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2018 Focus RS

MonkeyMD

Autocross Champion

TheWombat

Go Kart Champion
Location
Vermont
Does anyone know whether the limited run of the RS (two or three years isn't much) is something they planned all along, is the car not selling, or is it just too expensive to make versus its selling price?

I've always loved the performance of the thing, but the overall package was never quite appealing enough for me.
 

MonkeyMD

Autocross Champion
Don't know if it's any indication of sales, but cars.com has 485 new Golf R's listed and 1650 Foci RS.

Again, could mean nothing.
 

TheWombat

Go Kart Champion
Location
Vermont
Ford's build quality seems pretty solid these days; the 2010 Fusion Sport I had, made in a robot factory in Mexico, was rock-solid and had zero rattles or squeaks. It's their aesthetic taste that bugs me--like GM, Ford makes interiors that are too loud and too busy for me.
 

carchrism5

Go Kart Champion
Location
CT
Car(s)
GTI
I remember when these came out last year and I went to the dealer to ask about them, they said they had an allocation and were asking 10-15k over, I walked out before they finished the sentence.

I went back earlier this year when I bought my GTI, they had a few at the dealer and a few incoming also so they told me I could have my pick of car/options and before even asking about price the salesman told me they were discounting them from MSRP since they have so many. I never drove one but as for daily driving they seem to get mixed reviews and I've seen only a handful of them on the road whereas for MK7 Golf Rs there are more than I can count.
 

crxgator

Autocross Champion
Location
Raleigh, NC
Car(s)
All the MQBs
Ford's build quality seems pretty solid these days; the 2010 Fusion Sport I had, made in a robot factory in Mexico, was rock-solid and had zero rattles or squeaks. It's their aesthetic taste that bugs me--like GM, Ford makes interiors that are too loud and too busy for me.

One of the main reasons why I couldn't even sit in one, let alone own one.
 

scrapin240

Drag Racing Champion
Location
IzzaGolf
Car(s)
Golf
I remember when these came out last year and I went to the dealer to ask about them, they said they had an allocation and were asking 10-15k over, I walked out before they finished the sentence.

I went back earlier this year when I bought my GTI, they had a few at the dealer and a few incoming also so they told me I could have my pick of car/options and before even asking about price the salesman told me they were discounting them from MSRP since they have so many. I never drove one but as for daily driving they seem to get mixed reviews and I've seen only a handful of them on the road whereas for MK7 Golf Rs there are more than I can count.

same here. if they were even selling at MSRP, i might be on the RS forums right now. I sat in one and was like wow...for 40k it sure looks like it's from the 50's in here, but the seat was nice. And, the way the dealers were treating the car was like it was hand made from unicorn meat was a huge turn off to me. Then they all started calling like we'll sell it for MSRP, I was like too late, GTI4LYFE :D
 

TheWombat

Go Kart Champion
Location
Vermont
same here. if they were even selling at MSRP, i might be on the RS forums right now. I sat in one and was like wow...for 40k it sure looks like it's from the 50's in here, but the seat was nice. And, the way the dealers were treating the car was like it was hand made from unicorn meat was a huge turn off to me. Then they all started calling like we'll sell it for MSRP, I was like too late, GTI4LYFE :D

Exactly. The car is a fabulous piece of engineering, and is deservedly well-regarded as a fast ride with a lot of performance for the (MSRP) money. It's still a Focus, though, and while Ford itself I think handled the whole thing well, in that they never really positioned the car as anything but a niche track-focused hot hatch, dealers somehow assumed they could gouge customers on it. They apparently didn't realize that the market for hot hatches is different than the market for Shelby Mustangs.
 

vj123

Autocross Newbie
Location
The Detroit
Car(s)
19 & 16 GTI - sold
Cars.com shows 47 2016s and 1347 2017s brand new RS in dealer inventory all over the country and the 2018s are coming in. It will be interesting to see how dealers get rid of the old ones as this is the final production year.
 

TheWombat

Go Kart Champion
Location
Vermont
I guess we shouldn't be too surprised at the apparently low sell-through numbers on the RS. I mean, it's a $40k Ford Focus, and to most people its engineering and go-fast capabilities aren't really either apparent or important. As a name, it has zero status in this country, it's a hatchback, which Americans in general associate with cheap cars, and it certainly doesn't hit you with a sense of luxury or class when you open the door and look/get in.

It's a car for engineers or enthusiasts, but many in those categories have already developed loyalties to other brands, and at that price point it's not enticing to risk takers.

Pity, because it's a bad ass car for, well, hauling ass.
 

vj123

Autocross Newbie
Location
The Detroit
Car(s)
19 & 16 GTI - sold
I guess we shouldn't be too surprised at the apparently low sell-through numbers on the RS. I mean, it's a $40k Ford Focus, and to most people its engineering and go-fast capabilities aren't really either apparent or important. As a name, it has zero status in this country, it's a hatchback, which Americans in general associate with cheap cars, and it certainly doesn't hit you with a sense of luxury or class when you open the door and look/get in.

It's a car for engineers or enthusiasts, but many in those categories have already developed loyalties to other brands, and at that price point it's not enticing to risk takers.

Pity, because it's a bad ass car for, well, hauling ass.

The more we do this, manufacturers will be skeptical to bring similar options to our soil. From 2019s model years, there arent many hot hatch options available (with RS and WRX hatch pulling out).

Dealers were one of the main reason why 2016s are still sitting in their inventory. They marking it up with a huge adm and i see history repeating with Civic Type R.
 
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