Discussion
My wife is currently considering a new car and is keen on one of these.
She currently has a 5dr clio which has done her nicely but since the arrival of our first born we are finding its a little tight on space.
Pram wheels fit in the boot but the bassinette has to live on the rear passenger seat which is less than ideal given the other seat is taken up with the car seat. Also finding that we need the front passenger seat all the way forward to clear the car seat.
So the question is people with MK3 RS's how do you find boot space for prams etc and all the other stuff that children require to be carried around?
Also how much space is there with a car seat in the back for the front seat passenger and is there a difference in this f you have the standard seats vs the shell buckets?
I haven't driven one so open question what are they like to live with on a daily basis?
thanks
She currently has a 5dr clio which has done her nicely but since the arrival of our first born we are finding its a little tight on space.
Pram wheels fit in the boot but the bassinette has to live on the rear passenger seat which is less than ideal given the other seat is taken up with the car seat. Also finding that we need the front passenger seat all the way forward to clear the car seat.
So the question is people with MK3 RS's how do you find boot space for prams etc and all the other stuff that children require to be carried around?
Also how much space is there with a car seat in the back for the front seat passenger and is there a difference in this f you have the standard seats vs the shell buckets?
I haven't driven one so open question what are they like to live with on a daily basis?
thanks
Not sure how comparable it is but we had a new-born with a Mk 3 ST. Boot is pretty big for the size of car and I don't remember us ever really struggling to get everything we needed in. With the stock-Recaro seats, fitting a rear-facing baby seat in the back was tight and the passenger seat needed moving forwards, although this seemed to be the case with all cars in this class we looked at. Passenger seat was still usable though without having your face resting on the windscreen!
Chris
Chris
I looked at the MK3 RS as wanted something with practicality and fun. While it is semi practical with the rear seats, the boot space is far from ideal (assumingly due to AWD). Went with the CLA45 Shooting Brake in the end as offers a much more useable boot. Not sure on your exact needs, but don't think you will have a lot of space left once a pushchair is in the boot.
ScoobyChris said:
Not sure how comparable it is but we had a new-born with a Mk 3 ST. Boot is pretty big for the size of car and I don't remember us ever really struggling to get everything we needed in. With the stock-Recaro seats, fitting a rear-facing baby seat in the back was tight and the passenger seat needed moving forwards, although this seemed to be the case with all cars in this class we looked at. Passenger seat was still usable though without having your face resting on the windscreen!
Chris
Cheers Chris, I have heard the boot is smaller than the ST due to the 4wd parts but not sure on the details, probably just need to have a look at one and take all the baby / child stuff with us.Chris
The boot is tiny. I bought a Mk3.5 ST-3 in 2016. I really wanted and had the budget for an RS but at the time my twins were 2 and there was no chance a double buggy would fit in the boot. I would say the RS boot is half the size of the standard FWD Focus. You open it and it’s level with the lip.
Dazzler83 said:
I looked at the MK3 RS as wanted something with practicality and fun. While it is semi practical with the rear seats, the boot space is far from ideal (assumingly due to AWD). Went with the CLA45 Shooting Brake in the end as offers a much more useable boot. Not sure on your exact needs, but don't think you will have a lot of space left once a pushchair is in the boot.
Main requirement is just to be able to get the pram in the boot rather than wheels in the boot and basket in the back seat which is a PITA.If any one has some dimensions that would be great and I can compare with what we have currently.
Had some free time this afternoon so went to have a look at one locally.
We did manage to get the basinette and the wheels in the boot so it certainly passed the first test, not masses of space but enough still to be able to get a few bags of shopping in too so should be suitable for our needs.
The one we looked at we looked at had the standard seats which are fine as the missus can jack them up to be able to see out, saleman said the buckets are fixed height does anyone know if that’s true and are they higher than the normal ones to account for short women / men?
I am keen on the buckets as I think that’s the more desirable spec so interested to know if anyone else who is short of has a short missus has one with the Shell bucket seats?
Is there anything else I should look out for on one other than recall for head gasket?
We did manage to get the basinette and the wheels in the boot so it certainly passed the first test, not masses of space but enough still to be able to get a few bags of shopping in too so should be suitable for our needs.
The one we looked at we looked at had the standard seats which are fine as the missus can jack them up to be able to see out, saleman said the buckets are fixed height does anyone know if that’s true and are they higher than the normal ones to account for short women / men?
I am keen on the buckets as I think that’s the more desirable spec so interested to know if anyone else who is short of has a short missus has one with the Shell bucket seats?
Is there anything else I should look out for on one other than recall for head gasket?
MK1RS Bruce said:
Had some free time this afternoon so went to have a look at one locally.
We did manage to get the basinette and the wheels in the boot so it certainly passed the first test, not masses of space but enough still to be able to get a few bags of shopping in too so should be suitable for our needs.
The one we looked at we looked at had the standard seats which are fine as the missus can jack them up to be able to see out, saleman said the buckets are fixed height does anyone know if that’s true and are they higher than the normal ones to account for short women / men?
I am keen on the buckets as I think that’s the more desirable spec so interested to know if anyone else who is short of has a short missus has one with the Shell bucket seats?
Is there anything else I should look out for on one other than recall for head gasket?
I have a Mk3 RS and we regularly take the large pram in it, sometimes it's easier to take the parcel shelf out as it can sit in a raised position if the boot is full.We did manage to get the basinette and the wheels in the boot so it certainly passed the first test, not masses of space but enough still to be able to get a few bags of shopping in too so should be suitable for our needs.
The one we looked at we looked at had the standard seats which are fine as the missus can jack them up to be able to see out, saleman said the buckets are fixed height does anyone know if that’s true and are they higher than the normal ones to account for short women / men?
I am keen on the buckets as I think that’s the more desirable spec so interested to know if anyone else who is short of has a short missus has one with the Shell bucket seats?
Is there anything else I should look out for on one other than recall for head gasket?
As for the seats, I actively sought out the non-shell Recaros as I wanted the hight adjustment(for my wife), seat heating (winter pack) and seat airbags. All of which the shell Recaros don't have.
I've driven both types of seats regularly as we have an RS with shell seats in the family as well. I've never once thought that I wanted the shell seats, however the owner of the other car has commented a few times that they wish they had the non-shell seats. They keep a spare cushion for their wife to use when driving.
The shell seats while not height adjustable are on a slight slope, so the closer to the wheel the higher they are, but definitely not properly adjustable.
I understand about the more desirable status of the shell seats as they were an optional extra, but for me it wasn't what I was looking for in my seats. Best bet is to try them both.
Other than the head gasket, all of which were changed under warranty, I don't think there is any common faults. The exhaust flap can stick which stops the drive modes being selected, but it's easily fixed by freeing off the flap.
Certainly the two in the family have had zero reliability issues over the last 4-5 years.
Options to look out for are forged wheels, Lux pack, winter pack consisting of heated seats and steering wheel(rare) & sunroof(very rare).
Late 2016 cars should have sync 3 rather than sync 2, sync 3 is much better. I've also added an AAWireless box to give me wireless Android Auto which is very handy.
As these are the last RS cars I suspect they will hold their value very well.
Looked at the RS when they were new but ended up buying the contemporary Type-R (the short lived circa 2016-2017 one).
Massive amount more space and genuinely clever space in the back. When I think of out first born I think of that car!
In the end, we used it for just about everything as there was more usable space than the wife’s BMW 4x4.
I actually think it drive better than the RS too but that’s another matter, I know people live fast fords and wouldn’t necessarily consider a Honda over one.
Massive amount more space and genuinely clever space in the back. When I think of out first born I think of that car!
In the end, we used it for just about everything as there was more usable space than the wife’s BMW 4x4.
I actually think it drive better than the RS too but that’s another matter, I know people live fast fords and wouldn’t necessarily consider a Honda over one.
Glosphil said:
An Octavia vRS will give far more room in the boot & rear seat & more than adequate performance.
Do you really need the performance of a Focus RS to carry 2 kids around?
We currently ferry her about in a 1 litre Clio or a fiesta ST so we don’t need the performance but we both work hard and it’s a car that we both like which is a happy coincidence. Do you really need the performance of a Focus RS to carry 2 kids around?
st3ven1 said:
I have a Mk3 RS and we regularly take the large pram in it, sometimes it's easier to take the parcel shelf out as it can sit in a raised position if the boot is full.
As for the seats, I actively sought out the non-shell Recaros as I wanted the hight adjustment(for my wife), seat heating (winter pack) and seat airbags. All of which the shell Recaros don't have.
I've driven both types of seats regularly as we have an RS with shell seats in the family as well. I've never once thought that I wanted the shell seats, however the owner of the other car has commented a few times that they wish they had the non-shell seats. They keep a spare cushion for their wife to use when driving.
The shell seats while not height adjustable are on a slight slope, so the closer to the wheel the higher they are, but definitely not properly adjustable.
I understand about the more desirable status of the shell seats as they were an optional extra, but for me it wasn't what I was looking for in my seats. Best bet is to try them both.
Other than the head gasket, all of which were changed under warranty, I don't think there is any common faults. The exhaust flap can stick which stops the drive modes being selected, but it's easily fixed by freeing off the flap.
Certainly the two in the family have had zero reliability issues over the last 4-5 years.
Options to look out for are forged wheels, Lux pack, winter pack consisting of heated seats and steering wheel(rare) & sunroof(very rare).
Late 2016 cars should have sync 3 rather than sync 2, sync 3 is much better. I've also added an AAWireless box to give me wireless Android Auto which is very handy.
As these are the last RS cars I suspect they will hold their value very well.
Thanks for the excellent reply, yeah plan is to have a look at one with the shell seats and see if she can see out with them. You make a lot of good points and not having the shell seats isn’t a deal breaker for me as it’ll be predominately her car. As for the seats, I actively sought out the non-shell Recaros as I wanted the hight adjustment(for my wife), seat heating (winter pack) and seat airbags. All of which the shell Recaros don't have.
I've driven both types of seats regularly as we have an RS with shell seats in the family as well. I've never once thought that I wanted the shell seats, however the owner of the other car has commented a few times that they wish they had the non-shell seats. They keep a spare cushion for their wife to use when driving.
The shell seats while not height adjustable are on a slight slope, so the closer to the wheel the higher they are, but definitely not properly adjustable.
I understand about the more desirable status of the shell seats as they were an optional extra, but for me it wasn't what I was looking for in my seats. Best bet is to try them both.
Other than the head gasket, all of which were changed under warranty, I don't think there is any common faults. The exhaust flap can stick which stops the drive modes being selected, but it's easily fixed by freeing off the flap.
Certainly the two in the family have had zero reliability issues over the last 4-5 years.
Options to look out for are forged wheels, Lux pack, winter pack consisting of heated seats and steering wheel(rare) & sunroof(very rare).
Late 2016 cars should have sync 3 rather than sync 2, sync 3 is much better. I've also added an AAWireless box to give me wireless Android Auto which is very handy.
As these are the last RS cars I suspect they will hold their value very well.
I’ve got a mk1 focus RS so I’ve got the RS brand in my blood and would quite like what will likely be the last of the brand for a while at least.
We are used to hard suspension with the mk7 fiesta ST so I think we would be quite happy with the car and if as you say it’s relatively reliable then that’s an added bonus.
What’s servicing like? I usually do oil, filters and brakes myself but would likely want to keep a service history on a car like this.
k what they're in, regardless of what mum thinks. MK1RS Bruce said:
Glosphil said:
An Octavia vRS will give far more room in the boot & rear seat & more than adequate performance.
Do you really need the performance of a Focus RS to carry 2 kids around?
We currently ferry her about in a 1 litre Clio or a fiesta ST so we don’t need the performance but we both work hard and it’s a car that we both like which is a happy coincidence. Do you really need the performance of a Focus RS to carry 2 kids around?
I found an Octavia ideal when transporting our grandaughter whereas a friend found his Focus too small for similar duties.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff