Ford Focus ST vs Renaultsport Megane vs Opel Astra VXR - Auto Express
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- We put the new Ford Focus ST, Renaultsport Megane 265 and Vauxhall Astra VXR to the test around the Anglesey Circuit, before hitting public roads to find out which hot hatch is the best all-rounder.
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So here's where all the Matt's drag races started hahaha
I want the VXR so bad!
I think for hot hatches you want good looks, speed and fun. I'd be willing to say fun takes a little bit of a back seat though as 70-80% of the time for most people you're sat in traffic or cruising along the motorway in which case the compliance and interior design become important too. I'd say the VXR covers its bases the best imo
I have the Renault without the cup package and can guarantee that it's 100% useable in every day use i had a 118d BMW and i prefer driving the RS. The only downside is the fuel consumption of 12l in my case. Overall a absolutely amazing car
What hot hatch (pre 2016) would you recommend ? Ford Focus ST ; megane, Peugeot , honda civic type r, may be audi ?
Astra of course. Better where it counts as a hot hatch : best lap and best looks.
He say's clearly it's the worst to drive on the roads daily which is what owners will do 99% of the time....
Its hard to make a 4 door hatch look good, I reckon the focus pulls it off beautifully, also looks mean in black !
Hi Mat here. If you are wondering why it took us so long to release this video it's because although we actually shot it back at the beginning of September, we decided to hold it back for our new iPad edition of Auto Express which has just gone live. You can download the first six issues for free from the App store. Hopefully this will make up for the fact we have kept this video from you for so long.
The VXR is beautiful! I wish it was available in the U.S.
If you are really interested in something similar to the Astra, I believe there are a few Asrtras around the US badges as saturns from a few years ago.
Yes but nobody wants a Saturn Astra. This guy wants the updated, performance-oriented model. I own an ST myself, but it would have been nice to be able to choose between these other cars as well.
I just bought a sexy black one today. I love it so much they r the ultimate hot hatch in my opinion 💯
@@danielhayton1 how's was the reliabilty in the past 5 months? The only thing that made me choose the Meg was General Motors's scary reliability.
@@SpeedDaemon3 no problems at all so far so good. I just wish it came in automatic. That's my only complaint. But I still love it to bits
In my mind and I suspect many others, the GTI was the epitome of hot hatch in this corner of the world. Growing up here in Canada, everyone coveted a VW GTI by the simple fact that choices was not exactly all that great. Even in modern standards, 200hp in a hatchback is still pretty impressive.
OH MAN I SWEAR THAT THIS MAN IS ADVERTISING FOR FORD COME ON MAN IN EVERY VIDEO THAT YOU MADE YOU REFER TO FORD FIESTA OR FORD FOCUS OHHH PLEASE
That's because most people never go near a track in their hot hatches and want the best daily driver. And the Ford is most definitely that.
in the drag race, focus st always took off the latest, and with a lot of wheel spin and tyre smoke...focus st won best hot hatch of the year award from Top Gear, Auto Express, and Whatcar. Autocar also said they'd rank it higher than anything else for normal road use. focus st rules :)
"it's safe the road is completely empty". 2 secs later 8:16 car goes by!
I have driven all three of these cars and my experience with all these three cars, I have to say that the focus st has no turbo lag whatsoever, compared to its VXR and megan rs rivals. And overall ride quality of the focus st is a lot better than the Renault and Vauxhall. Thats presently I own a focus st.
I can say you are wrong. I have owned all 3. I had the VXR first for around a year. I then owned the Focus ST for nearly 3 years and currently own the Megane RS. All 3 have turbo lag, you are kidding yourself if you think otherwise. For me, it is close between the Focus ST and Megane RS. I would say that the Focus is a lot more refined. It feels safer and more stable. The Megane is more fun if I am being honest. You are right in the ride quality of the Ford is better, but this comes at the expense of the fun factor. To me, a hot hatch should be fun, and that's why I edge to the Megane RS, just.
@@davehanson1578 What hot hatch (pre 2016) would you recommend ? Ford Focus ST ; megane, Peugeot , honda civic type r, may be audi ? Astra ?
Mine doesn't have turbo lag, kicks in at 2krpm and stays the same to 6.5krpm 🤷♂️
6:11 i think it looks the best and the colour look stunning!
I think that colour is looks kinda puke(ish). Would not choose it what ever the car is.
In the end all depends eye of the beholder.
I have owned both the ST and the Megane and I have to say that whilst the Focus is a great daily driver and fun, the Megane's overall power delivery, handling and grip is immense and so, so much more fun...both cars are great but the Megane just pips it..for me! both cars would be great second hand buys though.
I had the megane 225 and i used to get smoked off the line by the st’s. Now I’m buying a st-3 and I’ll get smoked by the megane rs 😂 ffs
Focus ST = guaranteed to get stolen at some point.
Megane = More capable & fun but looks are subjective.
I'd choose the later updated Megane which looks a tad nicer.
Like all three but Vxr is my choice
Opc best looking !! I have the astra g ! Next i will buy the h and then the j ! GJ OPEL HOW BEAUTIFUL CAR YOU MADE
Odd that the megane was last on the top gear drag race. I suspect it was ran on normal 250 mode not sport mode (265).
I also noticed this, a little bias coming in i'd imagine. Anyone who knows cars should see the Meg coming out on top in any race between these 3. I'm surprised it lost to the Astra here, driver capability maybe?
I prefer the looks of the Ford and like most other owners won’t be taking it near a track so again I’d pick the Ford.
Even though if driving with a "serious" feeling all the time, chasing times etc I'd get the astra. It even managed to lap the same with the focus RS of previous gen. Feeling or not, it is a very capable car and the "price is right".
Matt is so young and innocent here! How times change. For road use there’s only one worth considering. The Focus. Truck days? Get a Caterham or a motorcycle. Renault? It’s a Renault. VXR? Yeah well done Zzzz apart from on a once every year 1 day track day
ads? If you use Firefox...install the Adblock and you see ads anymore in any site. It's perfect!
You know what's funny? This megane is the oldest car here, yet it looks still fresh. New model is coming out in January 2013.
This is odd, in most track reviews the megane comes out on top, just have a look at chris harris' review of these three cars, its way better.
Track times were
1. Megane
2. Astra
3. Focus ST
Not sure what happened with these track times? Maybe it was the driver (the ST's brakes caught fire FFS!)
All 3 are good cars with contrasting qualities respectively but the megane is still the undisputed king of the track and the best drivers car (they at least admitted that) between the 3.
i like the previous styling of the focus.
well it only illustrates that if you really want a supreme track car then go buy yourself a true racing car, most cars are used for the road that's why the road is the biggest defining factor if a car was good or bad... great decision Mat, and a good comparo too...
UK based motoring magazines are so ford biased its unreal . Ford Diesels ( peugeot ) are some of the worst cars on the road yet motoring press in the UK love them . This test is no different , least attractive , slowest and least fun to drive car wins wtf ??
Is that Mat Watson from Carwow? :O
So weird to see mat not in a carwow video
These all cars are SIMILAR but different. They each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Vehicle is moving at low speeds BETTER ONE, TWO HIGH AND SO ON
Please choose your pleasurable and suitable for EVERYONE
That Megane is awesome but I prefer the Vxr.
So Vauxhall got the handling right finally then? The older vxr range even in the vectra and zafira all had diabolical handling, yet in this review at least the newer one can use its power and corner properly.
in top gear they removed the IDS Suspension module on the Vectra VXR. I own both the Astra in this video and the Vectra and its no slouch
last focus ST was great and looked the part. New focus ST is as mundane as a Golf GTI but slightly better as it comes with stick. Looks, well I am glad you like it then.
Probably Renault RS Mode isnt activated in that vid, no way the Astra is faster on Track.
I drive a 2003 Leon cupra r & i even today don't think you can get a better more comfortable ride from a hot hatch
The starting price for the focus is £22,000 the base model. I bet this one is not the base model ST which specked up would cost about the same as the Astra. But you can buy a specked up VXR for £27,000. So it’s not £4,000 cheaper.
The current Scirocco R gets from 0-100km/h in 5,7 seconds. The new Golf VII (based on the MQB platform, shared with the new A3, for instance) will get 300hp and sprint to 100km/h in 5 seconds. Hardly "crap".
Oohh that's a... MAT from the past !
it actually caught fire!
Astraaaaaa
☺️✊ yus
thank you! the ST defines like how the first gen GTI defines hot hatch... its not suppose to be a track car like the other two... 98% of the time its ment to be driven on the road. and thats where ford got it right
Good job Mat. Again. Greetings from Denmark
ONE man should do comparative tests of this would be the most accurate
It’s the CarWow guy lol
I keep saying this: Ford, put in a LSD!!!!
With it, the ST WILL be the best hot hatch out there.
It's brakes caught Fire "out there"
Of the three...I'd pick the Ford. What's the point of a hot hatchback that isn't any good on regular roads? If it's your only car it should be practical, comfortable, and easy to live with as well as fun to drive.
Good choice! Focus is the best all round hot-hatch in my opinion :)
the best car depends on the driver and more importantly the owner. its like deciding between your wife and your friends wives whose is best. do you decide on who cooks the best or on who looks the best?
Your comparing a $46,000 Opel Astra VXR, a $39,000 Renaultsport Megane. and a $24,000 Focus ST. Nice! Good Job!
Jethro Bovingdon did that dragrace for evo.co.uk, you can see it at their website. The Megane RS won quite clearly.
Is there a video comparing the older versions of these 3 cars?
Megane, I got one my self with the cup packege. And its not that hard of a ride. It is soft enough for mee. I drive +-290 miles on a work day. And it is a great tuning platform. I have now an akraprivic exhaust, a difent turbo + intercooler, a race air filter from renault sport and chip-tuned it. It runs now a nice 385hp and 530Nm at the wheels. Its handling perfect, stil no torque steer. It is awsome. I am not so confident that te VXR can run that power so easy.
can u send a link to the akro exhaust kit. thanks
Well, i have a 500 Hp Astrta and drives very well too.
I 'm very confident in it....
so much better than chris harris' review
VXR of course...laughing in the face of the obvious "track weapon"...Lol.
Opel is NOT VXR. Opel = OPC. Vauxhall = VXR. You’re wrong.
Pretty awesome review Matt! I drive an rs265
the magane is one of the best hot hatches ever made!!
As a road car, wich drives better, the Focus ST or the Leon Cupra ?
Maybe... But it is the most refined & its definitely the one i'd buy. Plus VW's are not crap, the Germans build some of the best looking and most reliable cars about.
The Focus was designed at Ford's European Design Centre and is made for the European Market by Germans, so I would hardly call it an American Car as you are Implying...Never-The-Less, I think it depends on who you are, and if you live in the real world where the Average day is getting up, abiding by the law and spending most of your time at work, the Focus in terms of practicality (5 Doors, Cheap, Good Fuel Economy) is the obvious winner. I still love the Astra though, Solid British Engineering!
the front wheel drive battle !
you could add iPad storage test to Your bottle storage test.
NÜRBURGRING NORDSCHLEIFE
1)OPC 8.20 2)FOCUS RS 2.26 3)AUDI TTS 8.29 4) MEGAN RS 8.29 5) GOLF R 8.34 6) MINI JWC 8.35 7)GOLF 35 GTI 8.38
i love you mat .such an unbiased reviewer could have easily chosen european cars but went with the practicality
focus is practical for everything :)
Please test a car against other models of itself instead of other manufacturers rivals. I think it would be an interesting test to do.
anyone remembered what happened when JC drove the vectra vxr. uynder under understeer
Well it implies less expensive versions yes, but you're assuming the sport models are the most expensive, which isn't always the case, neither do they always have the best trim or largest engine. So, thanks anyway but it's no answer to my question.
Cheaper versions are not as nicely trimmed; smaller engines are slower but more economical. There's your test.
Didn't chris harris on drive already do this review?
Focus ST thumbs up. This is why the majority of the worlds top automotive journalists have already chosen it as one of the 10 best cars of 2013
3rd race they made the ST brake because it was beating the Vauxhall. If you want the video they didbt edit out the tire smoke from them braking
looks are subjective (and quite honestyl I like the three cars as much, perhaps the astra overall).I'd disregard the megane from the beginning.It is always the car that whatever achievement it does (and it's got its ass handed from the astra on the track and on road for refinement) you never consider in the end.Whichever car you go for from this segment there is always going to be another faster and stronger or even harder.So yeah if the focus is the most practical and fun to drive why not.
one thing ford should consider after this: brembo or baer
HOCKENHEIM
1)AUDI TTS 1.16.1 2)OPC 1.16.9 3)MEGAN RS 1.17.1 4) FOCUS RS 1.17.8 5)GOLF R 1.17.9 6) MINI JCW 1.18.5 7) GOLF GTI 35 1.19
Well, even if the Ford has loads of issues on the track, I don't think it's that ugly... Yes the back is, but the front is quite nice, and I even like the color... But still a nice review Matt ;)
I think if they want to compare cars like megane rs or vxr (astra gtc) they have to go with the focus rs... because the st isn't a "trackday" car like the others... the st isn't made for hard connering like the other two... bad choise.
Tiis is a review of one car - Ford Focus ST 3 GENERATION - the rest ( I mean Renault of Opel) are just a back cover.
HOW BIG IS THIS PASSAGE ASTRA VXR.MA think this ASTRA VXR engine is yet to be properly run.
Dragrace 19 might be better 20 ALLOYS ALLOYS AND TRACK
Or what kind of difference can 19 or 20 ALLOYS INCLUDED
I agree with Mat. The Focus is the best irl.
The ST3 is the best car of the trio
MEGAN RS265 CUP 265HP IS 100KG LIGHTER THAN ASTRA VXR 276HP.
Astra H VXR competes well with Megan R26R which had two seats, roll cage and Plexiglas GLAZED not radio or anything.
THINK a little bit
we need a focus RS here....
Yeah cut the reah diff
There's an Alfa Romeo Guilietta missing. It would've won just because of its sexy bodywork!!
completely agree with Mat about the ford being the best buy and yes i also do agree that the ford is ugly (particularly the back side). I also do think that the Ford ST is the most reliable of the three as I've heard horror stories about Meganes breaking down often (the older models) tho i dunno about the 265 cup.
Who did Ford hire to design that car... i would never buy that car even if it was the best car in the world.
The Opel or Vauxhall to some of you looks sooo much better, love to have one of those :) Dont care if it is a little slower and a bit less fun.
Track tests are a waste of time, who actually spends 20k+ on a hatchback so they can take it to a track?
True, however he did do the more comon 0-60 and rolling tests at the start.
Track tests are sure to follow lol
Was the dirt burning on Focus brakes? I thought the brake itself won´t burn
No those definitely looked like pads burning
Focus any day
It really should be the RS up against the Renault and VXR if they want to compare the top of the range models, not the ST
How's that?
put a steering knob on that megane masterpiece. i have not seen ONE around here.
Matt is biased towards Fords. He always prefers Fords no matter what.
haha spends the whole video complaining how the Ford looks Ugly and how its slow that the electronics for the powersteering are not as good as the others and how the steering isnt very sportlike he even called it " a little bit of a Munter" but somehow he got in it and drove off?... did Ford pay him to do that because it clear the Astra is the better option hands down isnt it.
the trophy deserves a trophy indeed. To add in your knowledge Megane is also faster than Focus RS. Super powerful
I've already seen this. With Chris Harris. So, no thank you Autoexpress.
Astra OPC!
I LIKE BLUE OR WHITE FOCUS ST.OLD FOCUS ST SAME COLOR IS NICE BUT NEW FOCUS ST NOT BEST CHOIS COLOR I THINK.
An intelligent guy FOcus and that grille on the Astra reminds me of a Corolla yuk lol!
Why is the Golf GTI even a hot hatch???