Ford Focus RS VS. Volkswagen Golf R A Review with T.H.
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00:00So what constitutes a tuned car?
00:12Does it have to be modded by the owner?
00:14What if the manufacturer takes one of their own cars and tunes it?
00:19Because that's kind of exactly what we have here.
00:22The Volkswagen Golf R and the Ford Focus RS.
00:27Both of these manufacturers have taken their respective practical hatchbacks and made them
00:31sharp all-wheel drive rockets.
00:34They both have sophisticated systems that send power to the rear wheels.
00:38They both have punchy turbocharged engines, but they are not the same.
00:43After driving these two cars, only one left a serious impression on me.
00:57Let's take a look at the Volkswagen Golf R first.
01:01What do we have here?
01:02We have an all-wheel drive, 292 horsepower hatchback, which is a very cool concept when
01:09you think about it.
01:10This is like the flagship Volkswagen Golf car.
01:13I am not a huge fan of the exterior styling.
01:16I'll be honest, it's not as exciting as the Ford Focus RS.
01:20From the back, it looks really cool.
01:22It's got a really nice rear end, but it looks a little bit understated for something that's
01:26supposed to be their super sporty hot hatch.
01:29The other thing that I've noticed about this car after driving it for a little bit is that
01:34it takes itself very seriously.
01:37It's very German.
01:39The horsepower number, let's just look at that right off the bat, 292.
01:45That's very specific.
01:46That's a very specific horsepower number.
01:49I can imagine there was a meeting that happened at some point where someone said, we'll give
01:53it 292 horsepower and not a horsepower more.
01:57Maybe there was someone at the meeting that said, can we give it maybe eight more horsepower
02:02and just make it 300?
02:03Nein!
02:05Nine more horsepower?
02:06Nein means no!
02:07Right?
02:08I just kind of pictured that being how this car went down.
02:12Why not give it 300 horsepower?
02:14We obviously know a little bit of tuning, you could put this thing over 300 horsepower
02:17with not much difficulty.
02:19So what's up with 292?
02:22As I said, it just takes itself a little bit too seriously.
02:25Its road manners are very similar to that too.
02:28It feels very planted and not ultra exciting.
02:31However, at the same time, the rest of it is German in a really good way.
02:39The interior of the car is awesome.
02:42The digital readout with my speed here is easy to see.
02:46Really cool looking.
02:47The steering wheel is fantastic.
02:50The fit and finish is just amazing.
02:52The seats are comfortable.
02:54Even with all the fancy stuff they've done to this car with the all-wheel drive and everything,
02:58it is still a Golf and it reminds me of just a basic Golf.
03:02I recently toured through Europe with a little Golf diesel on some of the most amazing roads
03:07I've ever driven on and this chassis feels very similar to that.
03:11Obviously a lot sharper and the all-wheel drive really helps, but it's still a Golf,
03:16which makes it just a nice little car to drive.
03:20And then when you really want, yeah, there's power.
03:26Whee!
03:27Yeah, a fun amount of power, not an unbelievable amount of power, just an exciting amount.
03:34Way more than a normal car.
03:36Winding road for four kilometers, saw a sign.
03:38Now we're talking.
03:39Okay, so this has a 50% torque split front to back.
03:47It has a Haldex system, which is some Swedish engineering.
03:49Same as on the cross-wheel drive, actually.
03:52So it can only ever at the most put 50% of the power to the rear, which isn't as good
04:00as the Focus RS, which can put up to 70% of the power to the rear.
04:04And it has brake-based torque vectoring, which isn't as good as the Focus RS.
04:10As you hit the apex of the corner, as you start to pull in around, it will break the
04:14inside tire to allow more torque to go to the outside tire.
04:18So it kind of pushes you around the corner.
04:21And even though it's using brakes to make you go faster, I'll be honest, it works quite
04:26well.
04:27I just put my foot down around that hairpin and it just gripped and pulled me through.
04:32It's very well-sorted on these hairpins here.
04:37Not much drama, which in some sense makes it not that exciting.
04:44It's just good.
04:45Good is the word that I would use to describe it.
04:48But it's not scaring me.
04:51I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
04:55So on these little back roads, this is a really great little car.
04:57I have been told, however, that once you get it on an autocross course or on the track,
05:02it all falls apart.
05:03I think that the limit of that all-wheel drive system with the brake-based torque vectoring,
05:08that is going to be the major issue on the track, I think.
05:12It's just not going to allow you to really rotate the car properly.
05:16Now, I am on Michelin Pilot Super Sports with some aftermarket wheels, so I do have more
05:20grip than usual.
05:21Apparently, the tires that come on the car are not that good.
05:24So this is a slightly upgraded Golf R.
05:27Yeah, so in a fast sweeper, what happens is that you feel the front start to push, and
05:35then you feel the system start to pull it back in and push and pull it back in.
05:40It's supposed to be immediate, but that's kind of not really the experience that I'm
05:43getting right here, right now.
05:45I want to be clear that the Golf R is a wonderful car, and I had a great time driving it on
05:50these back roads.
05:51I would be a happy man if I got to drive one of these every day.
05:55But the major problem with it was, was that I drove it back-to-back with this.
06:16Just look at it.
06:18Look how blue it is.
06:20Let's find out what it's like on these back roads, shall we?
06:26And now we are in the Ford Focus RS.
06:30Right away, you'll notice that the ride isn't as good, the interior isn't as good, the seating
06:35position is terrible.
06:36I'm like 400 meters into the sky.
06:40The seats are really comfortable, very well bolstered, and they fit my body perfectly,
06:45but I'm so high.
06:46I feel like I'm so high up.
06:49And pretty much the bad stuff ends there.
06:52The theme of the day is going to be more.
06:55The Focus RS just has more of everything.
06:58Better.
06:59More and better.
07:01We've got 350 horsepower, a 2.3 liter engine, see, more.
07:08It has better steering, it has sharper suspension, it has better throttle response, it has a
07:13better sound.
07:16Everything about it is just better right away.
07:19So I've got it in sport mode right now, which makes the suspension tolerable for a road
07:24like this.
07:25If you put it in race, which I'll show you in a second, it sharpens everything up a little
07:29bit, but it makes the ride almost unbearable.
07:32On the track, it would be perfect, right?
07:34But right now we're on a road.
07:36The Golf is much more composed.
07:39Everything about it is a little bit smoother, but I don't care.
07:42I don't want smooth.
07:43I want this.
07:49Oh, you hear the backfires?
07:51Woohoo!
07:52Hairpin.
07:53Oh, it's just sharper.
07:55Corner.
07:56Oh, that's tight.
07:57Oh, there goes the back a little bit.
08:04Now the reason that it's so easy to get the back to move, it won't let you move very far,
08:08I've got traction control completely on, is because we have a much better all-wheel drive
08:14system in this.
08:15This is a proper all-wheel drive system, okay?
08:18So it's called the Twinster system, and it has an overdrive gear in the rear differential,
08:23which has proper clutch packs, by the way, and it can put up to 70% of the drive to the
08:28back.
08:29See?
08:3050% in the Golf, 70% in this.
08:32More.
08:33Just on a road like this, you can tell.
08:36When you push it through a corner, it feels so much flatter.
08:39It feels so much better balanced.
08:42Oh, those backfires.
08:46That's cool.
08:47That's what I'm playing right now.
08:49That's in sport mode.
08:50All right, we're in track mode now.
08:52Oh, downshift and crackles.
08:57Crackles on the upshift into third.
08:59Yeah, this is a quick car.
09:03It feels faster than the Golf, without a question.
09:07Sounds much better, too.
09:08It's louder on the inside, but it's not so loud that it's obnoxious.
09:12Okay, and now that I'm in this mode, the suspension is just so stiff.
09:24The shifter feels good.
09:25Oh, the turning radius is terrible.
09:30I thought the turning radius in the Golf was bad.
09:33Oh, backfires.
09:36It sounds good.
09:39This is a fun car.
09:42Now, so the way that I understand it with the all-wheel drive system is that it's electronically
09:51controlled, which means if there is no traction in the front, so there's no torque available
09:55to go to the front, it can, in theory, send 100% of the power to any one of the rear wheels.
10:01So it's not just 70%.
10:04That just means that it's geared over to 70%.
10:07So the idea is that these clutch packs on either side of the rear diff are constantly
10:11spinning, and they're essentially slipping and constantly until they are electro-hydraulically
10:16engaged, and then they can shunt power to the wheel that's going to give you the best
10:21line through the corner.
10:22That is active torque vectoring, which is better than brake-based torque vectoring,
10:27which is on the Golf R.
10:29And even on a little backward like this, you can feel that, and it becomes something
10:33that makes the car immediately more enjoyable to drive.
10:37If you push it just a little bit...
10:39Like, the Golf R is very composed, and it's very exciting, but this is just...
10:44Oh, it's just battering.
10:47I'm having too much fun in this car.
10:50Oh, man.
10:55Oops, left it in third.
10:57No problem.
10:58I've got the torque.
10:59350 pound-feet of it.
11:01The steering is very, very accurate.
11:06It's still obviously electric steering, but I don't have an issue with it.
11:10It weights up well, communicates what's going on in the road, and it is so accurate.
11:16It's a really, really, really good ratio.
11:19It's not variable.
11:23Oh, my God.
11:25The turning radius is terrible.
11:28Three-pointer.
11:30That should have been a U-turn in essentially any other car I think I've ever driven,
11:33other than a bus.
11:35If you can get over the harsh ride on the road, and the interior, and the fact that
11:39the little gauges up at the top here look like they're from a toy, then this is easily
11:44the choice to have.
11:45I know it's more money than the Golf R, but value for money?
11:49Way better.
11:50Way, way better.
11:53If you're a car manufacturer, and you're going to make what you would consider to be
11:57your flagship car of a sector, would you not want to do it like Ford did?
12:03Go all out?
12:05Give it the best four-wheel drive system that they can get?
12:08Give it huge brakes, super accurate steering, and just awesome styling?
12:13It almost seems like Volkswagen...
12:16I don't know.
12:17What did they do?
12:18Maybe they didn't try hard enough.
12:21It's still a very good car, but...
12:25the brake-based torque vectoring and open differential in the front and the back,
12:29and their flagship hot hatch with all-wheel drive?
12:32I don't know.
12:34I thought that they could have done a little bit better than that.
12:37If you're going to buy a car that's going to be your one car that you can carry around
12:42the kids, the groceries, you can run errands in, and then you can take it to the track.
12:48Wouldn't you want it to be this good?
12:51I would.
12:52It could be a little bit nicer and a little bit more comfortable, yes,
12:55but there's trade-offs everywhere, and in this car, the trade-offs are so very worth it.
13:04I love the fact that both Volkswagen and Ford have taken their respective hatchbacks
13:09and done to them what I would do if I bought a base model and wanted to tune it.
13:13But if we are comparing how well they did, turning their hatches into track toys,
13:17Ford wins, hands down.
13:20It does cost more money, and really, in the end, both of these are amazing little hatchbacks.
13:25But if you are more concerned about performance than comfort, then the Ford is worth it.
13:30In fact, I think I might even take it over an STI.
13:39For more information, visit www.Ford.com