FORD FOCUS RS $42,000 w/manual only tranny!

RicerX

I'm gonna bite - I think $42k loaded for this thing is right where it needs to be for where the market is with these types of cars. Hear me out.

A loaded Evo X MR is in the $40k range (at least the last of them, anyway). A loaded STI Limited without Subaru performance accessories touches $40k. A loaded Golf R with Navigation is $39,910 before destination. None of those cars in stock form come within 45-50hp of this Focus, a car aimed squarely at those three vehicles. None of those cars come with Recaro seats either (the Evo's last year with Recaros was 2014). None of those other cars are coming with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires at that price, either, and you can't even get close to the Golf R and Focus RS interiors with the Evo or the STI.

You can't compare a hot hatch to a Mustang in terms of price. So few people are going to cross shop a RWD grand tourer with an AWD hatch that it doesn't make sense to even consider it in the grand scheme of the product. Being the Z fanboy that I am, I couldn't even bring up the fact that the only other car I could think of in that price range with Recaro seats is the current Nismo Z or a Mustang GT with the track pack or whatever it is that gets you Recaros in that car.

You guys bringing the Merc into the argument have to realize that a stripped out CLA45 AMG (or an A45 AMG if it were brought here) is closer to $50k than $40k, and if you start optioning one of those things out, you're pretty much at $60k.

For what that car does in today's hot hatch segment, they nailed it. Pure and simple. Gotta pay to play.