I wanted one of these when they were first announced, and I'm still intrigued by them.
However, the low production numbers and talk of blown head gaskets is making me nervous.
It seems with just a few tweaks it would be a great DD and occasional HPDE car (addressing rear diff cooling, for instance).
Honestly, if you're buying new and will have a warranty for the life of it, no. If used, the Ford part stops me.
markwemple said:If used, the Ford part stops me.
?????
Yes, it has low production numbers, the car is based on the very-common Ford Focus so all major components are easy to come by. The AWD hardware is probably the most specialized on the car, and they made enough worldwide, and Ford is big enough, that I would not be worried about shortages.
I have one of these cars - as do a couple other members here.
I haven't had any issues with my car. The head gasket thing seems to have a very low occurrence rate. I'm not sure that there are any usage conditions that bring this on - it sounds like the design is right on the hairy edge, and something about the Focus deployment pushes it over the limit and the Mustang version is ok.
I have 10k miles on my car, and it is stock. If something happens, the warranty will cover it. The jury is still out on what I'll do when the powertrain warranty is up.
As Pinchvalve states, most of the car is just standard Focus. Any issues that come up outside of powertrain should be very easy to source parts to resolve.
This so much more than the civictypeR despite what the writingheads say.......
Apparently dealers are still having new 2016s sitting on the lot because they refuse to budge on price...
Not really worried about shortages for a AWD Focus with a tuned Mustang Ecoboost engine. Wonder if the AWD is based off the AWD they have in the Escape.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
No faith in Ford quality.
Adrian_Thompson said:markwemple said:If used, the Ford part stops me.
?????
He also says NASCAR isn't racing, so ...
markwemple said:In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
No faith in Ford quality.
Cool story, not what I'm asking about in this thread.
Yeah, parts availability is what was on my mind and the head gasket thing.........but I'm sure like most things on enthusiast/auto internet news it's way overblown.
The idea of being able to put everything in the hatch for a track day vs having to tow a tiny trailer is enticing as well. I need to see if there are any dealers close that have one and take my helmet with me.
I've only ever tracked Miata's and sport bikes.
dculberson said:Adrian_Thompson said:markwemple said:If used, the Ford part stops me.
?????
He also says NASCAR isn't racing, so ...
Hard to argue with that.
In reply to FuzzWuzzy :
The dealer I test drove a FoST at last weekend had three Focus RS's on the lot, all listed at or slightly below MSRP. I was trying very hard to ignore them.
AWD parts are the only thing that are really special right. Motor is a offshoot of the ecoboost mustang and there are TONs of those to go parts hunting for in the future.
Frankly I really like them if I fit better but the Ford dealership experience local has put me off modern Fords for the the future.
Low production numbers, overinflated dealer prices, and slow sales all fit into the category of “that’s a good thing” when you’re buying a new performance car IMNSHO.
It means the car is more likely to hold it value and maybe even appreciate in value one day.
Case in point: bought a brand new Evo VIII for $28k in 2003. Drove the piss out of it for 4 years and almost 60k miles. Sold it for something like $22k and had a line of buyers at that price, because so many had been ruined by that point. Today (another 10 years later) it looks like prices are on the rise.
If any modern hot hatch is going to hold value, it’s the Focus RS. If I could justify the financial irresponsibility, I’d buy one right now. I love that medium gray color!
In reply to markwemple :
I've had mine for about a year and a half now and 19K miles so far, with absolutely no issues whatsoever. It's my daily driver and only car, and that includes about a dozen autocrosses. I think the reliability issues described on the internet are mostly resulting from poorly-done modifications.
For a car with low production numbers, I sure do see a lot of them on the road.
Nope, not worried.
Also I’m realistic about modern cars, you don’t keep them for decades like your parents or grandparents did. You own them for about a decade at the most and then you move on, usually less.
the car is really awesome, a bit tight inside and I wish the interior was a bit less black, but the stitching, steering wheel and seats are awesome.
The trunk space is smaller compared to a FoST due to the change in trunk floor for the rear diff and the gas tank is fairly small for a thirsty turbo car. That said, the rear seats fold flat and I was able to put two adults and a baby in a car seat in it along with a packnplay, stroller, luggage and weeks worth of baby supplies for a road trip in it. Reacently hauled a new folding attic ladder for a shop project, etc. so it’s still practical.
I wish the ride was bit less firm, especially since it has electronically adjustable dampers, so they could have gone softer by default and then made the sport suspension option more firm. Instead it’s kinda bouncy and then really bouncy (felt like it was going to bounce off the Track at a Track Day I took it to, terrible solution for anything other than autocross, IMO). Once they wear out and are due for replacement, there are aftermarket options one can use and dropping to 18” wheels and tires helps a bit with the ride and allows a bit more width.
Go drive one and find out for yourself, it isn’t for everyone, but they are a great enthusiasts car.
You guys are making this difficult!
It would also be my only car. But since I work from home 2-3 days per week, and only live 6 miles from the office when I do go in, the car would see very little mileage. I think I've filled up the BRZ twice in the last two months and it still has more than 3/4 of tank at the moment.
How thirsty are these? I have a 55 Mike round trip commute and the 6-speed outback is not fun and I would like to reduce the fleet down by combining the summer daily with the winter leaving just the DD/MG/Willy's as the combo. I'm shopping WRX and FoRS as well as GTI/FoST/Civic SI/Elantra GT sport
Stefan said:I’m realistic about modern cars, you don’t keep them for decades like your parents or grandparents did. You own them for about a decade at the most and then you move on, usually less.
So why is this, exactly? Since modern cars are capable of multiple hundreds of thousands of miles, while our parents' and grandparents' were done for at a hundred grand?
Stefan said:Also I’m realistic about modern cars, you don’t keep them for decades like your parents or grandparents did. You own them for about a decade at the most and then you move on, usually less.
You might not have a clear picture of the sort of cars your parents and grandparents drove. Here's some fun info - average age of the US fleet.
https://www.bts.gov/content/average-age-automobiles-and-trucks-operation-united-states
1969: 5.1 years
1977: 5.5 years
1983: 7.2
1990: 7.6
1995: 8.2
2001: 8.5
2009: 9.5
2014: 11.4
So most grandparents definitely didn't keep their cars for a decade or more, as the average car only lasted a half decade. Now, this doesn't indicate the length of ownership of course, but it does show that you're far more likely to own a car for a long time than your ancestors did simply by the fact that they stay in service longer.
I've got a high performance low production car based on a common platform. The E39 M5 is a mix of normal E39 parts and very special unique parts. The engine is not shared with as many other vehicles as it is in the RS, but I suspect there are a lot of parts on that engine (intake manifold, various gaskets, etc) that are only used in the RS application. It's not enough to prevent you from owning it, but it does mean that parts prices range from "oh, that's pretty good" to "ouch!". The RS will probably be the same.
I'd be more concerned about support for your BRZ (and my FR-S.)
Appleseed said:I'd be more concerned about support for your BRZ (and my FR-S.)
I wouldn't. They have sold more than the Focus RS. The BRZ for 2012-2016 (before the 2017 updates) still sold something like 20k+ units, not including the FR-S.
I'm having trouble finding RS sales numbers.
I would only really worry if I were going to track it hard for the next 20 years. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one now if I wanted one. I'm just now coming up on finally owning a car I bought new for 10 years. Never happened before and I doubt it'll ever happen again. Holding cars for that long is rare.
mazdeuce - Seth said:I would only really worry if I were going to track it hard for the next 20 years. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one now if I wanted one. I'm just now coming up on finally owning a car I bought new for 10 years. Never happened before and I doubt it'll ever happen again. Holding cars for that long is rare.
It would really just be an occasional Auto-X or HPDE. It wouldn't be like 15-20 days per year or anything like that. I don't really dedicate the time/money to track stuff like I used to.
But a fun, capable car with a bit of utility makes a lot of sense, even if it's not as sexy as a GT PP2 or SS 1LE or Miata or such.
I've had my BRZ just over 3 years now, and it's the longest I've owned a car in over a decade. Of course, if there hadn't been the divorce and a couple of layoffs in the last few years, I probably would have already gotten rid of it.
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