The biggest disappointment of the day is the audio issues in that Focus RS video.

It took me so long to figure out that you weren’t talking the FR-S/BRZ, which is what I was referring to. I was concerned that you thought the handling was “vague” - the 86 has it done better than 90% of what’s out there right now, and certainly better than almost everything in the price range.
I just missed that your…

I’ve seen exactly one. It flew by me on the highway, which is really saying something as traffic was moving at about 80-85mph at the time.

Your comment is wrong. It’s a good car. It’s not necessarily the best car out there, but it is very good.

He’s a test driver that works with engineers. I’m guessing that’s more than you can say, right?

You’d think most test drivers probably don’t get warnings about design life of components. That’s all.

Read the rest of my comments. I've clarified plenty.

Yes, and in this case there’s someone with more knowledge than you or me speculating that it’s an atypical situation. That’s why I mentioned it.

It sounds more like what he meant is design-life rating. If something can be loaded at a certain level to reliably get 100,000 miles, what happens when you exceed that loading? That’s what he hinted at.

I just re-read what the tester said, and his wording made it sound like a design life issue. More likely, this “100% loaded” component isn’t at risk of failing due to a single instance. It sounds more like they said they want to get X-thousand miles before failure, and they can safely do that with Y ft-lb of torque on…

Could that possibly be why the rear wheels can only get up to 70% of available torque?

If my understanding is correct, “default” is FWD.

Do you know how quick this will make this RS at a track, with a full warranty?

I’ve never tuned a vehicle I’ve owned (and I don’t plan on it), but you can make quite a difference on an actual dyno with a tune. I’m not talking 5hp, either. There have been some examples in the BRZ/FR-S community of people picking up 25hp with just an e85 tune and everything else stock.

Read this reply.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re right. However, he has seemed to be pretty knowledgeable on a few things, so it’s at least worth a mention.

I really do hope so, too. I guess we’ll see how tempted I am once they announce a price and release date. And when they open the order rolls.

Perhaps I should be more clear. I’m not worried about what happens if you tune it. I’m worried about how close the car might be to the limit without one. I only mentioned a tune because that’s one of the easiest things for someone to do to a car that has a good engine, good brakes, good suspension, a good exhaust, and…

I’m torn. I really do want it, but I’ve been keeping up with the test driver who cautions that it probably won’t even be able to stand a tune. Supposedly a critical component of the AWD system is loaded at 100% from the factory. Driveshaft? I don’t know, but for that reason alone he says he doesn’t think a tune would…

Part of the reason they had sliding windows was because the inside of the door panel was actually the outer skin of the door! In other words, the inner part of the door was usable space to maximize interior room. Like so: