldn’t have bought it.”

Later that weekend I was able to sneak away and go for a little drive alone.  I decided to blast down the curviest road in my area so I switched to sport mode and the car woke up a bit.  A 30 km corner I took at 80 km with no issues.  Every bend in the road the grip was there, even in the sandy roads of early April and still wearing winter tires.  This is what the car was made for, not acceleration but grip.  Seemingly endless grip.  I was beginning to lose my regret.

Later the next week as often happens in Canada we had a late snow storm dumping several inches of snow while I was at work.  The snow kept falling and I was pretty nervous at the thought of driving home.  This was the car I replaced my winter driver with.  Would it really be able to do the same job as the Hummer?  I was super cautious all the way home.  The roads were extremely slick and with the traffic of the commute I didn’t want to screw around.  But once I got away from the main roads I decided to see how it dealt with the road conditions so I took it down that curvy road.  The first thing I did was slammed on the brakes.  It stopped immediately.  The Hummer would slide forever due to its massive weight. That felt good.  Then in the corners I could feel the AWD system dealing with the snowy conditions encouraging me to go faster.  By the time I got home I was super happy with the car.  On snowy roads it was a superstar and gave excellent confidence.

Now after 1500 miles of daily driving back and forth to and from Toronto how does it hold up?  First of all the good things.  As expected the gas mileage is better than the H3.  I ended up getting an average of 21 or 22 mpg and that's a 50/50 mix of highway and city driving.  So that is good.  It’s peppy on the road which is great for a crowded city like Toronto when you need to rush to a hole in traffic.  The uncomfortable Recaro seats have broken in like a new pair of shoes which I can now describe as comfortable most of the time.  Many reviewers complain about the ride quality but I never found that to be an issue.  The Stealth Gray paint is doing exactly what I hoped it would do which is keeping the RS under the radar of the police and “boy racers” looking for a challenge.

What don’t I like?  Well the Sony stereo sucks.  I’m not a huge audio guy so I don’t require much, I mainly listen to metal so I just ask that it’s loud.  But the way this stereo is set up feels strange.  When I picked it up it felt like the audio balance was all towards the front of the car.  So I moved it back to center which dramatically lowered the volume.  I turned off that annoying auto volume system that raises and lowers the volume with the car speed and that seemed to lower the volume even more.  Fiddling with the settings in the driveway for quite some time I just can’t seem to get the stereo to be more of a rear speaker balance and also loud.  I also really don’t like the piped in engine noise through the speakers.  If you’re sitting in the car with the engine off there is a faint white noise hiss coming through them.  I’m planning on disabling the fake noise at some point.

Another thing I don’t like is the RPM ratio.  This could be because I’m use to my big 5.8L V8 in the Shelby but I expected that when I shifted into 6^th gear the RPMs would drop down to like 1500.  But when I’m keeping with traffic on the highway at about 120 km (70ish mph) the RPMs are at like 2500 to 3000.  That feels way too high for me.  I keep feeling I need to shift again.  Same goes when turning right or left onto a new road.  Normally you’d shift into 2^nd gear but with the RS it feels more like I need to be in 3^rd.  Shifting into second brings the revs way too high.

Overall I expected the RS to be more visceral.  I want to hear the turbo spool, I want to hear the blow off valve.  The pops and cracks from the exhaust are nice but since I know they are faked they don’t mean much to me.  My Shelby does pops too but it’s because it’s a bad ass car not faked.  Watching the people testing them online I was expecting to be amazed by the experience of driving it.  The grip is amazing without question, but I still find the acceleration to be kind of boring.  That being said it is great for the exact thing I bought it for, which is a daily commuter car.  Perhaps if I didn’t own the Shelby I would be more thrilled with the experience, however I am still thrilled to have the Focus RS as my daily.

Everything said and done it’s a fun all season commuter car.  I’m not blown away by it but also not upset I bought it.  The Focus RS is perfect for the position I wanted it to fill.  Combined with the Shelby I'd say I'm pretty spoiled.

2017 Ford Focus RS 24hr Feedback

Yesterday I picked up my Stealth Gray Focus RS from Barrie Ford in Barrie Ontario.  Like most dealerships they don't allow test drives so I bought the car from what I saw in reviews.  Therefore the first drive I had was taking the car home after I bought it.  This was not really a situation I was comfortable with.  I bought the car to be an all season daily driver, my commuter car.  But also I wanted it to be fun.

Driving the car out of the dealership and onto the road I was just getting to know the clutch which sort of engaged at a weird position but that wasn't a big deal.  Very quickly we turned onto the highway and I gave it some gas.  I must say I was pretty disappointed in the power.  I expected a huge kick in the pants and it really wasn't there.  Certainly it had some power but I wanted to hear and feel the turbo and if there wasn't a boost gauge I don't think I would even know it had a turbo.  Playing with it on the highway I really didn't get the big grin from the car I was hoping for.

To be fair I don't know that I can properly report on the power.  My other car is the 662 hp Shelby GT500.  I recently took that car out of winter storage to gas it up and put air in the tires and the power is still shocking to me.  After you get out you are shaking for several minutes and have to calm down. It's not fair to compare the RS to the GT500 but it's hard for me not to.  So I drove home and didn't really play with the car much other than setting up the stereo and nav settings.  I was a little bummed out.

The next day my girlfriend had to go to a party leaving me home for most of the day.  It was cold, cloudy, and wet but I decided to take the RS out and get to know it more.  So I found a few curvy roads and gave it some real juice.  This is where the car really shined.  Even with damp, sandy, wet roads the RS would take the corners as fast as you had the balls to take them.  Definitely at speeds I wouldn't dream of taking the GT500 into a corner.  I was having a blast!  And that was on winter tires.

It could be a coincidence but after switching to sport mode and driving around my area enjoying the pops from the exhaust I saw a cop.  Then after about a half hour I saw two cops together cruising the area.  I started wondering if the noise was generating police calls so I switched back to normal.

Monday I will start my commuting with the car which is sure to add to my opinions of the car.  As of right now I don't have any regrets and look forward to getting more acquainted with the RS.  The power may have been a disappointment but that's not really what this car is truly about.  At it's heart I think it wants to be a rally/track car which for me is an excitingly new kind of fun that I want to play with.

But you know that since I went ahead and purchased my RS that means next generation is going to be the more powerful RS500.  It just always happens like this.  Perhaps next weekend I'll write another review after my week of commuting.

I Purchased a 2017 Focus RS......I think.

Last week I decided to trade in my '07 Hummer H3 for something a little better as a daily driver.  The less practical genes in me made the decision to get a Focus RS.  So I went down to a local dealer to see what they'd give me for the H3.

I wanted to get $8000 for the Hummer but due to an exhaust leak it had at the manifold they said they could only give me $5000.  I agreed however and said I wanted wanted the RS in Stealth Gray, they only had access to the blue.  I'm a little past the "boy racer" age so I passed and decided to look at other dealerships.

Calling a dealership in Barrie they said they could definitely get me gray.  I went to see them and they also determined the same trade price for the Hummer, oh well.  They also didn't have a Stealth Gray on the lot however they said they can get it and we signed the papers.

Now trying to be a clever person I had kept my insurance policy in the States when I moved to Canada.  At the time not only was this a cheaper rate but Allstate US and Allstate Canada don't talk to each other so when I would get speeding tickets in Canada my US insurance would never hear about it.  It was perfect.  They even allowed me to put my Shelby on the policy which was a Canadian car registered in Ontario.  I'm not exactly sure how they did that but I was cool with it.  But all good things must come to an end and when I asked to add the Focus to the policy as well it seems I "shook the monkey tree." They started asking why I was getting the car, how long was I going to be staying in Canada, where was my US residence in the States?  The jig was up and they dumped me.  So I needed to find insurance in Canada.  Fortunately my girlfriend's insurance had added me as a secondary driver so it wasn't hard to get my own policy but poking into my record of tickets getting a good rate could be a challenge.  Currently they are still investigating and haven't come to a decision.  If I can't get proof of insurance I can't pickup the RS.

In the meantime the dealer kind of sold me a car that didn't exist.  I don't think they did it in purpose but while they were selling the me Stealth Gray RS the dealer that actually had it was also selling it.  So the bill of sale was written up on a car that was sold to someone else.  Not they need to find me another gray RS if they can.

So right now I'm waiting to hear if I have insurance and also if I even have a car.  Maybe I should have gone with the VW Golf R like I had originally thought.

The New 2018?? GT500

The word on the street is that the 2017 or 2018 or whatever year GT500 is going to rival the Dodge Challenger Hellcat's horsepower numbers. (Link Here) So that means 700+ horsepower.

Let me start by being totally honest.  Since I own a 2014 GT500 which was the last year for the GT500, I really don't want there to ever be a new one.  Nor do I wish any future Fords to exceed the 662 factory horsepower numbers my car makes.  It just bugs the hell out of me when you buy something special and then there is a new something special the next year.  If you don't believe me just ask the 2012 GT500 owners.  They bought a brand new monster just to have it quickly be overshadowed by an even bigger monster in 2013.  It infuriates me.

So that all being said I will say I understand why Ford is making it...sort of.  When Dodge finally decided to join the big boys and make a road beast they were the "talk of the town."  Everyone was going on and on about the Hellcats.  Hellcat was all you heard in auto media and even I got caught up in it. I was calling Dodge dealers trying to get one before I realized I didn't need it.  So or course Ford wants to bring back its brute GT500 to get some of that media hype and show they can make another blunt instrument to be feared.  I get it....

However as an owner of a GT500 I can honestly say the last thing it needs is more horsepower.  It needs better brakes, better tires, better suspension, better horsepower it doesn't need.  But people feel the new platform will bring these things that the old GT500 lacked.  Everyone wants to see what the new Mustang chassis with the limited slip diff will do with 700+ horsepower.  The dream would be a car that handles like a GT350 but with the boosted grunt of the GT500.  The rumors are that it will use the same engine block as the GT350 Voodoo but with boost, so there shouldn't be a huge weight gain.  This then begs the question, "Why not just boost a GT350?"  In other words keep it a GT350 but boost it.  I don't know.  Previous GT500s used different engine than the GTs but I guess because it's the "biggest" it gets the GT500 name, but then it's using the same engine only boosted....  Blah, blah, blah.

I personally don't see the need for a new GT500.  Talking from experience there are few times you can actually have fun with all that power.  In a big city like Toronto, traffic is constantly in the way.  But you say, "The power is for the track stupid, not the street." Okay smart guy then why does someone buy a GT350R? "Well because it's an awesome track car."  Then why would you buy a GT500?  You see, it's kind of an endless question and the answer is a new GT500 is not really needed other than because they want to do it.  Perhaps you can argue it's for the drag strip but in reality they exist to make cars and coffee crash videos.

So no I don't want to see a new GT500.  I'm sure it's just because I don't want another factory GT500 on the road boasting more horsepower.  My car was kind of legendary for being the last big horsepower car from Shelby before Carroll Shelby passed away and the last of the GT500s.  I would love to keep it that way.  Of course what will happen will happen and eventually I'm going to have to go back to my old problem of do I add more power to my car or get rid of it.  With electric cars moving into the spotlight of what's considered fast perhaps all these petrol brutes will soon be the joke at a stoplight.

Dodge's Latest Mess

Contrary to popular belief I am not a Mustang fan.  Of course I like them enough to buy them but they are not the car I’m always after.  In fact I absolutely hated them in high school.  The big reason I’ve owned so many is that they are fast out of the box and there are endless aftermarket possibilities.  A Mustang can be easily built to be whatever you want it to be.

Before I bought my first Mustang I was primarily a “Mopar of No Car” kind of guy.  I loved Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars.  To me they always seemed like the underdog that Ford and Chevy people wrongfully underestimated.  Once a guy pulled up next to me in my Duster 340 bragging that his Nova had a 350.  In his mind the bigger number mean he would stomp me and he was sadly mistaken.

So then why am I not driving around in a new Challenger or Charger instead of a Shelby?  Because Dodge treats its heritage like garbage.  To charge a few more bucks Dodge with slap R/T on everything from a minivan to a SUV.  It used to be an exclusive badge for performance vehicles meaning road and track, but now it means nothing.  Then Dodge created SRT as their exclusive performance car but of course we started seeing that show up on Ram pickups and even Jeeps.  Now we have Hellcat which has migrated over to Charger and the word is it will be on a Ram soon.  Dodge does not know how to keep something exclusive or special anymore.

So in the tradition of Dodge whoring out their heritage they announced the Challenger T/A package.  For those who don’t know way back in 1970 when things were good Dodge created a T/A variation of their Challenger to be raced in Trans Am races which is where the T/A comes from.  These were high winding small block 340s with what was called a 6-pack which was 3 two-barrel carbs. They were light and had upgraded suspension and brakes.  Today they are fairly rare and expensive cars.

Now with Ford creating the new track oriented GT350 Mustang and Chevy creating the track oriented Z/28 Camaro did Dodge follow suit and resurrect the Challenger T/A to be a track attack machine like in the old days??  Nope.  It’s a stupid sticker package along with intake and exhaust options that don’t change the horsepower numbers at all.  Oh, well surely keeping with tradition they have something special under the hood like a supercharged 5.7-liter or maybe even a turbo V6??  Nope, instead it’s got the standard 375hp 5.7 or the 485hp 6.4 same as all the other Challengers packages.  With the Challenger T/A they had the chance to stay relevant with Ford and Chevy and create their own track attack car to chase after the competition with.  Just like the special small block 340 6-pack engine of the '70s they could have used a turbo V6 or at the very least boosted the smaller 5.7 V8.  But that would take effort, research, engineering and testing to create.  Stickers and badges on the other hand are easy to apply and cost way less.

So this is why I no longer fly the Mopar flag, Dodge just doesn’t try anymore.  They aren’t the scrappy underdog anymore, they are just behind and not in a cool way.  Hell, they took the Charger which was an amazing iconic car and turned it into a 4-banger hatchback and then into a 4 door sedan.  I’m just glad that Plymouth is dead so we don’t see some modern Cuda abomination out there on the streets.



Pics and info courtesy of Car & Driver. 

2017 Shelby GT350R Pricing

Horsepowerkings.com says:

The recently-debuted 2016 Shelby Mustang GT350R will having a starting MSRP of $69,995, per sources at Ford. That is nearly a $20,000 upgrade over the ‘base’ Shelby GT350, which will be priced “around the $50,000 mark” (our source tells us $52,995), and our bet is that the extra cost for the ‘R’ model will be well worth it.

The $70,000 mark is an important one, because it undercuts the track-bred Camaro Z/28, which has a starting MSRP of $75,000. The GT350 and GT350R were both developed with the Z/28 as thevictim target, and we think Ford has developed a worth adversary.

The ‘R’ package adds significant track-focused technology to the base GT350, including MagneRide Suspension and better tires, all while reducing weight. Thanks to Carbon Fiber Wheels and a Rear Seat Delete, the GT350R will tip the scales some 150 lbs lighter than the base GT350. We can’t wait to see some real world numbers, stay tuned.

So the R may be a bit out of my price range when its all said and done.  :(