I Hate Motortrend

They put the R third, behind the Civic Type R and Focus RS. The driver shifting the R for acceleration tests must have been napping between shifts.

Motor trend sucks, they used to be good but now they are just an awful car rag, I read everything but them.

The Fed said:

They put the R third, behind the Civic Type R and Focus RS. The driver shifting the R for acceleration tests must have been napping between shifts.

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I've not driven either of the other two cars. Maybe they're right?

The Fed said:

They put the R third, behind the Civic Type R and Focus RS. The driver shifting the R for acceleration tests must have been napping between shifts.

Click to expand...

Current issue? Print edition or online?

The Fed said:

They put the R third, behind the Civic Type R and Focus RS. The driver shifting the R for acceleration tests must have been napping between shifts.

Click to expand...

CTR and RS are rated higher than R in most comparisons. R is a car for a matured adult whereas other two vehicles are for people who prefer sporty ones.

They're not the first to say this. It's a competitive segment. This is a good thing. Otherwise you end up with something like the 370z where there is no competition and it stays the same for a decade.

They needed to use the Dsg model, it would have posted better times!

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I think the problem is that the R is really in it's own class in the hatchback market here in NA. The rest of the high performance hatchbacks we get are really weekend cars and the R is a DD. If we had the Megane, 2 series, A class, etc there would be something to compare it to, but since we live in the land of trucks and jacked up wagons it just gets lumped in with the boy racer hatches.

adam1991 said:

I've not driven either of the other two cars. Maybe they're right?

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I drove an RS a couple weeks ago and was not that impressed. I liked how the OEM exhaust had some backfires during gear changes, but honestly my stock R w/ DSG was much faster out of the box. The manual is a bit slower than the RS because of their LC, but the stick R pulls on the RS up top. The focus does turn pretty good and feels more stiff than our cars.

Number one, never pay attention to car reviews of the car you have, because you will either a) get pissed, or b) get arrogant. Number two, pay attention to the audience and the context of the comparison or review. For most "enthusiast" publications, there's going to be a focus on objective numbers and track-focused performance. So, any comparison of a car like the R, which as noted elsewhere is designed as a compromise between daily driver utility, performance, and value, with cars that are designed more heavily for performance first, is not going to do a car like the R any favors.

The R does so many things well, but does few if any of those objectively measurable things better than the other cars in this segment. Those cars, though, fall short in areas that are not easily measurable but are very important to owners. You can't really expect a car mag to fuzz up its comparisons with a bunch of subjective stuff, unless it's in the comments or the coda to the piece.

Face it, if your definition of quality is based solely on track performance, no, the R is not the car you want. You want an RS or a Type R. If you want to do other stuff (and not look like a refugee from an anime convention), the R is much, much more attractive. I can live with that.

Besides the Golf-R being a car perfect for me, I honestly cannot stand the look of the CTR, FWD in real world situations, and the worrisome issues of the RS. And Ford ditching the RS so soon (and all other hatches and sedans for that matter) I don't feel comfortable spending $40K+ on it.

The CTR look doesn't bother me. Honestly, I was pretty torn between that and the R. But here in Upstate NY, I had to have the AWD. Since then, I've come to know in my bones I made the right choice. I just turned 40, and the R suits me perfectly. A sharp suit over a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts.

Golfs everyday said:

Besides the Golf-R being a car perfect for me, I honestly cannot stand the look of the CTR, FWD in real world situations, and the worrisome issues of the RS. And Ford ditching the RS so soon (and all other hatches and sedans for that matter) I don't feel comfortable spending $40K+ on it.

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I agree the Honda is fugly and I was looking at the RS before I pulled the trigger on the R until the issues started popping up. The fact that Ford discontinued them actually helps you get a really good deal on one now. All the dealerships now have a ton of money off MSRP rather than a huge markup they had before. I know someone that just picked one up with a couple thousand miles for 32k.

working at a dealer that has honda involved in the auto mall i was able to drive the type r...honestly felt as if it wasnt fast at all...quick yes...but that could also be bc the tires they come with are sticky as can...it has no wheel spin...although i will say the seats were comfy, the road noise was horrible...constantly hearing rocks and stuff hit the wheel wells wanted to make me drink or wear ear plugs...i cant say anything about the rs well never drove one...i know my gti leaves both these cars in the dust, but the golf r stock for stock shouldnt have been in 3rd place.

Meh, my best friend has a CTR. I've driven it a couple times and it's definitely more fun to drive and faster through most roads where I've driven it than my R. That said, I'd rather DD the R and the WAF on the CTR was very low.

--Matt