Buying Focus ST

[cupra-r rob]

Planning on getting an ST2 and wondered about any problems or things to lookout for.

Hopeing to get a 2006/7, white, 15k miles for about £13k, is that reasonable?

I hear bluefin is the easyest way to get a bit more power, how much are these, can the mapping be hidden for waranty work ect, what power gains are seen, are the boost levels safe?

Thanks for any help.

Rob

Edited by cupra-r rob on Friday 13th June 15:25

[redh82]

I would recommend you look at the DreamScience map... has a few different setting and on the race+ setting you can expect 270bhp and 330 lb/ft all for just £500.00

also look at a upgrade to the intercooler

for advice on things to look for when buying id recommend looking on the FocusST owners club forum.

you can pick up an 07 plate ST3 from a dealer at about £14k

[cupra-r rob]

Yea mate, seen a few for a good price but struggleing to find a white one. Still waiting for my conformation email from focus st forum.

[Funk]

Dreamscience is undetectable when flashed back to stock as it removes its own error codes from the system when it finishes. 'Owner Members' on the STOC get £50 discount on it from a number of suppliers, although there's always a few for sale on the site for £350-400. They come with 5 'lives' unlike Bluefin or CodeRed which have to be reset every time it goes onto a new car.

There's loads of STs on the Focus ST OC, specifically:

* Frozen White ST-3, 10k, 4 new Toyo Proxes T1-R tyres, viz pack, solar-reflect screen, about to be serviced - £15k

* Frozen White ST-2 5-door, 5,200 = £14,500.

* Frozen White ST-2 3-door, 10k = £13,500

If it's an earlier car, make sure the driveshaft TSB has been done along with the power steering checkup. There's really not much else goes wrong with them to be fair, although you may want to look at tyre wear as severely uneven wear shows tracking/alignment issues. The ST is very sensitive to this, and will wear the inside edges of its tyres very rapidly.

Mine's done over 50k with Dreamscience on it and other than the oil separator filter going (affects standard cars as well) and the clutch going about 1k miles ago, that's it. Drives smoothly and feels very solid still. A good all-rounder and the seats - whilst initially feeling too high - are supremely comfortable.

Edited by Funk on Friday 13th June 17:16

Edited by Funk on Friday 13th June 17:48

[cupra-r rob]

Cheers, im trying to get on there now, £13k is about all i can afford thats if i get the asking price for mine.

Seating possition was something i was worried about as i like to sit low. I guess parts are not that expensive if they do break being a ford?

Edited by cupra-r rob on Friday 13th June 17:24

[Funk]

Rob, PM me your username and I'll see what's happening with your validation if you want.

Be aware that if you're stretching to purchase the car, you'll probably struggle to run it. It's horrific on tyres and fuel compared to other hot hatches.

Edited by Funk on Friday 13th June 17:22

[cupra-r rob]

ST-Rob my user name. Are you a moderator then? Generaly getting about 23-26mpg on mine at the moment, probably new fronts every 10k max, much simaler on focus?

[Funk]

I'm Admin over there.

Mine's returning about 20mpg in daily use - nothing obscene, and a mixture of town and open road. Tyres I get about 8k out of on the fronts (normally due to the camber of them and slight misalignment I mentioned earlier). Problem is, if you mod it, it really needs 97/99 RON - it'll be clunky on 95 RON with a remap..

Your validation email's been sent - check your junk mail filter on your Hotmail account as it's known to get snarled up in there sometimes.

Edited by Funk on Friday 13th June 17:47

[cupra-r rob]

Its a bit more thirsty then, i'll have to stop going on as many aimless drives. I only use Tesco 99 or v-power on my cupra so im preety much used to that.

[Funk]

Don't worry about the validation email, I've done it manually for you mate. You should be able to log in now.

[cupra-r rob]

Cheers mate, can get on classifieds now, that white one for £13500 is exactly what im looking for, very much doubt it will still be for sale in 2 or so weeks when im ready to buy tho.

[Funk]

cupra-r rob said:

Cheers mate, can get on classifieds now, that white one for £13500 is exactly what im looking for, very much doubt it will still be for sale in 2 or so weeks when im ready to buy tho.

Worth a PM though, you never know.

Just noticed your comments about seating position and liking to be low - I suspect this will likely be a big sticking point for you, as you feel like you sit quite high up in the ST, even with the seat on its lowest position.

Can you go and see one at a dealer first before you start looking second-hand? It'll at least give you an idea about whether you find it comfortable to be in.

Oh, and one more thing - look out for damage to the front splitter - it's a lot lower than you realise, and can easily be gouged into a kerb when parking. Also the paintwork on them is pretty poor, check for stonechips etc. If you find one with Paintshield on it, you're laughing as it keeps the car in superb nick. Tom's a regular on here as well as dropping in our forum. Actually, I wanted to ask him if he's got a template made up for the new-shape ST yet..

Edited by Funk on Friday 13th June 18:14

[cupra-r rob]

Yea, need to get my self to a dealership, think i'll have a look tommorow. I'll bare the paintwork in mind when i find one, every car ive had seems to of had swirlmarks, want a good one this time.

[Funk]

Don't worry too much about swirl-marks - a quick hunt over on Detailing World will find guys near to you who can do paint correction and bring the car up better than new in many cases. Certainly don't let it be a deal-breaker if you find the car you want.

[cupra-r rob]

It wouldnt be a deal breaker, ive seen pictures of what the detailers can do. Thanks for your help mate, i'll let you no over on st forum if the seating puts me off, doubt it will tho.

[matmoxon]

Very few problems with them as far as I am aware of, (I own an ST-2 myself).

Probably re-iterating what has been said above but: -

• Front splitter is low mine has a few marks on the underside
• Stone chips are a menace (on the orange paint especially)

General thoughts: They are a nice car to drive, plenty of low down and mid range punch for overtaking, and reasonably refined on a motorway cruise. It has a large boot makes it reasonably practical if you need it to be. Plenty of space in the front though the back can be a bit cramped if the driver is tall. ST-2 and ST-3 are your best bet as they have better equipment (heated front screen, xenon headlights etc).

The seats are really good to be honest; nice and supportive (divers seat has plenty of adjustment).

I get about 9k out of front tyres and the rears still have 5mm tread on them with nearly 18k on the clock.

If you get more than mid 20’s in mpg you are doing well (ignore the dash mpg meter unless you have just re-set it, as it lies). in my opinion it needs a bigger tank 60litres isn’t enough for an engine like that. My usual average is about 22 to 26 mpg depending on use, of course this can drop off allot when you take it out and have a bit of fun

Dealer servicing is £190 for a yearly interim (don’t know what the 3 year major is), and the engine is a cam chain rather than a belt so you shouldn’t need it replacing (according to the dealer)

Be aware they have no spare tyre at all, as the exhaust back box takes up 1/3 of the rear tyre well space so you are left with a can of foam and a compressor.

I couldn't say about spare parts as I haven't had anything break, except a seat part but that was covered under warranty, so cost nothing. That part failure on the seat isn't just on the ST it has been seen on standard Focus's as well so you don't need to worry about it really. And just fyi I did see on a price chart in the dealer that it costs £370 for a set of front disks and pads.

go here for more power: -
http://www.morego.co.uk/product_details.php?id=803...

or for a bit more: -
http://www.morego.co.uk/product_details.php?id=803...
(other links on that last one that can take you to 330bhp)

To re-cap basically it is a great all rounder (if a bit thirsty) get a test drive and see what you think (that’s what sealed it for me), It has a lovely engine note too. I think it is one of the better hot hatches you can buy (not that I have owned any of the opposition to pass judgement).

Matt M

Edited by matmoxon on Saturday 14th June 20:23

[Funk]

A good post matmoxon, but I'd suggest a couple of things?

First the MPG gauge doesn't lie; it just isn't real-time. It averages out over the length of time since you last reset it. Obviously the longer you leave it, the longer it takes for changes in consumption to have a bearing. I tend to reset mine on every fill up as it gives me a good indication of how 'well' I'm doing on a tank.

Also, I wouldn't recommend the Morego tuning, there's far better options out there including hand-held flash units such as Dreamscience, Superchips and Code:Red (Wolf). They're a great start point and transform the car completely.

[cupra-r rob]

Thanks for the info, been haveing a good read of all the mapping options, just the warrenty that concerns me a bit if i decide to do more mods.

Still need to get rid of mine, seems to be a difficult time to sell at the moment, maybe im over priceing.

[matmoxon]

well maybe lie was too strong a word yeah re-setting it every fill up does give it a better reading I have recently started doing it myself.

Matt

[Funk]

cupra-r rob said:

Thanks for the info, been haveing a good read of all the mapping options, just the warrenty that concerns me a bit if i decide to do more mods.

Still need to get rid of mine, seems to be a difficult time to sell at the moment, maybe im over priceing.

If you want to keep your warranty intact, go the Wolf (Code:Red) route. They warranty any parts they fit, and Ford will honour the warranty on the rest of the car as the Wolf parts are TUV-approved by Wolf/Ford in Germany.

Gary's also a great bloke to do business with and no-one on the forum has a bad word to say about him or the work he does. There are discounts on all Wolf conversions for 'Owner Members' on the site as well if you decide to go that route.