Ford Focus ST vs Ford Falcon XR8

[Ford17]

The Focus ST is a possible 4(5) door performance Ford alternative to the Falcon; not sure if it will be the only one come 2017.

Article comparing XR8 to Focus ST, written by MX-5 driving journalist:

http://www.news.com.au/technology/in...-1227414837133

[vztrt]

Next week he compares a Porsche 911 to the a Mack truck.

[Polyal]

Jee they are silly....you would atleast pic the XR6T...but even then thats above the ST.

RS vs XR8 would be a fairer comparison.

[Adamz Ghia]

I don't think it was meant to be a direct comparison. More a comparison of what we have to choose from now against what we'll have to choose from next year...

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Jee they are silly....you would atleast pic the XR6T...but even then thats above the ST.

That depends who your talking too.

As for seats I can fit just fine and have done a cpl 15hr plus drive no worries at all.

[Wretched]

erm so what's the problem here?
I thought it was ok, highlighting what is available when Falcon goes.
XR8 is good for straight line and suffers with corners, not something that hasn't been mentioned before.
ST, brilliant around corners just lacks the straight line punch of the XR8. Again nothing new, Focus is always used as a dynamic benchmark. To be honest what is mentioned in the article seems to be ok.

So, answering the question (and not a comparison of which is better), the ST can hold the candle of performance (not everyone considers straight line speed overall performance car) for Ford until Mustang and RS arrive.

[Grunter]

Best part of that article, is that it isn't by JD.

[SumoDog68]

If one wants to stick with the big V8 bruiser there will be other cars available in that format.
I can't see too many of XR8 drivers going to hot hatch ( plus ST is manual only ) - it is a very different proposition.
At a guess I would say Mustang will cover more of Falcon enthusiasts than Focus will .

[Stefan]

I'd Happily consider an ST as a daily, but manual only only in 2015 is pretty weak.

Not sitting in Sydney traffic day in day out with a manual car.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Stefan

I'd Happily consider an ST as a daily, but manual only only in 2015 is pretty weak.

Not sitting in Sydney traffic day in day out with a manual car.

I guess you could argue you may aswell get a Titanium if thats going to be the cars primary use.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by Stefan

I'd Happily consider an ST as a daily, but manual only only in 2015 is pretty weak.

Not sitting in Sydney traffic day in day out with a manual car.

With all that torque just leave it in second. But yeah Sydney traffic coupled with hilly terrain may be a chore.

[mik]

i realise they are talking performance duties, but your not driving pikes peak every day.
How does the focus fare with shoulder room, general roominess, take away the nippy handling through tight twisties, is it a car you would be happy and comfortable doing long trips ....re interstaters in ? quiet at highway speeds ? how does it take rough roads ?

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by mik

i realise they are talking performance duties, but your not driving pikes peak every day.
How does the focus fare with shoulder room, general roominess, take away the nippy handling through tight twisties, is it a car you would be happy and comfortable doing long trips ....re interstaters in ? quiet at highway speeds ? how does it take rough roads ?

My father replaced his XR8 with a Focus ST and drives to work each day (30+km each way) and has done a few interstate trips in it with 2 others in the car. No complaints, the car coped fine, everyone was comfortable, quieter than the XR8 and bonus is used a lot less fuel.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by mik

i realise they are talking performance duties, but your not driving pikes peak every day.
How does the focus fare with shoulder room, general roominess, take away the nippy handling through tight twisties, is it a car you would be happy and comfortable doing long trips ....re interstaters in ? quiet at highway speeds ? how does it take rough roads ?

The dash is the worst part of Focus. Its stupidly big and too tight if you have some height (from a passengers point of view). Seating wise are like all other imports really (not sure on the new ST seats) but shouldn't be that bad.

I wouldn't want to do long trips as a passenger in the thing as a 20 minute drive and I'm over it.

[mcnews]

Got to say the XR5T hatchback I drove a few years ago felt more roomy than a Falcon to be honest, couldn't believe the width across the front to be honest, it felt like a lot more room between the driver and the door. Still not interested in one, as I will never own a front wheel drive car as they hold absolutely no interest for me whatsoever. Even when we wanted a small sports car we went RX8 for the simple reason of rear wheel drive, and the incredibly smart packaging, what a car to drive hard in the hills that was.

[Stefan]

These small cars are getting bigger and unless you are a 150kg gorilla with a family of similar proportions these small cars a roomy enough to serve as family runabouts.

If you need to tow a boat or something that would obviously be a problem

[mik]

Originally Posted by Stefan

These small cars are getting bigger and unless you are a 150kg gorilla with a family of similar proportions these small cars a roomy enough to serve as family runabouts.

If you need to tow a boat or something that would obviously be a problem

i`m a fairly big dude, and a tad on porky , not 150 kg gorilla just yet , still i like being able to do a trip and when i get a bit weary throw the seat back and have a kip, every falcon i've had i've been able to do that , except my xc uterus of course, but i could have snooze under the canopy in a pinch..

some cars just are not suited for all body shapes and long trips .
i`m a big boned dude and a bit wide across the shoulders and the beam, from memory i had a bit of a go in kuga titanium? and i got half an **** cheek on the bolstered seat ..... ok thats a bit of an exaggeration , i actually sat on the bucket it rather than in it,
also some cars have things that dig into you, arm rests, consoles, etc, no worries on that front with the falcons for me anyway.
also the falc has nice pedal location for me and i can get out the other end of a trip without back ache.
i remember hiring a vt commy when they where brand new for 4 days, oh man i couldn't wait to give the thing back, it actually drove pretty good , but the chair omg , bloody terrible.

[Adamz Ghia]

I'm 6ft 2, size 38 in jeans and I was comfortably snug in the seats. If I was to buy one I wouldn't want to gain any weight...

[MITCHAY]

I 99.9% sure the majority of XR8 fans would be drawn to the Mustang before a Focus ST. That's not to say the ST is not a good car but it does not have a V8.

[2011G6E]

I'm happy for all you skinny buggers who are five foot tall 50kg jockeys that can actually fit in the seats of the Focus ST...
We went to look at one...loved it, the colour really suited it, the price, for the performance, was right, the missus loved it (come on...the most important bit, right?), and it just seemed "right".
Dealer said "Sit in it and see what you think". I'd already looked in at the seats and thought "Wow...those are...erm...some really deeply bolstered Recaros...".

Nope...I couldn't lean back against the backrest, and I'm not exactly a massive fat bloke. No way in the world would I fit in that seat. No sale. I've noticed reviews of the car all say things like "unless you're a jockey you won't fit", but I never realised the horror of the situation until I tried.

Interestingly my son has a friend who works in the middle east and he has bought one, but had to buy an aftermarket Bride seat fitted to suit his size, and he's just big and muscly, not some fat pie wagon.

I think by going for the race car look with those seats, Ford has severely limited their customer base in what is otherwise an exciting looking car...


And the Falcon is "over 1900kg" now I see. Holy hell it's porked up hasn't it...smaller and flimsier-feeling than things like the old XC Falcons, but over half a tonne heavier...well done...back in the old days we kind of looked forwards to the future of modern new materials and composites and new metals and thought cars would get lighter...

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

And the Falcon is "over 1900kg" now I see. Holy hell it's porked up hasn't it...smaller and flimsier-feeling than things like the old XC Falcons, but over half a tonne heavier...well done...back in the old days we kind of looked forwards to the future of modern new materials and composites and new metals and thought cars would get lighter...

Yeh heaven forbid all those new features and super strong body structure actually weighs more than a 35 year old car that had all the amenities of a cave and the crash safety of a beer carton

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Yeh heaven forbid all those new features and super strong body structure actually weighs more than a 35 year old car that had all the amenities of a cave and the crash safety of a beer carton

Yes well I'm still to be convinced that huge thick steel bumpers and heavy steel panels are "unsafe"...

Back to the Focus ST...surely I'm not the only one who's tried sitting in one...anyone else tried one yet? What did you think?

[Madaya]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

And the Falcon is "over 1900kg" now I see. Holy hell it's porked up hasn't it...smaller and flimsier-feeling than things like the old XC Falcons, but over half a tonne heavier...well done...back in the old days we kind of looked forwards to the future of modern new materials and composites and new metals and thought cars would get lighter...

Other threads here talk about this - thing. Yes, the FG is a safe deliverer.
I could stand on the bonnet of my old AP6 Valiant. A drunk lad at a good mates Bucks Party, in celebration, fell back on the bonnet of the Ute and it has left a permanent ding. Hell, I don't care, the mark reminds me of a totally great night. Other folk would stress.
But how can the new cars be half a tonne heavier than the old cars, when the older cars had heaps thicker skins. Hell, I could stand on the roof of the AP6, and under the bonnet was a massive amount of Steel, at least as heavy as the Barra.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Madaya

Other threads here talk about this - thing. Yes, the FG is a safe deliverer.
I could stand on the bonnet of my old AP6 Valiant. A drunk lad at a good mates Bucks Party, in celebration, fell back on the bonnet of the Ute and it has left a permanent ding. Hell, I don't care, the mark reminds me of a totally great night. Other folk would stress.
But how can the new cars be half a tonne heavier than the old cars, when the older cars had heaps thicker skins. Hell, I could stand on the roof of the AP6, and under the bonnet was a massive amount of Steel, at least as heavy as the Barra.

people want all the mod cons that the old cars did not have, and electronics and safety gear is very heavy,electric motors/air bags/abs, add to that bigger brakes, transmissions with more gears, bigger wheels/tyres,computers/video/audio gear, it does not take long to add up.

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Dealer said "Sit in it and see what you think".

Haha, just went through the same experience with Fiesta. We were giving Ford ownership a second chance but unfortunately it was a fail.

The wife wanted a small second car and we were down to Fiesta vs Skoda Fabia vs VW Polo. The Fiesta looked like a squashed ant beside the others and when I tried to get in to have a drive I couldn't even get in the seat (I'm 1.9 metres which lets face it is quite a common height!). She bought the Fabia which had the most internal space, it just walked all over the Fiesta. Even I'm comfortable in the Fabia - Skoda do the internal space thing very well. Another Ford fail grrr.

I rode in whatever model Focus it was in 2012 on a long motorway trip at 130 km/h+ in Europe and I was very impressed by its space, comfort and high speed cruising. We had 5 people and a full load of suitcases on board and quite honestly there were no space or performance issues. Subsequently found the same with Octavia. This class of car is pretty fine as a distance cruiser for families.

Don't know if Focus has changed since 2012, I hope they haven't done a Fiesta job on it. The current Fiesta shocked me for a European car design, it's like something you'd expect out of Korea, including that tacky 1990s portable stereo-looking dashboard. If they've gone to a dual-clutch auto (the only thing I don't like about the Fabia) then Ford's really shot themselves in the foot.

The list of great white hopes for Ford Australia post Falcon and Territory is starting to look a little thin - Focus, Mondeo, Ranger, Everest?

[XR Martin]

What a stupid review.

"over 1900kg" Its kerb weight is 1850kg
"its clutch is too heavy" ok girly man, maybe dont skip leg day next time
"my MX5 handles better" see above

[Mr Brooksy]

Great another reminder that for the rest of my car buying days, I have shoe boxes to choose from instead of a big Aussie sedan. Gee Thanks...

[2011G6E]

I thought it was odd the comment about the clutch...he should have been around back in the seventies and eighties when fitting a "heavy duty clutch" meant putting one in that you almost needed two feet to depress...

[mik]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

I thought it was odd the comment about the clutch...he should have been around back in the seventies and eighties when fitting a "heavy duty clutch" meant putting one in that you almost needed two feet to depress...

yes , these modern ones are like a toyota corrola to drive, how would he be in something old with a serious clutch in it , and a slightly notchy gearshift going into second.