hey I'm Carlos Lago and up next is a
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this is international man of mystery
alright well that info but school
international bureau chief thanks
Mackenzie were in a Ford Focus RS and is
going to demonstrate to me and explain
his
let's see let's say contrary opinions on
this car then like the book of media
let's say the fair
well I am an old contrarian so I
suppliers are not living up to my
reputation I wonder at what point do you
become the old train like is there like
a line across as more of a gradual thing
that you moved into is like a slider I
don't know I can't remember waking up
one day and thinking
suddenly I'm all so we contrarian about
it
little you know maybe does creep up on
you this is one day maybe always yummy
and cherien wonder you got back in the
day maybe was be young confirming your
just fine in anything good for the other
way beyond country and as you got older
you'd be like embracing like snapchat
which is not even the thing anymore
snapchat yeah it's not jump the shark is
like now we're going to handle whatever
that other I am deciding i'm going to
give up trying to follow the new thing
well I've run out of little button thing
easily that I funny there's multiple
Sandhya now you tell me
did you mean there's more than one but
you can just swipe because i was getting
rid of buttons because on my screen was
filling up like that it's you but I you
I should hang around young people more
often she should I learn so much about
the world
gee golly right okay here yeah we're on
the winning track and on Ruby ground
because this is motor trends Car of the
Year we're doing testing right now and
this
well I'll give the order or the
announcement that we're heading out on
the winning track
yep ford focus RS i'm running track
shooting video and let's do it
ok so i switched into track mind ok the
health hopeful checkered flag as a . up
on the screen so you know that's the
universal indicator of track and a
damper and with an s-class which against
it's got more than one step
all right into the first corner
Bob
I mean there's lots of group in this car
and then you noticed some tires help i'm
at the top here on the brakes in third
gear into the corner pitching in and
getting in the car to rotate but when
doing this all the time which is this is
it feels like turbulence from wheels off
the ground over that little bump there
you know and this like really you can't
go very fast if you haven't got any
traction
but if the tires are in the air is not a
good thing not you don't like driving
cars not slow you down
kitchen india again you know this is
going on fire
in most cause you guys free here and a
hundred miles an hour we're just 500
miles and i haven't stop jiggling since
we started and but it's really when
moving that's crossed the right skipping
across the road yet and this is a
perfectly flat surface this is not a
rough surface by name this is really
flattered what's creating those those
vertical motions it's nice that you can
lift off i mean the basic fundamentals
of the chassis on that why you're coming
here just lift off tucked in
yeah get back on the gas again you can
feel you can feel the rear end
really pushing you out of the
quarter-sized she says I feel like I'm
in you know spin dry cycle
come get it a little little flick back
here in
thanks to its but if it's merely but I
just wish
we should pass something so okay
bouncy stuff aside it's doing the stuff
you wanted all-wheel-drive card yet and
it does the fundamentals of their i
would like a little more throttle
response it just seems a little bit
doughy yeah
and that the transmit the shift gate is
very long yeah and floppy you can't hide
its economy carpet and combats it
started as a focus in today's focus RS
silk focus right now I want to try
something different here i'm going to
switch into your address mode into drift
my embracing no but I couldn't find how
this made any what you can't drift on
these times it's just too much grip
these tires i played around with it
yeah I couldn't seem to make it do much
at all from our experience on the figure
out which the only time I ever drove in
this given this other than what we're
doing now the tires seem to have more
grip then
adrift any contracting this car allow
yea even when you have seen people
driven this car is not trippin its
initiates oversteer in a way that's more
like a doughnut motor more load more
appropriate for donuts but it doesn't
seem to change the handling balance
significantly
so the second year this is a perfect
opportunity so you can you see this too
much grip you need with the tires and
another thing just gets this sort of
gives the back comes around but can't do
anything with it and then it sort of
gives up front is pushing right yeah and
you're getting that horrible chattery
stuttery it's just
exercise in futility you feel the rear
step out but then the front starts
grabbing you sideways along so you you
still under steer into the dirt you just
do it with the side so that you always
natural graceful elegance right you
don't look like it but oh my god
but with Minister down off I'd like to
the crisis so if this car is graceful
then no it's it's not my problem is it's
on doesn't feel as sophisticated as some
other high-performance cars in this
class now you know
like okay so what are the other options
golf or golf I but Gophers not anywhere
near as entertaining us yes it does .
you can't do that
yeah now we are in drift mode yes now
what I'm that what you notice is we're
not bouncing up and down as much that is
true
yeah and so I like this thing in dress
that's even out my draft the question is
of course how long can you actually
drive like this interest mode before the
clutches say no word were done swimming
so i might not successfully doing this i
mean if the car allows you to do that by
all means do it right but my god I
something i think i would hope that the
systems in the car would prevent that
from happening right you know I've seen
scuttlebutt online saying you can drive
like that hard on track day for a very
short time amount of time before things
start overheating right
well that's a problem for me right again
i'm going to have a performance car in
needs to be able to do what you wanted
to do when you wanted to do it without
having to press about me and then
without having to be all precious about
oh my god i can't stand up the pressure
anymore
that's the it was trying to drink yet
but this has been on street tires we
probably could have got around there
I better take the button before I blow
it up God thank God you told me I wonder
why the difference though between track
and drift removes those vertical bounces
or maybe to get the drift happening
anymore weight transfer to the rear axle
I mean the track nice just to start
liking and this is a smooth this is a
smooth surface
woe betide you if you're going to try
and drive in track mode on anything like
a normal run
yeah I mean it's stiff enough in in
regular in the regular setup you i just
think that kind of overdone it
well it isn't RS so it's more are
because it's RS so that is overdone I
mean that is like I want the overdone
model right look setting up any cars in
the suspension on any car is a is a
black yes
yeah I think there's something you know
I wonder what the suspension setup was
optimized for which tires suspect it's
not these cup tires and the cup tires
will give you huge level g numbers but
as we're seeing in this case the chassis
just can't make them the most of it you
need you know you you're wanting more
wait to get on the type of work that i
have been all that's happening is that
the thing skipping in general you want
to be on the other side of that traction
fall off part of the tires and graph
right you want to be on that side more
in these that's the graph so much higher
damage more get up
yeah i mean this thing will probably a
lot more fun on a regular time or
regular time I've been all three here or
here is what we do we keep the cups on
the front tire but the regular times in
the rear
yeah that would be in to tell you
nothing like uncontrolled oversteer well
I grew up driving real dr rally car yeah
so you know and that in my day
rear-wheel-drive meant the back was the
proper with you so that would probably
take me back to my old debts and p510
perfect
Thank You Angus I think that's I think
that's a good that's a good answer right
there that's real good
I appreciate that we have a contrarian
opinion that ok here's the thing people
talk about well it overheats can't is
any good of a triad a racetrack okay why
are you expecting race car performance
out of a hot hatchback with all the
drive is that a reasonable expectation
it it's the expectation maybe the Ford
setup sure so if you can't deliver if
you have struggled to the leader
maybe she's out the expected
action you know the IRS is is a hot
hatchback in the day the IRS Monica in
forward and it started you know with
Ford escorts back in the day they were
the sportiest ones you can get it didn't
necessarily say there was a racecar
ok it just said that was the sporty when
in fact the RS RS 2000 made its bones
ford escort rs2000 made its bones as a
rally car on the dirt wasn't a track
kind of tall they did raise them on the
track with modified but it was you know
it's simply said this was the hardest
you could buy yeah and i think that's a
fair enough fair enough
you know proposition to take forward but
i don't think you should think that this
is a track optimized car because i don't
think it is
yeah i think you know you have sported
he got really sport but then if you want
something that's actually built for
little performance look at physics
rear-drive for an engine or mid-engine
and at this price range that does open
up to Mustang Camaro which nowadays
really good right now you know you you
wonder how much difference there would
be around here in a 1le command this is
this
yeah I think we both know i kinda wish
we had one here but i think that both of
which one we enjoy driving more agree
we'll leave it there
thank you thanks for watching this quick
Drive watch for more on abortion on
demand email us at Daily Fix at
motortrend.com you next time
here's what you missed last week on
Daily Fix exclusively on Motor Trend On
Demand
volvo s90 American and they invented the
shoulder bone in a corner on hundred
toilet miles an hour we going normal
human freeway speeds finding ford focus
RS this has like way more power than you
ever expect I would like a little more
formal response it just seems a little
bit doughy I haven't stop jiggling
I'm Carlos Lago and if you didn't watch
last week's Daily Fix you should do that
now its exclusive on Motor Trend On
Demand