There is a used 2002 Ford Focus SVT (3-door) at a local dealer - I drove it today, and liked it. Much more of a sports car than my '97 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro, which is more of a luxury sedan. More horses, more torque, car weighs about half as much, tighter steering, tighter clutch, softer brakes (don't like that one). Anybody own one? Know someone who does? Likes, dislikes? I'm trying to decide if I should sell my Audi and get a newer domestic car with fewer miles in hopes of reducing my mainentance costs. BTW, my '97 has 73k miles, the Ford has 17k, and they want $13k (my coworker thinks I can get it for lots less - like $10.5k).
Go to www.FocalJet.com and go to the SVT forum. That's pretty much the biggest Focus site out there. Lot of good people and info and help there, but the downside is that there are alot of "Fast n Furious" dickheads there too. I have a '01 Focus SE with the 2.0 liter ZETEC engine matted to an auto tranny and I LOVE it. For an econo car...it handles and performs pretty nicely. I'd love to have the SVT ZX3!!!! Good luck with your decision Foosinho! EDIT Doesn't the SVT only have 170 horses? I'd think that your Audi would have more than that.
My Audi is the 4-cylinder turbo - puts out 150. If I buy a chip ($400), I can get it up to 200, but the car is still really heavy.
i have ford taurus '96 and i do agree with sachin. still, i love my car. after all it's my car. why don't i love it?
Doesn't much matter - I was lowballed on my trade in, and we were unable to reach terms. Time to start saving up for a new BPV and a chip (I think I might be leaking boost, as my machine doesn't seem as responsive as before).
if youre having problems, check your wastegate. you need a boost guage too (if you dont have one). at one point i was restricted to only like 6psi of boost (which is about wastegate pressure) so i fiddled around with that and my manual boost controller and it fixed the problem. also, you probably dont need a new BOV or anything. id look at a boost controller (if you dont have one) or a chip (or a chip that integrates a boost controller). after that, eliminate the cats. thats what im doing. installing an up-pipe and downpipe this weekend which should yield about 20 more whp. subaru thought itd be a grand idea to place a cat about 3 inches from the turbo. oh well. hey, thats an idea, why not get a WRX? you know youve wanted one since youve started autoxing... you could always save up and get one of these bad boys: it even has a useable backseat, in case youre planning on having kids any time soon! other recommends would be a 2000+ GTI 1.8t (kinda heavy but not bad) or perhaps one of those new neons (even though i hate them). all would yeild boatloads more power than the focus.
You know, I'd love one of those WRX STI's. But my wife spends too much of my money on horses. I may look at a used Impreza 2.5 RS. Plusses - keeps the AWD I love, moves me to a more reliable platform than the A4, and has more power out of the box. Minus - no turbo, ergo no cranking the boost to get "free" horsepower until after bolting on an aftermarket turbo kit. I should say, there's nothing really wrong with my A4. I think my boost may be low (a boost gauge would be a nice addition), I know my front control arm bearings are worn, and I know I need a minor alignment adjustment after a low-speed curb incident over the winter (terrific photo-quality drift thru one corner, ended up carrying too much speed into the next on an icy surface... Crunch). Other than that, it's fine. But, eventually the clutch will need to be replaced (the friction point is really high), and I'm sure I'll run into other problems that are extremely expensive to fix on an Audi. I love my car, but I'm not sure I can afford to keep a '97 Audi for another 5 years from a purely financial POV.
In this years Consumer Report car guide was ranked Best Compact car and the Funnest to Drive in the Small Car category (SVT version). as far as comments about Fix or Repair Daily... besidesf one year (either 99,or 00) the Focus has had some of the highest marks for reliability and maintence issues.Dont equate a Taurus (a notoriously poor mark on reliabilty) with one of the industries highly vehicles (focus beat out european and Japanese compacts hands down). Ford may have some issues with their SUV's and sedans, but the cars they do make well (F150, and Focus) are the best in their class.annd are considered two of the best valuesd in the industry.If your looking for a compact car the Focus should be on the top of your list.
BTW.. for you Audi lovers. for the last five yearsAudi's sold in the USA are near the bottom of Consumer reports reliabilty ratings (as a brand).They lag well behind Ford (the top US producer in reliability ratings).Ford has been towards the top middle in new,and used cars under five years old.They even rate higher then Mercedes.Only the japanese producers are beating them out.
I love my Audi, but goddamn if it isn't expensive to fix. And being of sketchy reliability, it seems to have expensive problems fairly regularly. The fit and finish is super high, but I actually really liked my test drive of the SVT Focus, and could easily be happy with one. BTW, I just went and checked, and the 2002 Focus SVT I wanted is no longer listed as for sale on the dealership's website. I guess they won't be calling me back to renegotiate. C'est la vie. They have a 2003 SVT, but it's silver instead of blue, and they want 19 large for it.
i wanna buy a silver beetle. a cute guy like me deserves a cute, neat, and gorgeous car like beetle. are they expensive to fix?? how often do they break down?
Ford Focus has European flavor to it. They sell 'em in Europe and then, their's the RS version. Now, if the Focus RS was available in the US... The five door SVT ain't bad, and it's practical, though I'd rather have a WRX.
I still don't understand why Ford doesn't bring the RS over here. That mofo will sell like hotcakes here! Crap...someone buy me a red ZX3!!! I hate the gas mileage of my Escape!
Foos, youd mentioned the RS... ya know... if you dont mind going used, or you can wiggle some money away from horses in the field to horses under the hood, you could get a 01+ WRX for around 20k or less. New theyre going for, i think, dont hold me to it, about 22 or so.
I very nearly bought a Focus SVT last year when I was making big $$$'s. Thankfully I second guesssed myself, because less than a month later I got laid off.