Think i may have finally settled...
 

The bmw was a smart reliable car, but the mechanic in me almost wanted it to break down so i had some thing to do:?, was brilliant if you wanted to do 150mph everywhere and nice to say i had owned one, but terrible on fuel on a run, or around town,and pretty boring, no real low end fun, needed its neck ringing to make it go, so after nearly 6 months of watching them, joining the usual forums, and hounding martin with daft questions! i took the plunge,drove two standard models with different trim levels and was really suprised at how nimble and fun they are for a rusty old ford! i went for top spec interior and extras, reverse camera sat nav etc, and also opted for one that had had some money spent on it, save me a little bit this time round! its true what people say 1st and 2nd gear may see you being overtaken by a milk float if you try and nail it, as it sits on the spot losing traction, but midrange with all the torque jesus it flys!! and the endless torque steer keeps you wide awake as it trys to change lanes by its self!!:drive: really is good fun holding on though if thats your sort of thing. iv already had it on the rollers for a health check and replaced cambelt as ford state 10 years or 125000 miles, wasnt going to risk it as it wasnt even half way there and didnt look to great!
i swapped out the k and N inbox filter for cosworth group A cone filter ( for some extra waste gate chatter:-D) uprated fuel pump to AS 340l one, as the standard one was struggling a little, fitted a quick shift and new denso uprated plugs.. few pics and current spec for people who are interested.

Must be catching up with anger and bigemp by now surely..:mrgreen:

it made 405/430 on the dyno so a nice allround figure.

Eibach lowering springs
EBC usr discs and yellow stuff pads
powerflex anti lift kit
powerflex (purple)torque mount
uprated torque mount
Airtec stage 2 intercooler
650 injectors
As racing plenum
Cosworth group A filter
AS quick shifter
Extreme organic clutch
AS 340l fuel pump
Mountune recirc valve
3" Milltek down pipe
200 cell sports cat
3" stainless Milltek non res system
Puma speed remap
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Very tidy! :)

Yum! You will be able to spend time washing between the wheel spokes and keeping the tar off it

Very nice , I had a st few years ago and was alright car build wise .

Now that I like a lot!!! Great spec and looks amazing!!! :10:

:ok:

the white is quite satisfying for people like me with ocd:cuckoo:

it isnt actually to bad! seemed a bit fragile at first in comparison to the previous .

Respect - Love the Mk2 Foc RS - could be next on my list - I'd go for white as well.

Very nice
Give it 6 months:lol:

I know they're great cars, but they're a bit shouty for me.

Looks very tidy and I'll bet it's good fun.

Now you've started chopping and changing I reckon you'll continue... it's a habit I've seen a few people get into! :lol:

Who :drive: :mrgreen:

it took me ages to decide viewed all three colors in the end and just thought that white with the black upgraded interior and black wheels etc was the best match.

that long....:shock:

that was the reason i didnt go green,white seemed abit more civil and thought blue was the less of all three evils but didnt think it made it stand out as different from your everyday cars..i always loved the " in ya face" looks of the pulsar gtirs many moons ago,and get the same sort of vibe from these in appearance,
honestly i cant think of anything else at the moment that has drawn my attention like these did,and its not for the lack of looking either!ok ( maybe jdm hawk in white)

Very nice Marcus, there is a white one in a village just outside Melton Morbray that I pass through 3 to 4 times a year always catches my attention and thoughts of owning one someday.

Love the looks of the mk2. I think they went too tame with the styling on the mk3. The fwd is the thing that puts me off these. Must be mental with them figures. Impressive the way they hold there value, even with the new model out. Looks a cracker.

Like these alot plenty of these up in scotland love the sound of the exhaust note .

Oh that does look very smart and with all that power going though the front wheels, I bet it makes an interesting driving experience :-D
I would love to own 1 of these cars 1 day

The 6 months tops..

Very nice car though.. :doubleup:

Nice choice and I do love a white/black combination ;)
It's a car I very much admired and often fancied one, as I have a little bit of Ford blood in me, but the lack of 2 rear doors always prevented me.
Enjoy.....

thank you.

if your looking to put the power down and have a bit of fun id suggest a standard one as the two i drove put it down pretty well and still very good fun at 301bhp i believe they are.. but we all no things dont stay that way.:boom:

jesus im suprised they rust away quick enough down here without your sort of weather conditions :mrgreen:the 5 cylinder does sound nice, may swap the milltek for a mongoose get abit deeper exhaust not, they pop and crackle even in standard form.

:cry: in deeply hurt

thanks do you still have the seat scott ?? could make for a few good pics??

Lovely looking car with some very nice upgrades :drive:

Very nice, I love the look of the MK2 RS

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It's the colour combo I would have gone for, I've liked it since I saw one on our local Ford forecourt when they were released. How are you finding the EBC yellows, I had them in the Scoob when I first bought it and thought they were scary when cold.

Hard to deny you came to mind... :)

A friend of mine had a similar pattern after he sold his Subaru. Though to be fair, he's settled down a little bit now. Current car is almost a year in I think!

There's a chap I work with who is a similar too.

Worst I've seen was a chap I met through sf.org. He would go through cars every couple of months, and did so for years. It was like some strange compulsion.

Very nice. Right colour too I think. :drive:

These are actually very good indeed that was my first thoughts as iv had them before.. must be due to having uprated discs aswell stop very well hot or cold.

Weird isnt it.. i did similar a few years ago aswell.. then settled for a while.. your along time dead is my excuse so best to try all these cars before he comes knocking.:mrgreen:

Cheers :ok:

Looks spot on! I hope to see it in the flesh at a meet soon :)

Yes will do...about time i got my arse into gear havnt seen anyone for a while actually.:ok:

I tend to agree.

I've had the Forester for over six years now and I've come close to swapping a number of times, but haven't. Part of me wonders if I'll regret it...

Looks very nice Marcus.....so whats the next motor on the horizon then lol

Lovely, really like these. They sound fantastic too! Another car I wanted but couldn't afford :lol:

a couple of trips to america mate, got to stop this spending on cars for a while:cuckoo:

Its funny, recently I have looked at a lot of you tube clips of RS's as I am waiting for my MK3 to arrive and cant help thinking that as good as the MK3 is, FORD have somehow toned it down a lot compared to the MK2. The MK2 definitely sounds much better and looks wilder. I know the MK3 is going to be more enviromrntally friendly has 4WD and out of the box is quicker but I think the MK2 will, in years to come ,become the classic RS Focus.

Yeah agreed :ok:

Both look amazing but the MK2 is just :shock:

The lack of aggression was one of the deal breakers for me.
I struggle on the road to tell the difference between ST and RS especially when the ST is in flat grey on black rims.

Agreed Scott, and in fact when I set out to find me a new car, the RS wasn't on my radar. I very nearly signed the dotted line for a Civic Type R as I liked its outlandish looks and it was a bundle of fun to drive. But, 2WD with that power didn't work and the fact that it was about to be replaced didn't make me want to sink 30K into it.

I then went down the Golf R route, but that really is plain Jane looking and a bit soulless to drive, which left me thinking, "oh well, I will just pop into ford and see.....". So glad I did as to be fair, the focus is a far better car to drive, if a little standard looking from some angles.

They already have some nice cosmetic 'add on's' such as front and side splitters which give it a far more menacing look. I shall add flaps as well.

I agree that the MkII will end up being the icon.

As I said earlier in the thread, I like subtle.

I see the latest BMW M140i (and M240i for that matter) will have xDrive. Should be an interesting car and a further alternative in the RS Focus/RS3/A45 conundrum.

Agreed, tho' the RS is still a comparative bargain next to those.

Bean counters said it's either 4wd or a body kit according to a friend who is really into fords.

In that case I'll take 4WD :-D

Too right!

Im lead to believe that alot of people parted with there mk2 RS for the mk3 and alot are regretting it already.. having never driven one i couldnt say, but mk3s definetly dont have the stand out looks rs,s of all different varietys over the years have had. only reason i ever seem to notice them is if theyre in the blue color..

Mk2's have never really dropped below £20k. You get a few around £18k but most are still strong money. Especially when they were only £26k brand new!

15 mins after writing this on the way back to the office I had a flat grey focus come round the roundabout in front of me. I was convinced it was an ST I've seen about. But then spotted it had blue badges and a crackle on the upshift.

Like that a lot Marcus :10:

A lot of ST owners seem to be ordering in the RS colours and then going with the black wheels etc. I suppose in a way the WRX to STI syndrome!.

But, like the WRX to STI, the differences are huge in terms of mechanics, engine etc. I guess its hard for a manufacturer to make a huge difference cosmetically to two performance cars based on the same car. We have a couple of modded MK2 ST's near me that need a second look to differentiate between them and an RS. They even sound the same. Same goes for Golfs. Is it a GTI, GTD, GT line or an R?.

I've never driven a MK2 RS, but have driven a Mk3 ST and the difference between that and the MK3 RS is night and day.

The blue is the only specific colour, my st estate is stealth which was a specific st3 colour before it became standard on the rs.

Have to say I tested the rs and wasn't blown away, not enough to spend that money, also all these issues popping up are making me glad I didn't buy a mk3

Stealth ST3 estate. Nice looking car. The stealth seems to work better on the estate than the hatch IMO. Yeah, true, but if it goes pop, its covered. I had all this with the Hawk and ran it for 7 years with various stages of tune and it gave me no trouble. Its just been sold again at 70k miles and is still going strong. I think alot of it with these and indeed any car is how its treated I guess.

At this rate we will have to have a Focus ST/RS meet soon. :lol:That's 5 on here I think now

At this rate, someone will have a mkIV and you'll still be waiting for this one...!

:lol:

They've just emailed me.

Still no sign of it.:cuckoo: :cry:

Do they not give you a build tracker app/link and a build week