Im not here to defend the focus.
I already own an astra so lets not get into "brand loyalty". I will always buy the best car I can. One that fills my needs and impresses me in terms of quality and performance will always be the one I choose, regardless of the badge that is stuck onto the front.
All im saying is that if leather seats and cruise control are not important factors for you (and for me they certainly are not) then an XR5 makes alot of sense. As far as torque steer is concerned, any car putting out over 150kw thru the front wheels would have trouble getting it to the ground. This forum's beloved VXR has been criticised for exactly the same thing.
Finally, its a bit rich comparing it to a golf Gti considering the price difference. For a DSG transmissioned Gti you could pay upto $48000, plus the months and months of waiting associated with the high demand for the car. That makes it almost 25% more expensive and as far as I can see, not quite in the same league.
The point is this: If your happy to have cloth seats, change the gears yourself, and keep an eye on the speedo instead of allowing electrics to control your velocity (oh and drive a car with a blue oval on the nose) then the XR5 is going to be hard to beat.