I can't get this "buy an RS before an STI" nonsense. FWD sucks, especially with boost!

 

Say what you will, Ford knows who their competition in that segment will be (read wrx/sti, and dodge dart srt). If Ford comes up short in the side-by-side road and track comparison that you know will be done, then what was the point in building the car.

Its never going to be a big money maker. It has to be a sort of flagship car that earns its keep through positive reviews.

 

RS with proper AWD would smoke STi. But here's reason why I think they are bad:
1. RS is only good for torquesteer and wrong wheel drive experience, while it is a good car, whats the point of all that power if you're going to hunt down your steering wheel and have problems around circuits. Not to mention that Ford is yet to make a decent DCT for its lineup.
2. STi is underteched so much it hurts, no automatic transmission - read my ZF preference(mitsubishi made a huge win with TC-SST amidst all the recalls and problem it has), no twin scroll turbo, low compression ratio (8.2 vs evo's 9.0), serious engine failures and thats about it. And the fact that new WRX engine makes the current STi one look like older than a dinosaur.
It might look refreshed, might steer better, but like Evo its essentially a 7 year old car, or in Subaru's case worse.
The only sin Evo X has is weight and lack of 6 sp tranny. But in every other way it was spot on.

 

I think a lot of people would say the 4B11T has issues as well, perhaps putting it in the same league as the Subie boxer motor.

 

+1, I don't imagine we will see many 4B11T engine swaps in the future.

 

The flagship car is your big money maker. For Ford, that's like the F150. That's the one they care about.

 

The STI is also arguably more of a purist's car because it only comes in manual. I like Subaru's commitment to the full driving experience. I agree with your other criticisms. However, the new FA20 that's in the WRX and that will likely make it's way in some form into the STI is twin-scroll, I think higher compression, and appears to be more robust.

The Evo isn't really a player anymore. Last I heard, it's dead. Maybe Ford bringing out the RS will motivate Mitsubishi to rethink that decision, but I doubt it.

 

I don't know. I think cars like the Evo (was), Z28, STI, and even the GTR are probably worth more in free publicity, from being on the cover of so many magazines and auto reviews, than they are in actual profits from selling the car.

The Focus RS needs to generate hype, not bottom line profits for Ford.

 

Those are the manufacturer's pet projects, their babies as it were. For Mitsubishi, the Lancer is their flagship car; for Subaru, either the Impreza or the Legacy. Ford already has the extreme versions of the Mustang, and the extinct Ford GT as their hype cars. The Focus RS would be good, but it's not their flagship.

 

Doesn't the Mustang handle this job, especially the 2015 which is getting rave reviews? Actually, I think all of the late model Fords are quite compelling, especially all the Ecoboost models. Question might be whether an AWD RS could be useful in a similar way. Perhaps it can for those who are interested in compact cars.

I kinda think they want to make it because the ratio of gear heads to bean counters has shifted in our favor, and the gear heads who like this car think they can grab a good fraction of the profits in this market segment.

 

the 2015 mustang looks real good . But i would still get the AWD Focus turbo RS over that.

These AWD turbo cars are real good and very useful performance cars in any road and any given weather vs they 2wd counter parts. Also usually they respond very well on mods etc. despite they small displacements. Ford Mitsubishi etc with these small cars, also racing so they do have a racing background, and therefore the engineering behind them.
I think that is one major reason to being popular among enthusiast.
Also the 4 door driving every day is a help too...

The new STI i see them more and run against them more, day by day seems less attractive for me. So if there is no new R5 Mitsubishi for the street in a future, i would jump into the RS in a heart beat. If they do will make a street version of that R5 (with a 4B11T) i would immediately get that one over the RS. for sooo many reasons.

 

waterpump is really in awkward position and intake is also problematic I guess. It was never attractive. HOWEVER Hyundai Genesis engine which is basically 4b11 with direct injection and crappier internals is feasable swappable engine.
FA20 should've been used in STi this year, so thats why I said that STi is underteched.
As for RS motivating Mitsu, seriously doubt that. From the looks of it, they dont care for anything outside of SUVs. But luckely Outlander sport and Lancer share platforms so I seriously doubt they will only produce EVO in SUV form only.
I honestly think that if Mitsubishi wanted an SUV EVO, they could've made Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Ralliart. CUV with Lancer Ralliart drivetrain, it would've been successful(by my book).

Yes like I've said, there is point on making another global EVO, but very little for Focus RS. But on the other hand Focus RS can be flagship for non-US markets, like Europe, since afterall Focus is made in Germany, tuned in UK and so on, but EU markets aren't a big buyers of AWD Turbo rally cars in a way GCC, US, Australia and New Zealand are. Focus RS AWD would only be barely 15-20% of RS sales, and there is Focus ST a lot of sport trims for god knows who.
I have a picture that shows a hint of new e-Evolution PHEV as Mitsubishi brands it, but I am sadly not risking revealing it, but it hints at PHEV S-AWC being embodied into a sedan thats what they thought in 2013, we will see for this year.

 

i may have read wrong, but i thought the RS was doing very well in other countries. It has fancy tech to deal with torque steer (which I’ve never really had an issue with. I just control the wheel), and is plenty capable. I would LOVE to have the FWD RS if it were avail in this country.
Then again, we used to have a bunch of high HP FWD cars, so I’m comfortable with the format and it’s disadvantages. They can be plenty fast, but a different driving style is needed.
As for my RS > STi comment, that’s purely preference. The STi just does nothing for me. I don’t like the sound and the issues that comes along with the “rumble”. I don’t like the engine. I don’t like anything about it, really. I had an ’05 which was, IMO, the best looking.. I was just disappointed in the driving experience. I had more fun in my Type-R.

 

From a performance standpoint there hasn't been a usdm Sti with an open diff and they come with better rear lsd all the way. More torque sub 4000 rpm where you drive more. People are quick to throw a header on a 4g but some how think the boxer of tainted with that rumble. A header on that motor which is equally easy to do can change that. The looks yeah I think after my gd chassis they got big fat and ugly but they are beginning to sleek out . The rs simply has to appease these performance attributes which I know Ford can do but can they tool it up right the first model year ?


I agree with it being preference but for me it's much more objective.

 

you would be suprised my friend