Thinking about a Focus Zetec S or ST
Discussion
The other half is looking to get a bigger car following 6 years with a Zetec S Fiesta from new with our first kid en route!
Having originally wanted a soft roader she has turned her attention to much more reasonably priced Focus'.
The residuals of the ST seem ridiculously strong with 3yr old cars still £16k plus. The Zerec S or Titanium are much cheaper for equivelant years.
Has anyone considered both specs and if so what made you go for either? I'm obviously leaning towards the ST, but she is much less concerned with speed than I am! If residuals we're going to hold for a while longer an ST could be sensible with some liberal man maths.
Realistically looking for something 2012+ and to last 5yrs.
Having originally wanted a soft roader she has turned her attention to much more reasonably priced Focus'.
The residuals of the ST seem ridiculously strong with 3yr old cars still £16k plus. The Zerec S or Titanium are much cheaper for equivelant years.
Has anyone considered both specs and if so what made you go for either? I'm obviously leaning towards the ST, but she is much less concerned with speed than I am! If residuals we're going to hold for a while longer an ST could be sensible with some liberal man maths.
Realistically looking for something 2012+ and to last 5yrs.
I bought a new Zetec S with the 182PS engine in 2012 then traded up to a 2014 ST3.
Yes the ST is faster, and in ST3 spec has all the toys...but the Zetec S is still a great car.
From my own point of view Zetec S and ST are the only models worth considering in the current Focus range. Yes you have to make do with a little less in the way of standard equipment in the Zetec S(manual air con for example), but it is far better looking than a Titanium.
Even though i love my ST i actually miss my Zetec S in some ways.....it had a more comfortable ride and was so much better on fuel.
Just one thing though, if you are going to buy a petrol Zetec S make sure you get one with the 1.6 Ecoboost 182PS engine. It has an unbeatable combination of performance and economy, although can be quite rare and hard to find with the majority being either diesel or 1.0 Ecoboost.
Yes the ST is faster, and in ST3 spec has all the toys...but the Zetec S is still a great car.
From my own point of view Zetec S and ST are the only models worth considering in the current Focus range. Yes you have to make do with a little less in the way of standard equipment in the Zetec S(manual air con for example), but it is far better looking than a Titanium.
Even though i love my ST i actually miss my Zetec S in some ways.....it had a more comfortable ride and was so much better on fuel.
Just one thing though, if you are going to buy a petrol Zetec S make sure you get one with the 1.6 Ecoboost 182PS engine. It has an unbeatable combination of performance and economy, although can be quite rare and hard to find with the majority being either diesel or 1.0 Ecoboost.
Thanks for the info. When I was looking at the ZS I didn't see a 1.6 182PS engine, only a selection of 1.0, 1.5 & a standard 1.6 engine. Of these are there any preferences or sweet spots? I assume the 1.6 125PS is what we have in our current car.
Mileage is pretty low - 5-7000 per annum, so fuel while obviously an issue isn't a game changer. 30MPG in the real world would be good, trip in our current Fiesta reads 41mpg but in reality returns a little less than that.
How does the Ford hierarchy work? Titanium seems almost off to the left with Zetec S & ST more obviously linked to one another.
Mileage is pretty low - 5-7000 per annum, so fuel while obviously an issue isn't a game changer. 30MPG in the real world would be good, trip in our current Fiesta reads 41mpg but in reality returns a little less than that.
How does the Ford hierarchy work? Titanium seems almost off to the left with Zetec S & ST more obviously linked to one another.
CrouchingWayne said:
When I was looking at the ZS I didn't see a 1.6 182PS engine, only a selection of 1.0, 1.5 & a standard 1.6 engine.
Hence why i said it is rare. 
The 1.5 Ecoboost is only available on the facelift model which was launched in November 2014.
The 1.6 125PS is the older Ti-VCT engine carried over from the Mk.2 and probably should be avoided if you can.
In my 1.6 Ecoboost 182PS i could easily achieve mid 30's around town, and on a longer open road run high 40's and even low 50's was possibly if driving with economy in mind. Compare that with my ST and the figures drop to high 20's and mid-high 30's.
The 1.6 182PS is the same engine that is fitted to the Fiesta ST, and in the Focus offers 7.9 0-62mph and 139mph.
For some reason not many new buyers who wanted a petrol engine chose the 1.6 Ecoboost in the Zetec S, which is strange because unless doing mainly urban driving it makes more sense than the 1.0. It is also very reasonable to tax - £130 per year at current rates.
I thought it was a superb engine in the Focus.
The current Zetec S with the 1.5 Ecoboost only has 150PS.
Edited by Ron240 on Saturday 25th July 12:18
You'll get about 28-29mpg in the ST driving fairly sensibly on normal unleaded and about 30-31mpg using Super. If you like to toe it everywhere then expect mid 20s. I'm seeing 27mpg average over the past 2k miles in my ST estate using Super but it's pretty much all urban driving, often in traffic and when not in traffic I'm hooning about at licence losing speeds. 
Go for the ST-3 if you choose the ST route. There's no difference in price on the secondhand market between the ST-2 and ST-3 and you get full leather and bi-xenons on the ST-3 - both of which are excellent and well worth having imho. It's worth looking out for ones with the premium audio too as the standard system has woefully crap sound quality if you like your tunes.
Personally I think the STs ride is very composed for it's excellent handling. I'm getting on a bit now
and like my comfort but I find the ride is perfectly acceptable on the 18s over rutted roads. It's firm but well damped.
Also, depending on your age I'd advise you to check the insurance cost for the ST in advance. The ST-3 is in group 36 of 50, which is pretty high. They are thief magnets and you'll need to factor in £100 for a Disklok to give you some peace of mind at night.
Go for the ST-3 if you choose the ST route. There's no difference in price on the secondhand market between the ST-2 and ST-3 and you get full leather and bi-xenons on the ST-3 - both of which are excellent and well worth having imho. It's worth looking out for ones with the premium audio too as the standard system has woefully crap sound quality if you like your tunes.
Personally I think the STs ride is very composed for it's excellent handling. I'm getting on a bit now
and like my comfort but I find the ride is perfectly acceptable on the 18s over rutted roads. It's firm but well damped.Also, depending on your age I'd advise you to check the insurance cost for the ST in advance. The ST-3 is in group 36 of 50, which is pretty high. They are thief magnets and you'll need to factor in £100 for a Disklok to give you some peace of mind at night.
CrouchingWayne said:
The other half is looking to get a bigger car following 6 years with a Zetec S Fiesta from new with our first kid en route!
Having originally wanted a soft roader she has turned her attention to much more reasonably priced Focus'.
The residuals of the ST seem ridiculously strong with 3yr old cars still £16k plus. The Zerec S or Titanium are much cheaper for equivelant years.
Has anyone considered both specs and if so what made you go for either? I'm obviously leaning towards the ST, but she is much less concerned with speed than I am! If residuals we're going to hold for a while longer an ST could be sensible with some liberal man maths.
Realistically looking for something 2012+ and to last 5yrs.
If you think that a 2012 Focus ST is 16k to buy why not buy a new ST-1 as after discounts they are 19k.Having originally wanted a soft roader she has turned her attention to much more reasonably priced Focus'.
The residuals of the ST seem ridiculously strong with 3yr old cars still £16k plus. The Zerec S or Titanium are much cheaper for equivelant years.
Has anyone considered both specs and if so what made you go for either? I'm obviously leaning towards the ST, but she is much less concerned with speed than I am! If residuals we're going to hold for a while longer an ST could be sensible with some liberal man maths.
Realistically looking for something 2012+ and to last 5yrs.
Or lease a Focus ST-1 Diesel and get 60 mpg for a total of £4884 for two years.
Edited by btcc123 on Wednesday 29th July 10:58
btcc123 said:
If you think that a 2012 Focus ST is 16k to buy why not buy a new ST-1 as after discounts they are 19k.
Or lease a Focus ST-1 Diesel and get 60 mpg for a total of £4884 for two years.
ST-1 isn't even poverty spec and the chances of being able to flog that for more than £2.50 when you want to get shut are extremely slim as no-one wants them.Or lease a Focus ST-1 Diesel and get 60 mpg for a total of £4884 for two years.
All that jazz said:
btcc123 said:
If you think that a 2012 Focus ST is 16k to buy why not buy a new ST-1 as after discounts they are 19k.
Or lease a Focus ST-1 Diesel and get 60 mpg for a total of £4884 for two years.
ST-1 isn't even poverty spec and the chances of being able to flog that for more than £2.50 when you want to get shut are extremely slim as no-one wants them.Or lease a Focus ST-1 Diesel and get 60 mpg for a total of £4884 for two years.
It looks the same outside as the ST-2 and ST-3 apart from grey alloys on the ST-3 but lacking the goodies inside but that is the idea of a cheap lease no extras and a cheap as chips deal.
All that jazz said:
Doesn't that coal burning lump also feature in the tit x?
The 2.0 TDCi in a current Titanium X is only 150PS compared with 185PS in the ST, however there isnt a great deal of difference performance wise.The Titanium X is retail priced at £640 more expensive than an ST-2
Edited by Ron240 on Wednesday 29th July 17:08
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