The Motor Forum

Twelfth Monkey

p67. Was expecting a darn sight more of a 'but' than 'the Focus has been worked very hard and we expect to go a lot further on the new boots.'

Even if the 3500 miles have been all around a circuit surfaced entirely in sandpaper, that's absolutely piss-poor.
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

Nice Guy Eddie · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 2:24 pm Post subject:

Even Kevin and Wayne could get more then that out of their Corsas around Mcdonalds carpark.
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TimR · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 2:29 pm Post subject:

That's astounding.

I presume the RS has full traction and stability control thus ensuring no tyre-wearing wheelspin or understeer.

Unless of corse TC and stability is only for jessies and not real men like motoring journos.....

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 2:29 pm Post subject:

Further: 'The old ones looked only a little worn on the outside, but had totally had it on the inside.'

Setup is out of true, or a consequence of the torque-steer killing front suspension geometry? You'd have thought they would have queried the former...
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

"him" · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 2:38 pm Post subject:

TimR · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 2:45 pm Post subject:

"him" · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 2:50 pm Post subject:

Giant · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 3:18 pm Post subject:

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 3:42 pm Post subject:

Boxer6

PG · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 3:49 pm Post subject:

That is pretty shocking. Any comments about the RS being a cheap high performance when compared to others are not really helped by new fronts every 3500 miles.

Dr. Hfuhruhurr · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 3:53 pm Post subject:

The obvious question is how many of those 3500 did Sutcliffe do? Because driving style can make a lot of difference. When I got the GT3, I heard lots of stories about going through rear tyres in similar mileage, but when I had the rears replaced on mine at 17000 they were far from knackered.

TimR · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 4:00 pm Post subject:

You must be a total jessie then Nick

I 'only' got 17k from the rears on my M5 and they were about done

Seriously though has the RS done those 3,500 miles on the road or track because if on road, well, I wouldn't want to meet them coming the other way on a twisty bit.

Perhaps they were all done in Milton Keynes?

Dr. Hfuhruhurr · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 4:02 pm Post subject:

TimR · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 4:14 pm Post subject:

GonnaBreakABuggy · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 5:11 pm Post subject:

Pfft, I managed to kill a set in well under 7k on the front of my 1.4, 3500 with over 3 times the horsepower sounds like a bargain to me

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ALF · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 8:09 pm Post subject:

If there is a lot of track use involved, then any comparison with road use is totally invalid. Some tyres (SO2's and Eagle F1's are famous for it) can "chunk" on a single trackday and fall to pieces.

Personally I get through a set of tyres in about 20-25k miles. I rotate the fronts to back when a bit over 2/3rds worn so they wear out similarly. This wear rate was true of the 2.5 156, the GTA, and the V6 Passat - that was 4WD so no rotating, it just wore them all out evenly at the same mileage!

I'm a bit shocked that in 6k miles in the Audi I've worn the (replaced last summer) fronts at least half down, they are lasting a bit less well than the fronts on the Alfa.

Stuntman · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 9:17 pm Post subject:

Wearing through the fronts in 3500 is somewhat extreme. Presumably they aren't the ultra-soft cup-style tyres like you get on Exiges etc? They're supposed to last about 4000 with hard use.

NSXs are meant to be pretty hard on rear tyres, 6000 was supposedly good going for a set.

I am quite hard on tyres, the worst I've ever done was on the VXT, I had all four replaced after 4500 miles but that did include 4 trackdays.

On non-motorway driving I'd expect about 10,000 out of the rears for the Cayman and the M3. However, with my current commute I managed nearly 18,000 from the Cayman's rears and the fronts have now done about 25,000.
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Drifting through life

Frank Bullitt · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 9:36 pm Post subject:

Focus RS + Unsubtle Journo's = let's see how good this Revo Knuckle is out of tight bends on full-chat

Pkh72 · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 8:01 am Post subject:

I think this is as far from representative of how things would last on a customers car as it's possible to get.

If anybody is in the market for a 2nd hand RS in 12 months time then i would check it isn't Autocars long termer.

Another question that comes to mind is that if it needs to have new tyres this early they must have thrashed it's nuts off from day one.

Little kids in a sweet shop springs to mind.
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Dr. Hfuhruhurr · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 8:05 am Post subject:

Pkh72 · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 8:12 am Post subject:

Turbonutter · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 8:27 am Post subject:

Matt · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 11:40 am Post subject:

Anyone willing to simulate 3.5k miles from a set of fronts?!
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Small car, big heart.

Blarno · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:59 pm Post subject:

I had a full set of 4 fitted to Blue Frog in January 2008. I've done about 7k since and the fronts still have the nobbles on the sides!
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"him" · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 1:03 pm Post subject:

How many of those 7k were done with those tyres on the car though?
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Gurney · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 1:13 pm Post subject:

Very pleased with wear rates on the GTA, will probably replace them before 20,000 but I imagine they will go further unless I do any trackdays.

The smart doesn't appear to have worn at all (18,000 miles) despite the vast HP going through the rear tyres.

3,500 is shocking, one would hope it's track related if not it will be interesting to see how Autocar reports it.
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Blarno · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 1:13 pm Post subject:

All bar about 1k, I would guess.
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DaveGibson · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 1:25 pm Post subject:

I'm obviously not trying with the IS. After over 20,000 miles I've still got 4mm left all round. If that continues I'll be looking to replace them at about 35,000.

GonnaBreakABuggy · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 2:15 pm Post subject:

The way I see it, UV damages the tyres and makes them go hard, slippery and start cracking anyway, so I'd better use them before it happens

Frank Bullitt · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 2:57 pm Post subject:

Humphrey The Pug · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 5:06 pm Post subject:

Sorry to get through a set of fronts in 3500 miles you would have to be driving like a complete and utter cunt.
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TimR · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 10:42 pm Post subject:

I'm trying to wear out the fronts on the Fiat because they're so shit in all weather.
I can get full throttle (i.e. not dropping the clutch) wheelspin in first on a perfectly smooth dry road and there's been a few times in the wet where, as full boost appears in 3rd, they've been overwhelmed

That didn't happen with a worn set of Goodyear F1s on it before.

"him" · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 10:57 pm Post subject:

TimR · Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 7:52 pm Post subject:

They're Federal (585s ? I'd go outside to check but it's pissing down).
I researched them a bit, they didn't seem too bad and they certainly weren't a bargain bucket option.

If I'd had more time I would've sought out more F1s but time was of the essence as the inside shoulders were through to the canvas due to some tracking issues.

Apex clipper · Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 2:17 am Post subject:

Mine scrub the insides after about 9k, it wouldn't have anything to do with different drivers scalping the car for first impressions would it?(The mk 2 I mean)

I want one of these for crimbo...badly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmQ450ctKJs
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Gurney · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 8:49 am Post subject:

Noticed in the roadtest mistress Parrot said the 3,500 miles taken to destroy the tyres on the RS was 'mostly on the road'.

Holy shit, that alone would rule it out instantly for me, I simply couldn't afford the outlay - presuming I could get 7-8,000 miles by virtue of not being such a pillock.
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A Gentleman: Def: A male of the species who can play the Trombone.

But refrains from doing so.

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:05 pm Post subject:

The word from the horse's mouth is that it had actually been trashed around several circuits, and that 9-10k should be a reasonable expectation for road use. Not great, but certainly not dreadful given the power and torque going through two front tyres.
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

Dr. Hfuhruhurr · Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:13 pm Post subject:

And given that they're swappable front to rear, unlike in most powerful RWD cars.

"him" · Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:31 pm Post subject:

Dr. Hfuhruhurr · Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:50 pm Post subject:

Not that the rears would fit anyway. They'd be sticking out as on a Euro-look Polo!

Guitar Zero · Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 2:22 pm Post subject:

The week before my ST was " liberated " from the oppression of ownership - I had to order new front tyres as they were down to the wear marker

At 7,400 miles

Why this should be so given the fact that the Dee Five's lasted 15k miles even though they had 300 lbs ft put through them remains a mystery.
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Previous convictions :

2006 Focus ST 2.5
2001 BMW 520i
2002 Focus 2.0 zetec
1999 Fiat Punto

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 1:58 pm Post subject:

p77 of this week's mag. Onto its third set at 7k. I get the impression that they are thrashing it mercilessly...
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

Eff One · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 3:38 pm Post subject:

Indeed. There is video evidence of the fact on Autocar's website, in fact: http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/an...17/chasing-the-ford-focus-rs.aspx

That Clio is pretty impressive even if the colour is deeply horrible. I wonder how much of its pace here is down to Sutcliffe's talents behind the wheel?
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Dr. Hfuhruhurr · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 3:50 pm Post subject:

Matt · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:46 pm Post subject:

The Clio is a bit of a bobfoc though, sadly.

Nice GT3 RS-inspired Green, though.
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Small car, big heart.

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:20 am Post subject:

Apparently it's now on its fourth set at 11k. The last lot having lasted 4k, largely on the road. Wear seems concentrated on the inner edge, so either the setup is out or the trick suspension works the tyres in this way.

Either way, not really good enough.
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

Pkh72 · Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:30 am Post subject:

I was going to comment on this too.

It can't all be down to their driving can it surely? It'll be interesting to find out how long the tyres are lasting in 'normal' peoples hands rather than in the mags hands.

The more i read long term reports in various magazines the less i think they are actually in any way relevant to Jo Publics life and they are in fact just a nice freebie perk of the job.

The majority of the cars seem to go back to the manufacturer around the 10k mark and get abused like a hire car up to that point. I'm sure most people treat their own car with a degree of sympathy and tend to keep it for longer than 10k.

Maybe i'm just missing the point.
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Turbonutter · Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:30 am Post subject:

Turbonutter · Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:36 am Post subject: