Geneva MotorShow - Some Seriously Fast Cars

[Mr Savage]

Hello guys,

As you are probably all aware this week it's the Geneva Motorshow and that means unveiling of the new Ford Focus RS, Honda Civic Type R and Audi RS3....

So the Ford Focus RS, a little surprise as they have decided to ditch their traditional front wheel drive approach and gone for an all-wheel drive system. The car looks to be a serious contender with the R and definitely has been priced to contend with it at just under £30,000. The only downside is that it's only available with a manual gearbox, so even with it's 318BHP it may struggle to keep up with the R.



Looks pretty tasty....

Then we have the new Honda Civic Type R which also comes with a surprise....310BHP through the front wheels. The 0-60MPH time is listed as 5.7 seconds, i'm guessing due to traction issues with getting that power down on the road. This has obviously been aimed directly at taking the GTI and Seat Cupra R's top spots...



Lastly, the 2.5 litre Audi RS3 with a massive 367BHP. Traditional 5 cylinders for that beautiful engine note, AWD and a 0-62MPH of 4.3 Seconds. The only downside is the price, starting at £39995...

[CraigW]

The hot hatch market has really moved on in the last couple of years. I've never been a fan of Ford but I admit I actually really like the look of the RS. The RS3 will be awesome but your paying a substantial price for it. The biggest disappointment is the Type R. The concept car looked so much nicer than the final version.

Pros:
POWER

Cons:
RS - no auto box and image
RS3 - price
Type R - FWD only, no auto box and looks

[Sam]

I don't think the RS3 is priced to badly, 367bhp through quattro system (probs 310whp) but still giving 4.3 seconds from a 2.5. M3's start at 50k and does 0-60 in 4.1. Reading through the spec of the current RS4 Avant (4.2), it sounds like the RS3 will be loads quicker too. Like the focus too, not sure on the civic though. 

[Waspy]

I'm not sure on the RS3. You will always get people saying "it's just a 40k golf". I'm not an audi man, but that is a beast 4.3 seconds?!

I'm also disappointed by that R. Let down IMO.

[Seanl]

The type R looks atrocious! Yip, Ford aren't too well known for their AWD systems, so I'd say it'd be pretty poor in comparison to VAG, kinda liking it to Mclaren vs Mercedes in F1 at the moment. 
As much as I prefer a manual box too, I can't see it competing with the R in that sense.  Like I mentioned on a previous thread as well, I'm not a fan of the RS's styling at all.  Looks like a throwback from a 90s max power magazine cover. 

[Waspy]

Can we get some front shot of the RS3? It's looking overly understated from the back. I don't mind inderstated. But something other than a standard A3 would be nice.

[Mr Savage]

The positives for the Focus RS is that Ken Block worked directly with Ford during its production so the new AWD system is apparantly back end happy and able to drift quite easily.

[Booth11]

Performance aside, purely from a looks perspective, out of the three it would have to be the Focus RS. 

The Audi RS3 looks so bland.  Less wolf in sheeps clothing, more wolf in an anorak.

And the Type R 

[Mr Savage]

I agree Booth. The Focus RS is deadly tempting. Brembo Brakes, Nice Recaro seats, both as standard. The exhaust note promises to be raspy and RS like with that 2.3l engine and it looks brilliant.

The last RS was too shouty and over the top, if you were over 12 you looked too old to drive one. But this one has been toned down quite a bit.

The price tag is going to give VW problems as they are certain to steal some of the potential R customers at under 30k.

[dTEA]

That RS looks like this:

Never seen a more fish faced car in all my days....