Focus ST everyday...

[JakeR]

Is it an easy car to live with? What's the economy like overall? Does it do 'quiet and docile' as well as 'loud and angry'?

cheers

JakeR

[don kalmar union]

I bought a one year old ST3 in february on which I could develope some uprated software for the tuning market.

Love it! done 10,000 trouble free miles with our developement software, no codes, limp mode or other aggravation associated with other tuners' offerings....currently running 280bhp with bigger intercooler, full sports exhaust and revised software. Can achieve 29mpg sensibly
driven, but nearer 22, sometimes lower if given some stick.

Great sounds from Volvo's turbo 5 pot, gearbox slick and super road manners as you would expect from such a Ford.

You will be very pleased if you get one....depreciation a bit grim though...

Regards, Don.Norchi.


www.kalmar-union.com

[D1MAC]

don kalmar union said:

I bought a one year old ST3 in february on which I could develope some uprated software for the tuning market.

Love it! done 10,000 trouble free miles with our developement software, no codes, limp mode or other aggravation associated with other tuners' offerings....currently running 280bhp with bigger intercooler, full sports exhaust and revised software. Can achieve 29mpg sensibly
driven, but nearer 22, sometimes lower if given some stick.

Great sounds from Volvo's turbo 5 pot, gearbox slick and super road manners as you would expect from such a Ford.

You will be very pleased if you get one....depreciation a bit grim though...

Regards, Don.Norchi.


www.kalmar-union.com

Oooh bitchy - I take it you don't rate some of the alternatives that are so much the darling of many on the owners forum.
Std all the way for me - if I want more power I will go and buy something different.


Would agree with almost all of what Don has said, inc the depreciation . Not desperately bad if you buy at the correct discount though (but it is a Ford at the end of the day).
I've done 12k in mine with no issues, apart from a couple of interior niggles, both of which are well known faults - creaky seat & rattly speaker and are both being rectified under warranty.
It has never needed a drop of oil (unlike certain contemporaries such as the R32, allegedly) and has done anywhere between 22 and 34 mpg depending on how, where and when.
It does sound good as well (great for the money) - although that does obviously affect the MPG!

The two main issues I have are the gearbox (here's where I disagree having come from a Civic Type R) which to me is a bit agricultural, slow and notchy and no comparison to the Honda, and the handling which feels quite wobbly (and the CoG is too high). However, I guess the latter is down to the all round compromise position taken and the upside is that it isn't that bad when not pushed and makes for a comfy ride.
The handling is ultimately fine, it's just that it is a little wobbly and to get around that and find the sweet spot again is possibly a bit of a leap of faith on a public road. Alternatively, it could just be me

In many respects the ST is the GT car of the hot hatch world and is a damn good effort

[don kalmar union]

I take note of potential bitchiness in my earlier post, but I continue to be amazed at how products are brought hastily to the market which are patently not properly developed and then even more amazed at the continued support of dissapointed customers for their chosen suppliers who have quite clearly not offered a well resolved product in the first place.

The Ford Dunton written software, protocols etc. in the ST's are complex and it would appear that each individual 'tuner' has made some headway in just a few disparate areas....maybe a collective effort would produce the best result?

On the subject of the Volvo/Getrag M66 gearbox in the ST's, I have to admit to having spent too much time in recent Volvos to appreciate the slicker and less agricultural offerings of others.

Regards, Don.

[Funk]

Don's advice can be considered sound, he's had a lot of input over on www.focusstoc.com and I'm sure many of you know is well-respected in Volvo circles too.

If you want a heads-up from hundreds of owners, we'd be happy to have you on-board!

[Marcellus]

and back on topic.....

Jake - I've had an ST3 for 19months now and love it!!

To help with some of your questions on costings here's some facts;

> Mileage 53,970
> Fuel used 9,920.2ltrs
> Fuel cost £10,263.79 (avg £1.0346 per litre)
> avg mpg 24.72 (5.44mpl)
> £1060 spent on Mods (bluefin, Exhaust, filter, Intercooler)
> £1400 insurance
> £1372 Tyres
> £930 servicing
> £548 pads
> £192 road tax
> £150 accident damage (wheel)
> £140 odds and sodds

So the 53,970 miles has cost me a total of £16,412.63 (£0.304 per mile) excluding depreciation.

BUT in the words of a well known card company......the enjoyment has been priceless!!

Prior to the ST I had, Saabs, VWs, BMW, Audis, Peugeots, Mercedes & Vauxhalls and none of them gave me the enjoyment that I get from the ST....even given the distance I've done and the hours I spend in it I still go the long way round when I need to pop out for a pint of milk and often get home having forgotten the milk
>

[SaliMali]

I bought an ST2 3 months ago as a grown up car to use for family stuff and for when it's too wet to use my Caterham.It handles very well for a car of it's size.It does suffer from a bit of torque steer and is a bit nose heavy but you can drive around it.I think that the ESP comes on a bit early and the ABS is a bit too sensitive.I get around 25mpg on average and I drive it quite hard.

Ive done 400 miles in mine this week running around getting things ready for my wedding this weekend-the Recaros are very comfy and you can drive it hard all day without getting too tired.I will probably keep it for a year or so.If I could get a 4WD RS version I'd probably keep it for a very long time.

Only downside is the huge amount of chav attention it attracts

It also sounds great-like an old school Audi ur quattro

[MoonMonkey]

Interesting topic as I'm in a similar quandry. Going to be trawling the dealers this weekend.

There seem to be some cracking deals to be had out there at the moment for a new ST especially on Ford finance. Only thing putting me off is the impact that the 'revised' Focus will have when that gets launched next year although there is little news on an ST version.

[Marcellus]

We understand that the new ST will be launched in May 2008 and will be pretty similar to the current ST albeit using teh new chassis.

Not sure what the gap between the end of production (oct/nov 2007) and the new one will do to the 2nd hand market!

[Funk]

I've heard that the Focus will be the same underneath (chassis, drivetrain etc) it's just a re-skin to bring it in line with the 'kinetic' design of the Mondeo. It'll be more a Focus mk2.5. The ST will be exactly the same.

New Focus won't be expected for another couple of years after that.

[thekirbyfake]

JakeR said:

Is it an easy car to live with?

Very, very easy to live with. Brilliant ride quality, effortless torque delivery, good kit (Recaros, xenon, mp3, a/c, ESP)

JakeR said:

What's the economy like overall?

Better than your E30, worse than your Skoda. Expect mid to high 20's, dependant upon driving.

JakeR said:

Does it do 'quiet and docile' as well as 'loud and angry'?

Absolutely. Pottling along at 80mph in 6th (where local laws and conditions permit) you're barely pulling 3,000 rpm. Mash your pedal into the carpet and big numbers appear rather rapidly.

[peanutjb]

JakeR said:

Is it an easy car to live with? What's the economy like overall? Does it do 'quiet and docile' as well as 'loud and angry'?

cheers

JakeR

Basically, I'll just agree with everyone else... At the end of the day its a focus... so that means iit's roomy and comfortable.

Economy depends on your mood; generally I average about 24mpg, but given the right mindset, it can be 30+ (or the low teens )

It will happily do the whole quiet and docile thing, as my mother will attest.

And of course, you get the postives on the flip side; it sounds ace, goes faster than a focus should have any right to, it attracts attention (good and bad), and is a ruddy good laugh!

(peteyb of Focusstoc.com, come join us!)

Edited by peanutjb on Sunday 23 September 17:54