Post by Andy C on Feb 3, 2018 20:00:31 GMT
A couple of laps around a damp old airfield near Stafford.
I had the choice of a Focus RS, or Subaru WRX STi. I went for the Focus, as I wanted to see how different it was to mine.
The interior is pretty poor, and you still sit too high (like you do in mine). The seat was amazingly comfortable and the pedals and gearbox all felt 'heavy' in a good way (although my clutch is heavier still!). Fire it up, and it's suprisingly quiet. Too quiet, in fact. From the inside, there's a faint burble from the exhaust on start-up and then silence. From the outside, it sounds like a quieter, weedier, more feeble version of mine. So basically a 4 pot then.
I try and avoid these driving experience days if possible. I've heard stories about paying decent money for 4 laps in a Ferrari that you can't go over 5k. What's the point? The other one I've done was a Lotus Exige at Silverstone, and luckily, the instructor told me to give it the beans and enjoy myself.
Luckily, this day was the latter. The instructor was very relaxed and let me go for it. It was a runway/taxiway with cones in various places so you had corners and a long straight, and it was wet.
On the straight, make no question this car is quick. The throttle response was much better than mine, and it pulled hard from 2000rpm, stepping up again from 5000rpm to the red line, which is where it felt like it had 345bhp. Trouble is, it felt no quicker than mine low down. It was only from 5000rpm or so was where you could notice the extra bhp. Then there's the noise. I've got to be honest, I really liked the noise this car made once you gave it some stick. There was a real hard induction bark once you were in the upper rev range, but its still lacking a decent exhaust note. Shame, as mine sounds great throughout the rev range.
In a corner was where this car really shone. You may sit too high, but there's no getting away from how flat this thing corners. It feels totally planted and changes direction like my old Clio Sport did. No it's not as agile, but it wasn't far off. This new 4wd system really does work! I'm not going all technical, but in the past, with the haldex 4wd system on say the R32, I'm led to believe there was masses of traction, but it always felt heavy and slow to change direction in the bends. The RS was the opposite - so nimble and light on it's feet in a bend. I think the RS system uses torque vectoring to send power to each individual rear wheel if needed. I can't say it ever felt RWD, but the way you can brake, turn in, it grips, it grips some more, and then allows you to plant your foot out of a corner with no fuss is very impressive. I'm sure if you were going for it even more it you could get it to behave like a RWD car (we didn't use drift mode). The steering was also very accurate .
A great thing to drive, if let down by a slightly disappointing engine.
I would love to try one on the road.
I had the choice of a Focus RS, or Subaru WRX STi. I went for the Focus, as I wanted to see how different it was to mine.
The interior is pretty poor, and you still sit too high (like you do in mine). The seat was amazingly comfortable and the pedals and gearbox all felt 'heavy' in a good way (although my clutch is heavier still!). Fire it up, and it's suprisingly quiet. Too quiet, in fact. From the inside, there's a faint burble from the exhaust on start-up and then silence. From the outside, it sounds like a quieter, weedier, more feeble version of mine. So basically a 4 pot then.
I try and avoid these driving experience days if possible. I've heard stories about paying decent money for 4 laps in a Ferrari that you can't go over 5k. What's the point? The other one I've done was a Lotus Exige at Silverstone, and luckily, the instructor told me to give it the beans and enjoy myself.
Luckily, this day was the latter. The instructor was very relaxed and let me go for it. It was a runway/taxiway with cones in various places so you had corners and a long straight, and it was wet.
On the straight, make no question this car is quick. The throttle response was much better than mine, and it pulled hard from 2000rpm, stepping up again from 5000rpm to the red line, which is where it felt like it had 345bhp. Trouble is, it felt no quicker than mine low down. It was only from 5000rpm or so was where you could notice the extra bhp. Then there's the noise. I've got to be honest, I really liked the noise this car made once you gave it some stick. There was a real hard induction bark once you were in the upper rev range, but its still lacking a decent exhaust note. Shame, as mine sounds great throughout the rev range.
In a corner was where this car really shone. You may sit too high, but there's no getting away from how flat this thing corners. It feels totally planted and changes direction like my old Clio Sport did. No it's not as agile, but it wasn't far off. This new 4wd system really does work! I'm not going all technical, but in the past, with the haldex 4wd system on say the R32, I'm led to believe there was masses of traction, but it always felt heavy and slow to change direction in the bends. The RS was the opposite - so nimble and light on it's feet in a bend. I think the RS system uses torque vectoring to send power to each individual rear wheel if needed. I can't say it ever felt RWD, but the way you can brake, turn in, it grips, it grips some more, and then allows you to plant your foot out of a corner with no fuss is very impressive. I'm sure if you were going for it even more it you could get it to behave like a RWD car (we didn't use drift mode). The steering was also very accurate .
A great thing to drive, if let down by a slightly disappointing engine.
I would love to try one on the road.
