t's2000

All Seasons... I recently upgraded my OEM Pirellis (which sucked) to
BFGoodrich G-force Comp-2 A/S

s.hasan546

easy choice IMO. Golf R- Best DD and all around car.
Type R is cool to the kid in me, but looks way too boy racer. Also I hate FWD.
STI is the same old engine, shitty interior & is too stiff on shitty roads.
Focus RS- Don't love the interior, stiff, & i don't believe in ford's reliability.

GavinSSAP1

I made my choice. Type R all the way.

bruthaboost

I agree with all of this. I'll add some recent Ford experience as well. I have the latest gen escape 2.0L awd and was changing the suspension. During this I learned Ford does not let you change cv boots. You must buy the entire halfshaft. Additionally, if you want to change a control arm ball joint boot, or just the ball joint, you must buy the entire control arm. I know manufacturers are moving to disposable parts, but this is to much for me and I told myself I can't own a Ford product if they force this type of maintenance on me. I wonder if the newer Japanese models are designed with the same methodology.

JonBoy

FYI, though they might tell you that you have to buy a complete control arm, it may not necessarily be true. When I did the ball joints on my Silverado, the manual calls for a complete control arm replacement but I still punched the ball joints out and just replaced them directly. I was still able to buy ball joints from NAPA (and the dealership, if I wanted) to do the work.

mosesbotbol

I'd take the RS. Very handsome in person and the most exclusive for the line it represents. Ford did a great job for the money on that car. Assume it drives well enough...

Canadian144

Every once in a while, the thought of selling my GR STI for one of the four options you mentioned pops up. However none of them really "do it" for me. I'd be too worried about the reliability of any VAG product to want to own the Golf R out of warranty (especially after my own experience with my brother's 6spd 2.0T A3 once the warranty was up) . The new STI is growing on me, but I'd miss having a hatch and the proportions aren't as nice as the GR IMO (shorter hood, less flared fenders, etc). I was undecide about the CTR but recently saw one in person and I thought it was absolutely hideous. The Focus RS would probably be my top pick of the four from a performance standpoint, however I'm really not a huge fan of it's looks either. So it'd be a toss up on a new STI or RS...

After some google image searching while typing this post I think I'll be happy holding onto my GR... It's been bulletproof in the 8 years it's been in the family, even though it's fairly modified and has been auto-x'ed a few times. It still doesn't burn oil, and it's tough to beat the practicality of a hatchback that makes 315whp/370wtq and can get 30+mpg when cruising on the highway.

TommyDeVito

What a load of bs. Have you even driven one, or do you just read some article and that's that?
Geez in normal suspension mode it's like an EVO or STI. In fact it's great for a DD. If it is "too rough" then so is a S2000 and a plethora of other vehicles including your BMW. The harder suspension setting on the car is a track setting. My goodness it's almost hard to read the bs.
Overheats at the track? More sensationalism from Honda's biggest fan. Cosmos didn't have any issues @ COTA. In fact most don't have any issues. Those that do, are on tight, twisty tracks, with no straight for it to cool. Even then it'll last for most of a session. Mishimoto is rolling out a PTU/RDU cooler very soon for the track rats.

Interior is great, all controls are logically laid out. Sync 3 is excellent. It's not a luxury car and was never meant to be.
The torque vectoring rear clutch packs (GKN Twinster AWD system) are best in class. It will outhandle the rest. Phenomenal handling car, and awd system. Very impressed. So much so after a test drive through some turns I bought one, and I have never bought a domestic before. I owned a GR STI, that was stage 2 tuned by Cobb. The RS is better in every single way and as fast as my modded STI but with a full powertrain warranty. The RS is just another league handling wise. And the EPS is excellent, tons of road feel and communication.

I really like the Golf R as well. The interior is really nice, to me very much on the level of an Audi. Stereo is also damn good for OEM. It is a great overall car, and a better DD than the RS. After driving both, the RS is much more of a driver's car. The Golf R only better in one area, DD. I beat on both cars the same week.

I can hear the whole forum's surprise and bewilderment.

darcyw

this is a really great question. All are fairly close in price (except in Canada where the typeR, GolfR, STi, GT mustang with Track pack are all $40K CAN…the Focus RS is $47K.

I'd choose the Type R given that I drive my cars until the end of time and I trust Honda's reliability long term. But really to be fair, I need to drive them all with great verve in order to make an informed decision and not arm chair reasoning.

darcy

TheDonEffect

Hard choice. Knee jerk reaction I'll take the RS but the adult in me wants the golf. The dsg option is becoming more appealing to me got a double duty practical car that I can still have track fun with.