Anyone go to any of the Ford Focus ST Performance Academy days? Focus ST Performance Academy

I went to to today's stop in SF at Candelstick Park. Was fun, but too bad there wasn't more time in the cars. Some really awful drivers on the course though.

They said that the parking lot at Candlestick was tougher than the other stops due to the poor pavement quality.

 

I thought Candlestick Park has been named 3Com Park for some time? Let me check on that, I could be wrong.

 

This is really an amazing platform to find relevant information about car performance parts. I managed to get and helped me for making my right purchasing decision.

 

Quite a few Mazdaspeed guys went. They ran quite good laps in comparison to other drivers who attended. Most of the Focus fan boys couldn't even drive manuals either.

Apparently the "electronic LSD" is utter crap when coming out of corners. The car doesn't seem much of a threat to the GTI and MS3.

 

Yeah, some incompetent drivers. I could tell by the cars in the parking lot that there were folks there that were not target market drivers. The terrible driver in front of me kicked up two cones that I had to not hit on my fastest lap. Probably could have knocked out a little faster if I didn't have an obstacle course in front of me.

They said time to target time to beat was 32.0 seconds. I did 31.9 on my 2nd lap. Fastest was supposedly around 29.8. My friend did 32.2 seconds. It looked like breaking 32.0 was hard for most drivers.

 

so...how did it drive? I know it's not as good as an RX-8, but was it fun to drive anyway? The reviews I've have been pretty favorable, but I'd like to hear from an RX-8 owner.

 

It was ok, nice seats, but the problem is for the timed runs they said leave it in 2nd after you start, leave all the nannies on, and so you got pretty bogged down in tight corners. Also, personally I don't like cars with high dashboards you can't see over, like the FST and the MS3, for example.... Give me my straight sightlines in the RX-8. Powerwise is was ok in the limited space we had, but it needed to get wound a bit, definitely lacked much torque in 2nd.

Would I buy one? Humm...I'd have to consider... and try one on a real road.

 

I test drove one today.

Here's what I got out of it:

• Soft ride
• Light but accurate steering
• Resists torque steer at mild throttle but is susceptible if you mash the throttle while cornering
• Excellent seats (the one I test drove had the partial leather recaro's)
• Nice interior, mostly soft touch plastics on the dashboard and some on the doors, also some cloth trim on the doors which I assume would be leather if you got the full leather version.
• Lame looking, but functional, gauges
• Good transmission ratios
• Great shifting feel (longer throws than the RX-8, but no resistance at all and very precise)
• Clutch engagement was super predictable. This is the first ford manual I've ever driven and I had no issue figuring their setup out.
• Nice engine sound, not a rotary but better than most 4 cylinders except boxers
• Cabin was quiet with little road noise
• Torque delivery was pretty good. I didn't try to corner in 2nd at low speed though. Peak torque is something like 2500 RPM so it shouldn't be too bad as long as you can keep it above that.

Would I buy one?
Maybe.... I need to see what subaru does with the 2013 STI first.