Ford called back and said "you cant talk **** until you actually increase power on your halo car for the first time in over 10 years and also put decent front seats in. Oh and one more thing, a ****ing hatch (or coupe)"
Those seats remind me of golf R seats. Overall that looks like a competitor for subaru. Id give it at least a year to see if it will have any big issues like subaru does with ringland failures/head gaskets In the early years
I love this car. Old man has the ST and it is super nice. Very, very comfy seats. If I didn't already order a supercharger I would consider trading the BRZ for a RS.
Base model probably closer to $5-8k above the ST (so around 32k) then optioned out to $40k. At least that's what the delta has been with the ROW models in years past. Not sure what turbo they plan to put on it, but the motor/power delivery looks promising: I'd buy one at $30-35k. Above that and I'd probably favor a new v8 something or other or a used c6z etc
I would expect a $30-35k starting price to stay close to its competition. $40k gets you a nice Mustang GT which is a lot faster...
This^ I have been considering a Focus ST, but waiting for the RS for some time. Unless Subaru releases plans for a competitive hatch (or Levorg) by the time the RS is out, the RS will be my next car. I still don't understand the no-hatch WRX. To clarify, the new WRX is a great car. I can't believe that the expense of developing a hatch was greater than the lost revenue/market share.
A lot faster in the summer. I laugh at RWD cars in the ditch in the winter. Fast is one thing, but living in this state you need "smart fast" which in most cases people are not. I myself hate the look of the hatch. I think it was a mistake to even make one. I know people will hate me for saying that. (It's just my opinion) I do agree that Subaru should try something different with their EJ engine though. The STi hasn't made more than 305hp since 2004
Subaru called back and said, "AWD from FWD? That's cute, how many unequal length driveshafts and 90 degree T-joints are in this half-assed drivetrain?"
I think the EVO has shown that unequal driveshafts is not a problem... I do prefer the drivetrain layout of a Subaru but I would hardly call Ford's "half-assed"
The past transverse mounted motors, sure. Definitely interested to see how they fit all the drivetrain components with the 2.3L ecoboost. It's pretty compact. Tall. But not very deep. Based on (very limited initial) info, I'd guess RWD based AWD...
The diagram looked transverse, which is what I'd expect because retooling to a longitudinal engine would probably be prohibitively expensive. They claim up to 70% rear bias, but if it's anything like the haldex crap that Mazda and Audi etc... have been using in transverse drivetrains for years, it has to unlock the rear driveshaft during any change of cornering angle. I don't like my rear power disappearing in corners. All speculation of course about what is in this car, but as far as I know the Evo is amongst the very few transverse AWD systems that isn't half assed.
Like they did with the ecoboost v6? But yeah, either way, interested to see how things shake out and trying not to read into the teasers/pics/diagrams too much. Geneva is a month away and I'm sure this will be off my radar by the end of today until the next teaser.
If they can make the AWD work as good as the FWD already in place, this will be an easy car to drive fast. There is a lot of computer intervention, but it seems to work well as a package. I may be a Ford guy in the future. (No new Subaru hatch < Ford)
I think this will be a strong competitor for Subaru. Since the EVO is no more (at least for the foreseeable future), there hasn't been a good reason to re-engineer the power plant in the STi. Hopefully this lights a fire under Subaru again.
As long as it isn't tarted up in a bunch of boyracer livery. Would DD a r32 though. Get some reuse out of my subaru fire extinguisher anyhow.
Good point. Modern cars, especially Subarus, are devoid of electronic stuff as well as mechanical things that can go wrong. Fingers crossed for a pedal car. Brotato edition.
They don't say a lot about what's in that "PTU" or the front differential, but as I suspected the total amount of power for the rear is a subset of the power that would normally have gone to the front right wheel. They take a fail wheel drive, slap a T-Junction onto the front right driveshaft output, and that now has the duty of delivering power to 3 of the car's four wheels. This "PTU" T-Junction box (and the normal front diff) will be the proof in the pudding, because unless those two are really well designed their fancy rear clutching system may be superfluous. I'll give them some credit, control system-wise, that pair of electronic clutches should theoretically work. Also, given what they had to work with, it's probably about the best future RS drivers could hope for. Edit: for, not from the rear
I'm excited about a Ford RS model available in the US. I'm excited about this sophisticated torque vectoring AWD system that doesn't rely on the brakes. I'm excited about the oversteer characteristics. It's like Ford made a car specifically for me. I'm also stoked that this solid competition will ensure Subaru continues investing in WRX and STI models well into the future.
Yes, it's possible to have major mechanical problems too. I'm not saying that mechanical systems are better than electronically controlled systems, but I prefer mechanical engineering to electrical engineering (mainly because it's tangible).
I think the folks on the RS development team will be happy to hear that. And thank you for your analysis.
I'm excited to see another platform competing in Super Production class in Rally-America (assuming that still exists by the time this might find it's way into the woods). I'm also excited to see the flat-brimmed bros sell their WRXs. But I actually work on my cars. I don't anticipate buying a transverse, AWD, turbo vehicle. And if I do, it'll still be an All-trac/GT4 (and even then, it'll probably get a 2GR swap. I'll take my 300hp without the turbo, thx).
I have one thing to say about the Focus RS. It's still a Focus! You can only dress a turd so many ways, but no matter what you do its still a turd. *cough* SRT4 Who said that? Lol. Subies have been sexy since 02 when their real "debut" came with the WRX.
Funny you should say that. The 2015 Impreza looks very very close. They made all this hype about branching them off into their own kind, but they really just added a piece of chrome here and there and called it good.
Man ford is really giving us some sweet cars. Focus RS, mustang GT350, new Ford GT, even the normal Mustang GT is exciting. Also, lol @ all the fanboys. Straw man arguments against a sophisticated drivetrain just because the engine is transversely mounted. I agree there are some poor Haldex based awd systems but they are not all the same (just like Subaru or Audi Quattro systems are not all created equal) and the newer generation Haldex have proven to be very good. IMO the STI drivetrain and the 4eat/5eat the only really good awd Subaru makes. The wrx's open diffs are a joke. I am very excited to test drive this car. I hope it isn't a super limited production run for the U.S.
