XR5 vs LS Zetec- An owners perspective

[WASP]

Today I had the pleasure of punting an electric orange coloured XR5 through the Adelaide hills. My partner has a LS Zetec so it was interesting to compare the two. I will start by saying that there is no comparison in terms of almost everything bar the body shape and boot space.

To start with the road presence of the XR5 is quite remarkable in the flesh, but that new electric orange colour on a nice sunny day sure boosted this factor to the point where it has me convinced of its value (the $1800 extra). The wheel & tyre package also looks great and is much better in real life than in the photos.

The interior is much nicer compared to the Zetec. The Recaro seats are absolutely superb but the whole interior generally has a much sportier feel about it including the black roof lining and sports dash and gauge pods. The Zetec in contrast is hardly a step up over the base models and the ‘sport- trimmed’ seats suffer from the same criticism.

Onto the driving, well let’s talk about that exhaust note for starters. It really adds to the experience in a similar way to what you may get from a WRX. It’s a reasonable deep & racy note. It is also quite unique and becomes very addictive.

The clutch is very direct being either ‘on or off’ and takes some getting use to. I personally like this style after owning the Supra RZ Twin turbo and find it works extremely well once your confidence builds. The clutch in the Zetec feels much softer and provides less ‘feedback’ than the XR5. There is also none of that ‘shuttering chatter’ rubbish going on when you take off at low revs. The 6 speed is excellent and the gear throws seem shorter than the Zetec 5 speeder.

Not much point in comparing performance of the two really, but I will say that the 2lt Zetec engine doesn’t stack up too badly all things considered. Both engines have quite a linear power delivery to help minimize torque steer I imagine with the XR5’s turbo 5 cylinder motor feeling much more responsive when the going gets tough. The XR5 certainly had plenty to offer in this department but I was left feeling that a little more wouldn’t have gone astray either. Please keep in mind that I’m also used to driving a modified GT every day!

As mentioned before torque steer is almost non existent and the handling of this car is nothing short of brilliant with only a hint over steer. I actually felt like I could almost throw anything at this car and it would keep itself on track. This was one Focus that felt absolutely glued to the road.

Basically if you like the feel a sports or rally car then you will like what the car delivers in terms of driving experience. The fact that you get this in a 4 door with a large boot is even more remarkable.

Is it worth the wait? I think so.
Is it better value than the Zetec? I know so.

Colville