Ford Focus ST -- vs Mégane RS F1 vs Golf GTI vs Astra OPC

[TT]

** Jun 19: Ford Focus ST indepth (v Mégane RS F1 v GTI v OPC) **

So, I think I already posted something about this nice 4 days I had some time ago, but not sure how much exactly and too lazy to search the topic :fuck:

Anyway, everything started during the Quattroporte vs RS6 vs XJR group test we had, when I found out a medium hatches test was planned in the following months.

Focus ST vs Astra OPC (VXR for the UK) vs Mégane RS Formula 1 Team vs Golf GTI.

So, the test was planned Tuesday if I am not wrong, and Sunday morning I get a call from our "boss" saying he has to go on an urgent business trip and can't come with us. The nice thing for me was that of course he had one of the four cars, already picked up the previous week. And since we were a total of 5 ppl: 4 drivers and a photographer, it was up to me to pick up the car and deal with it until the group test and during this one too. Brillant!
Actually not that much! I realized right away that beeing also a driver during the group test wasn't such a good thing for the pics because you can't do nothing about it, to take good pics you really have to focus on it actually and having to test the four cars although very cool was definitely not helping me in taking acceptable shots.
But actually I didn't really care those days. And there I was, at the wheel of a sexy red Focus ST 5 doors. What a bloody brillant car! Strong engine, bassy soundtrack and honest performer! The 5 doors design isn't probably that good afterall because the roof line still cut quite low at the back and tall ppl won't feel at ease in the back seats, but it was practical for my errands or photo equipment. I really drove the car a lot. It was part of Ford's press fleet, so no problem in racking up many km, so I took it in the middle of the fields around Lausanne, up some mountain passes, in the snow, on gravel, highway.. everywhere
And it was just brillant in every situation. Only little problem was the traction control which had a little glitch and partially activated on the front left wheel under weight shifts toward the front in corners'. Not only it didn't worked proprely (especially since not needed most of the time), but caused very bad noises which caused me the first few times to badly lift up mid corner, which is never a wise thing, especially at speed. So I quickly understood I had to go with no safety net and just be carefull. Yes because those 225 hp going through the front wheels are quite a lot especially on cold and often wet winter tarmac. Thanks to a very good chassis it was still plenty acceptable, especially if applying some self-restraint not to wheelspin at every corner's exit
And it's a ballistic car on proper roads; really inspiring thanks to its soundtrack and strong power delivery, good brakes and pretty neutral in corners. Even when lifting off in quick corners doesn't upset it totally and you really just need a very small fraction of countersteer to keep it in check. Pretty good driving position, pedals and steering wheel ergonomics adds to the experience and as soon as a string of corners opens up ahead, you just go for it, over and over again. Brillant car! Did I say it already!
And actually it was the easier one to take in pics because every day I also dedicated some time to picture taking in a lot of different locations.

Not the same for the others sadly. The group test began early morning in a cold March day. We met up and first thing was, for the first time in our tests, to actually weight the cars. We did it with full tank and no passenger onboard at a local scrap yard and it was quite interesting to compare them. And to compare to the declared infos from the manufacturer.

Golf and Mégane were measured at 1370 kg vs 1411 and 1450 declared. probably manufacturers weight them with the driven in them?
The Astra quite surprisingly considering its bulky look was 1350 against 1393 and the Ford was by far the heavier at 1460 (1437 declared).

This took quite some time and right away we were late! The scrap yard provided also the first shooting location, but since they were working we didn't have much room to play with :bah:
Some pics in the bag, off we were for the country roads where the panning shots were planned, with already some real driving.
I can't really remember how many times and the order in which I tested the cars, but some short impressions based on my notes:

Golf GTI: not its fault, btu sadly out demo car was equipped with fugly 12 inches steel winter wheels very bad move from the garage because this affected badly the handling and steering sensation and frankly nobody was really excited by the car that on paper should have been a strong contender.
It was quite dull IMO and not really feeling that fast not even on a straight line, let alone in corners where I didn't really dare to push on such wheels. Engine note is quite boring, interior doesn't spark my plug neither.. big let down, sorry

Astra OPC: what a little monster! 240 hp and even a "sport" button that transform the exhaust note. this is business! You really need to grab this car and drive it like a man, or else it will just throw itself out of the road! Monster understeer, huge wheel spin and brillant sound! For a a quick stint this is the man's choice! I did a mountain pass following the Mégane and I was sure the Renault would shake me from its ass after three corners and yet no! The Astra was flying like a fighter jet, turbo hissing loud, exhaust exploding at every acceleration, tires screaming against their will! When in the right mood, probably the quickest. But it's a tough job honestly, and even on a stright line you have to fight the torque to keep the wheels straight! monster fun, but not sure on a daily basis it will thrill like the others. it seems like an ON/OFF thing: at warp speed damn cool but not so much during your average trip. Also the A pillars are HUGE and badly placed: when you attack an hairpin you really have to pray because if a car will come in the opposite way, you won't see it until you'll hit it :roll:

Mégane: not a good soundtrack, which is what struck you right away. bad interior too, and bad seats despite the look.. bad controls, bad interior quality. They you attack the first corner, the car feels neutral and if you play with the masses the back end just slides and align with the next straight. You think you were just lucky.. next corner, slight understeer building up because of some wet patches, lift off a little bit, neutral and then you feel the rear tires partially loosing their grip and putting the car in what feels like a totally natural little slide until you can gun it down the straight line ahead. And well, it really makes you feel good! I think I can handle a car like an average person, i don't pretend to be a rally driver and I sure prefer to slide an RWD car, and yet in the Mégane you feel on top of your game like a WRC master!
Even in emergency braking into a corner (yes, tested it.. not really on purpose, but damn, that Golf was so damn slow into that damn corner ) it isn't totally snappy. Sure, I had to apply some opposite lock quite quickly to keep it in check, but even so, it didn't feel like I was about to hit a tree.
sitting in it isn't cool or inspiring, listening to its soundtrack is almost sad, and yet, when you start to move, it really give your some A++ thrills!

At the end of the day I'd still take the ST because it's the best all rounder on a daily basis IMO, but it was a fucking blast!

As for the pics, it was winter sadly, so we knew in advance the cars could have some crappy wheels.. but as said, the only terrible one was the GTI, so if you expect good VW pics, you can hit the "back" button right now :bah:
For the others it was slightly better but as said, the only one I really took in picture like I wanted is the Ford. There are a couple of Mégane shots which almost made me decide to have a separate indepth but in the end I threw them all in the same for god's sake

Enjoy them and sorry for the long post!

Click any preview to be taken to the full 68 high-res pics update