[wjones14]

Originally Posted by ska///235i

lol Im not a fanboy, the convo started that someone estimated the RS to be in the mid $40k so I reply saying that its stupid expensive for a Ford....and it ended up here

Im entitle to my opinion and a ford is just a ford for me, nothing special....well not $45k special

I'll tell you this much - if you decide to track your car and see a new Mustang GT on the track with you, you'll be looking at tail lights. Because your $50K M235i (or mine) is not going to beat that $35K-$40K Ford on the track. Not happening.

Randy Pobst drove both the M235i and Mustang GT at Willow Springs, and the FORD had a 2 second faster lap time. That's a sound beating.

Is the M235i a nicer car? Sure. But there's no need to belittle other people's cars.

[maddoc]

Originally Posted by Advevo

Focus RS will be a nice car next to an M2. Best of both worlds

Rwd with mechanical diff ---> M2 and 4wd Focus RS.

I am going for a test drive for the RS. If it will do perfect 4wd slides this car comes next to an M2.

Unless Subaru decides to bring a new WRX hatchback or wagon to the states,
this is my exact plan. I already DD a Focus ST and I love the piss out of it. 4WD plus more power in the Focus - I'll be in heaven.

[IS3andME]

Originally Posted by ska///235i

A car with only 20 years history is not that iconic, yes I know the race car was but the street versions history isnt that long....dont get me wrong, not saying its not a great car

So we have the mustang and this...ok, what else?

Not that "iconic"? Tell that to the collectors. Also, BMW has yet to produce a halo car yet---the company with a V12, the company that produced the S85, S65, S54, S70/2, doesn't have a halo car.

Yes, Ford's RWD/sports offerings are wanting, particularly in the US. But, they have had iconic cars like the Sierra Cowsworth, Lotus Cortinas, Escorts, the RS200. And over here, the original Ford Thunderbird raced and beat the corvette on the tracks. The. You have all the old school iron like the Galaxies, etc. back when BMW was not known for being the "Ultimate Driving Machine". Now, we are seeing Ford come back with an all new mustang, Ford Focus ST/RS, Ford GT.

[Cope]

Originally Posted by IS3andME

Now, we are seeing Ford come back with an all new mustang, Ford Focus ST/RS, Ford GT.

Meanwhile in BMW land we're seeing the release of two FWD mini vans and the disappearance of the manual transmission. Fun stuff.

Ford has been on a roll lately. But maybe we should keep our heads in the sand.

[Mark's M]

Originally Posted by Cope

Meanwhile in BMW land we're seeing the release of two FWD mini vans and the disappearance of the manual transmission. Fun stuff.

Ford has been on a roll lately. But maybe we should keep our heads in the sand.

Lol!!

[Adem1534]

Originally Posted by Cope

Meanwhile in BMW land we're seeing the release of two FWD mini vans and the disappearance of the manual transmission. Fun stuff.

Ford has been on a roll lately. But maybe we should keep our heads in the sand.

I'm actually a huge fan of ford right now. God. I mean, look at these things.

The GT looks like it's out of HALO. It looks down right stunning.

And the GT350R looks like it literally wants to kill you.

[Spook410]

Interesting thread. Good time to stop lurking.

So.. if per Chris Harris the Volkswagen Golf R = BMW 235 (more or less)

And if the upcoming BMW M2 > BMW 235

And if the upcoming Ford Focus RS > Volkswagen Golf R

Then doesn't that place the Ford Forus RS in competition with the BMW M2 when it comes to actual driving?

When the latest crop of performance vehicles becomes available, I'll shop all of the ones I can reasonably afford. I've owned a E36 M3 (great car) and a 2008 135 (not reliable) but BMW is just another car company. I'll purchase based on utility, fun factor, and cost. And unless the interior is simply too awful to bear, the Focus RS is looking pretty good.

[kyleb350]

350 PS... what is that, 340-345 hp? Sounds like this is going to give the M135i/235i some competition.
http://www.ford.ie/AboutFord/GenevaMotorshow2015

[amdmaxx]

340hp for 34k is impressive

[04cobra]

Man, some of the comments in this thread hurt my head. I have owned Ford's and BMWs. I love them both equally for different reasons.

Now Ford has been knocking it out of the park lately with all their new models, and whoever said no one is going to cross shop an RS to m235/m2 is wrong. I am currently cross shopping any performance car from $30k-50k.

If this Focus RS is anything like the ecoboost mustang (and it will be), tune/easy bolt ons (intake/exhaust) gets it into the 11s 1/4 mile range. Expect the RS to be quicker than that as it has AWD, and might be lighter.

While the interior of the RS might not be up to BMW standards, I am pretty tired of the same old BMW interior, I mean it really hasn't changed for the past 10 years. At least Ford is trying to make it look nicer. Will the M2 have a nicer interior? Probbaly, but take a look at some of the base model BMW's, they dont have the best interiors either.

The RS will also have some cool driving modes "Making the most of the Focus RS’ 320 horsepower and all-wheel-drive system are four driver modes Normal, Sport, Track, or Drift Mode"......"The effects of the other modes are familiar to Mustang drivers, but engaging the Drift mode alters the torque distribution to allow for controlled oversteer"

This car will also not be mid $40's. Not sure where everyone is getting those numbers from. It will be priced similar to the STI/EVO, mid to high $30s.

Sign me up.

[vladberca]

Originally Posted by Cope

Meanwhile in BMW land we're seeing the release of two FWD mini vans and the disappearance of the manual transmission. Fun stuff.

Ford has been on a roll lately. But maybe we should keep our heads in the sand.

BMW was quite impressive at Geneva with their 2 AT models!

[cncmastr]

As an avid BMW snob, this car looks great!

[Mavus]

Honestly I can't wait to read and watch reviews of all the new Ford perf cars. I mean they built an Aventador competitor and BMW is building fwd minivans. wtf!!?

[DS_BMW]

http://blog.caranddriver.com/hear-th...carving-video/

[Anderw]

(In my opinion) Ford is not aiming at the bmw/mercedes/audi market and probably never will, hence cars like m2,m235i,cla,gla,s3. all of those cars offer refinement that most people maybe not enthusiast would prefer and wouldn't give up over lets say Evo,Sti,Speed3,Focus RS ,which in my opinion are the cars people can directly compare the RS to. Focus RS is cool but not a m2 rival or any german car for that matter, maybe golf R but even that might be a bit of a different market. Performance Numbers aside its just a different class of car , maybe more hardcore and the vast majority of perspective buyers of german cars aren't looking for that. We all can (well should) appreciate a car for the enthusiast even when its not a BMW!

[Reid]

Originally Posted by 04cobra

If this Focus RS is anything like the ecoboost mustang (and it will be), tune/easy bolt ons (intake/exhaust) gets it into the 11s 1/4 mile range. Expect the RS to be quicker than that as it has AWD, and might be lighter.

I have the same expectations for the car's tuning potential. I'm planning to order one in Stealth Grey.

I've already put a deposit down for my dealership's first M2, so I'll be able to do a direct comparison between the two cars.

[technik330]

Originally Posted by Cope

Meanwhile in BMW land...

... I thought that guy was looking for a new M2 mule.

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by 04cobra

Man, some of the comments in this thread hurt my head. I have owned Ford's and BMWs. I love them both equally for different reasons.

Now Ford has been knocking it out of the park lately with all their new models, and whoever said no one is going to cross shop an RS to m235/m2 is wrong. I am currently cross shopping any performance car from $30k-50k.

If this Focus RS is anything like the ecoboost mustang (and it will be), tune/easy bolt ons (intake/exhaust) gets it into the 11s 1/4 mile range. Expect the RS to be quicker than that as it has AWD, and might be lighter.

While the interior of the RS might not be up to BMW standards, I am pretty tired of the same old BMW interior, I mean it really hasn't changed for the past 10 years. At least Ford is trying to make it look nicer. Will the M2 have a nicer interior? Probbaly, but take a look at some of the base model BMW's, they dont have the best interiors either.

The RS will also have some cool driving modes "Making the most of the Focus RS’ 320 horsepower and all-wheel-drive system are four driver modes Normal, Sport, Track, or Drift Mode"......"The effects of the other modes are familiar to Mustang drivers, but engaging the Drift mode alters the torque distribution to allow for controlled oversteer"

This car will also not be mid $40's. Not sure where everyone is getting those numbers from. It will be priced similar to the STI/EVO, mid to high $30s.

Sign me up.

Makes my head hurt too. People are insecure when someone of a supposed lesser status treads on their turf. I have owned Ford all my life, I work for Ford Motor Co. and I enjoy other cars as an avid enthusiast. BMW's are awesome machines and especially the new M3/4. Owned several BMW's as well, 4 to be exact. Its no secret BMW has been getting soft and catering to a mass market as of late.

Ignore comments like that from fan boys because you can appreciate great cars, especially this new gen Ford has been putting out. How one can ignore the new upcoming GT350 with a flat plain crank that dances around the M4 on the Nurburgring, is beyond me?!
All that for a whopping $54,000 MSRP. No refinement ok thats fair enough, but Ford has turned it up a notch and will continue to do so. There is an upcoming performance Fusion as well and Its all Im going to say...not allowed to talk about it any more then that...

[auf Deutsch]

Originally Posted by dd1981

How one can ignore the new upcoming GT350 with a flat plain crank that dances around the M4 on the Nurburgring, is beyond me?!

No one is ignoring the 350, let alone degrading it. Of the hundreds of comments over on the F8x board, almost all are positive, posted by even the most die-hard M3/4 fanboys.

My next cross-shop list.....M2, Cayman, GT350

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by auf Deutsche

No one is ignoring the 350, let alone degrading it. Of the hundreds of comments over on the F8x board, almost all are positive, posted by even the most die-hard M3/4 fanboys.

My next cross-shop list.....M2, Cayman, GT350

Yeah it was some comments previously in this thread just bashing Ford in general. Just your usual trolls and fan boys. That is an absolutely awesome cross-shop list. I like the order as well.

Sad to say as much as I want the GT350, I can still get an F80 M3 cheaper with Euro delivery. The Ford stealerships are super ridiculous with markups on cars like this. And they 99% of the time wont give us A-plan which is our employee discount because they just think the cars will roll off lots. This is why I am Eagerly anticipating the M2, and if that does not appeal on to the smurf blue M3 ED .

But its like anything in the past...Ive seen 2013 shelby GT500's sit on the showroom for up to a year because the hype was dead and no one would fork over 85,000k asking price.

[auf Deutsch]

Originally Posted by dd1981

Yeah it was some comments previously in this thread just bashing Ford in general. Just your usual trolls and fan boys. That is an absolutely awesome cross-shop list. I like the order as well.

Sad to say as much as I want the GT350, I can still get an F80 M3 cheaper with Euro delivery. The Ford stealerships are super ridiculous with markups on cars like this. And they 99% of the time wont give us A-plan which is our employee discount because they just think the cars will roll off lots. This is why I am Eagerly anticipating the M2, and if that does not appeal on to the smurf blue M3 ED .

But its like anything in the past...Ive seen 2013 shelby GT500's sit on the showroom for up to a year because the hype was dead and no one would fork over 85,000k asking price.

Rumor has it and perhaps you can confirm, Ford will be doing will be doing a 5 year production run with 5500 units (500 of these for the R) annually. That's pretty close to what the GT500 is/was?? That seems more than enough to hopefully prevent dealer mark-up. I refuse to pay over MSRP.

Another problem I've heard is Ford lease rates are horrible for performance division cars. Let's hope that trend is broken with the GT350 and Focus RS.

[culinarymatt87]

Originally Posted by Advevo

Focus RS will be a nice car next to an M2. Best of both worlds

Rwd with mechanical diff ---> M2 and 4wd Focus RS.

I am going for a test drive for the RS. If it will do perfect 4wd slides this car comes next to an M2.

I read there was a button you can press called insane mode maybe it will do the drifts lol