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16,988 Posts
by Groagun, 3 Feb 2015.
For reasons I'm unsure of, today, February 03, 2015 three of the biggest auto makers in the world decided to debut three very different but very significant sports cars. First, the Ford Focus RS, second the Ferrari 488GTB and last but not least, the Porsche Cayman GT4.
Ford Focus RS
2016 Ford Focus RS: This Is Your 320-HP, AWD Monster Hatch From Ford
Ferrari 488GTB
2016 Ferrari 488 GTB: This Is It
Porsche Cayman GT4
Porsche Cayman GT4: This Is It
I put them in this order for a reason: Once again Ford won the day just as they did in Detroit with the new GT.
The new Focus RS is a super car for the Everyday Joe. It's the one we can all have. The Ferrari is awesome, not that pretty, but awesome. The Cayman GT4, well for me it's just another Porsche. I'll expand more on that later. The real crux of this victory comes from the "Everyday Joe" moniker I bestow upon this machine.
The Ferrari and Porsche are outside the grasp of most buyers: and don't think for one second you will ever be able, or want to get that base Cayman GT4 for the $85k list price.
I'm pleased as punch that cars like the 488GTB and Cayman GT4 exist and if lucky enough, even I can put one in my driveway someday. But the Ford, hell I can have that now!
Is there a comparison to be made between these cars? Yes! And it's all down to 300+ horsepower and AWD.
The Focus RS, like some have pointed out to me today, as the Subaru STI is, a WRC car that I can actually buy for reasonable cash and have a warranty and get insurance on. I love Subaru's but the Focus RS is hotness on wheels. The STI is a bit ugly and a bit of yesterdays news and technology. Still a great car but this Focus RS just gets my blood boiling.
Ideally I want a sequential crash box transmission with the correct 'backward' actuation to go through the gears: pulling back on the stick to go up the gears and pushing forward to go down the gears. A tight and supportive racing bucket with ample padding for my big ass and what sounds like a squirrel being minced under the hood every time the blow off valve actuates.
I think I will get most of that so I'm pretty happy already and the aftermarket and SEMA show next year will have all kinds of addon's for me to buy.
The Ferrari and Porsche, to a lesser extent, are unreachable dreams, objects of nothing but desire: things for posters or in the modern world, desktop pictures. I quibble more with the Porsche because to me, Porsche has created the answer to questions that nobody has asked. It seems to me that every Porsche, the venerable 911, Cayman, Boxster, Panamera, Cayenne, Macan and 918 each have at least a dozen different variants. I swear all it takes is 15-25 more HP and or a specified options package and a whole new model designation is born.
Enough of pissing on Porsche for now, they do build great cars and have maybe the best engineers in the business, I'm just not one of those 'Porsche Nutters'.
I'm no Ford guy either but wow this thing looks impressive and fun, obtainable fun. It ticks all the right boxes. 300+ HP, AWD, Recaro seats, manual gear box and the list goes on, all for an affordable price the most anyone can afford.
Ford is the blue collar company and today they proved it. Congratulations once again Ford for taking victory in a contest with both of the heaviest hitters in the biz taking shots on the very same day. 2 and O for Ford so far this year and it's only February.
WTF? Ford Wins The Day AGAIN!
