Focus RS

[Tron]

hmm... the previous Focus RS had to be taken off the Focus production line & Hand finished at a separate location by "Team RS"... tat probably did not help in terms of reducing man hours & costs.

 

with this new iteration of the RS, it was clear that they had to have a product tat made money for FORD... or the whole project will definitely be junked.

 

therefore the emphasis that the new RS will be assembled & completed in the same factory as all the other Focus models.

[Nullifi3d]

You make them sound like the Fords we drive are much inferior. Hahah. Apart from the awful power the engine produces; the drive's still great 4 years on.

[Frenchchic]

not sure why you say the 6 speed DSG doesn't properly blip the engine when downshifting? I thought it did when I tested it the last time. Only "complaint" I heard was when accelerating to red line and if driver change up together with the DSG doing it, you miss a gear in the process. i.e. 3rd to 5th instead of 4th. My heal and toe technqiue is really lousy so "rev match" on a manual gearbox is out for me. I love the DSG which I believe is manufactured by Borg Warner and already used and sold on other makes. I suspect the EvoX uses a Borg Warner gearbox.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Frenchchic

[Frenchchic]

I did a bit of research on the comments regarding DSG boxes. DSG is not a 'sequential" box like the BMW SMG. It is actually a twin clutch system, which most of you already know. One clutch is for odd number gears (1,3,5) and the other for even numbers gears (2,4 6). Up shift is very very quick (faster than anyone can do on a manual). Downshift is another story. DSG has real problem shifting from 6th into 2nd gear (REALLY SLOW) as it first have to select 5th, (reason? the even clutch was on 6th and have to travel farthest to reach second) and then it has to wait for engine to blip before allow 2nd to engage. For those heel and toe experts using manual box, I know where you are coming from.

[Tron]

hmmm... i did not say the DSG does not properly blip the engine. wat i said is that the DSG blips are not aggressively set to match engine speed.

 

(im not saying tat road cars shld have it as standard) but to take an extreme example; ever heard a race prepped MC12 wit sequential gearbox decelerating hard & downshifting at the same time before a tight corner? A series of shrieking BAAARP BAAARP BAAARRP your eardrums pierced as the driver drops to 2nd gear to take tat corner...

 

anywys... some level of such aggressive downshifts are available in certain road cars.. most notably italian somehow... haha

 

and mind you, i am not equating LOUDNESS of the downshifts to aggressiveness..

 

it is the speed & level of blips as you downshift... the DSG is sluggish. But i am assume that the DSG in the Bugatti Veyron is tuned differently.

[Miketow]

Inferior Fords? Hardly, but the way The Ford Focus was over engineered for driving dynamics, it feels like such waste to put in small underpowered engines...but hey...the reality is that nobody is going to buy a 2.5L NA "Normal" Focus