RE: Blood Brothers: Mazda 3 MPS vs Ford Focus ST

RE: Blood Brothers: Mazda 3 MPS vs Ford Focus ST

Author
Discussion

GTRmad

248 posts

170 months

Wednesday 4th April 2012
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Bought a mk2 Mps for the wife.picking it up on friday, A real bargain for what you get as standard.As for performance the midrange up over is staggering,really blew me away these things cover ground...

WCZ

10,492 posts

193 months

Wednesday 4th April 2012
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Funk said:


The ST has a cracking owners' club. We had some awesome meets and weekends away. biggrin
but can you name the odd-two out? :P

so many Focus ST's, how many on average crash and die / kill someone on per meet? :P (not a serious question!)

mackay45

832 posts

170 months

Wednesday 4th April 2012
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WCZ said:
Funk said:


The ST has a cracking owners' club. We had some awesome meets and weekends away. biggrin
but can you name the odd-two out? :P

so many Focus ST's, how many on average crash and die / kill someone on per meet? :P (not a serious question!)
Fiesta ST on far left and the rather stunning looking Mk1 Focus RS, 7 in from the right! smile

muppet42

326 posts

204 months

Wednesday 4th April 2012
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MonkeyMatt said:
What about this for a fraction of the price? Stilo GP
Good shout, though I'm a bit biased winkbiggrin Could tell your choice was going to get flamed though such is the way for some on here rolleyes

Funk

26,254 posts

208 months

Wednesday 4th April 2012
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mackay45 said:
WCZ said:
Funk said:


The ST has a cracking owners' club. We had some awesome meets and weekends away. biggrin
but can you name the odd-two out? :P

so many Focus ST's, how many on average crash and die / kill someone on per meet? :P (not a serious question!)
Fiesta ST on far left and the rather stunning looking Mk1 Focus RS, 7 in from the right! smile
We allowed usurpers in every once in a while... wink

And we never had an accident on any meet whilst I was running the place which was a relief.

Grovsie26

1,302 posts

166 months

Wednesday 4th April 2012
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Mazda for me it's quicker than evo's and pretty much most stuff this side of supercars ya no.

Crow555

1,037 posts

193 months

Wednesday 4th April 2012
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I've been lucky enough to be a passenger in a pre-facelift ST and test driven a 2010 MPS. And I'm torn. The sound of the ST is addictive but then so is the sheer pace of the MPS. I really don't know which I'd pick.

Anyway, we've heard from the ST owners. What about the MPS? Any reliabilty issues there? I have heard of a turbo go in an ex-demo but I don't know many who own one.

eggbod

96 posts

185 months

Wednesday 4th April 2012
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There is a third car which has the same platform as these two, which to be honest they should have included in the article. The Volvo C30 T5.

Guffy

2,310 posts

264 months

Wednesday 4th April 2012
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Along with my 205 gti (1.9) i used to own, the ST3 i had for a couple of years gave me the most smiles per £

Fire99

9,844 posts

228 months

Wednesday 4th April 2012
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PaperCut said:
One has a happy face the other is grumpy hehe
Mazda does look rather pleased with itself. Could be in a 'Cars' movie! biggrin

CrammyJay

163 posts

170 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
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Crow555 said:
I've been lucky enough to be a passenger in a pre-facelift ST and test driven a 2010 MPS. And I'm torn. The sound of the ST is addictive but then so is the sheer pace of the MPS. I really don't know which I'd pick.

Anyway, we've heard from the ST owners. What about the MPS? Any reliabilty issues there? I have heard of a turbo go in an ex-demo but I don't know many who own one.
Only common fault I know of is the vvt actuator, mostly on the mk1s and the 6s resulting in bent rods. The mk2 seems very reliable so far. I have had mine from new and it's ran 300hp for the first 12 months of it's life and over 400 since with only one minor problem, injector seals. I seriously don't understand the people that go on about handling and torque steer on the mps, it copes just fine

It's never gonna be as popular as the ford, but that was part of the attraction for me, I like people not knowing what it is

Hectorthedog

11 posts

173 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
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I don't find the fuel consumption of my XR5 (Aussie equivalent to ST) too bad. I average 30 mpg consistently, which is around the same as my old NA Impreza which had only half the horsepower! Mind you, the draconian speed limits here may play a significant role! Only problems I've had in two years of ownership were a front wheel bearing and loose steering rack. Both fixed in a day under warranty and both a result of the awful state of the roads.

greygoose

8,224 posts

194 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
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30mpg is pretty amazing for an ST, I got about 25, great sounding engine though and I prefer the looks of it to the current Focus. Only problem I ever had with mine was a loose clip resulting in the the loss of the power steering fluid one day.

superman84

772 posts

164 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
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356Speedster said:
I was waiting for the FWD comment to come up wink If you drive in the snow / ice, then yes, 4WD makes sense, but here in the UK, it's of limited value and adds weight IMO. With a properly setup chassis, 4WD isn't a necessity in the UK at all. My wife's ST with c.270bhp puts it's power down very well. Keep the car std and you'll not have a problem at all. If you want to go for big power with one, an LSD works very well indeed.
Keepin telling yourself that winkIt's not just in the snow though. A well set up awd will have much better traction being a big benefit in the wet, on dodgy uk roads and means you can put all the power down without any fuss and are less understeer. Fwd can be ok but in bigger powered cars in awd is much better unless your only into rolling races in a straight line on a smooth dry road.

Sure awd adds weight but that wouldn't be a problem of the focus wasn't so lardy to start off with.

Edited by superman84 on Thursday 5th April 07:09

rb5er

11,657 posts

171 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
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I averaged 26mpg in mine. Great car, and with a remap its better than the mps in every conceivable way. (obviously the remap irons out the mps's only advantage)

356Speedster

2,293 posts

230 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
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superman84 said:
Keepin telling yourself that winkIt's not just in the snow though. A well set up awd will have much better traction being a big benefit in the wet, on dodgy uk roads and means you can put all the power down without any fuss and are less understeer. Fwd can be ok but in bigger powered cars in awd is much better unless your only into rolling races in a straight line on a smooth dry road.

Sure awd adds weight but that wouldn't be a problem of the focus wasn't so lardy to start off with.
Yes in the worst conditions there will be an advantage, but as I've said, with a properly setup chassis, 4WD is not a must have at all. In the wet, if I get to the point with either wifey's ST or my RS are out of grip and needing 4WD, then I'd be going dangerously too fast for the road.

My point is only that 4WD is not the necessity that people think it is and that with modern engineering, there's a lot that can be done with chassis setup. A few PH'ers have asked for a run in my RS as they didn't believe it would "work" and all have left amazed at how it can put 360bhp to the road so effectively through "only" 2 wheels. Including 2 Audi RS4 owning friends who always wondered how the Focus has always remained toe-to-toe with them wink

Have owned cars with all manner of drivetrains (inc a very wayward 250bhp Golf G60), I never thought that the ST would work when I first drove it. Now, 60,000 miles and a remap later, it's the reason I rushed out to get the RS. The only weather that defeats the cars is ice / snow, but for the 3 days a yers that that's a problem, it's really not even worth a second thought.

If you've spent a good amount of time with an ST and don't like it, that's fine. If you prefer the feel of 4WD, again, that's fine, it's all personal choice. But to say that it needs all wheel drive is I'm afraid incorrect.

rb5er

11,657 posts

171 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
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356Speedster said:
If you've spent a good amount of time with an ST and don't like it, that's fine. If you prefer the feel of 4WD, again, that's fine, it's all personal choice. But to say that it needs all wheel drive is I'm afraid incorrect.
Totally with you on your entire post, i have an impreza now but when i had my focus st i never once felt the need for it to be awd. In fact i am sure it would have made for a worse car making it less playful (the ST really can easily get the rear end moving if you want) and heavier.

I can only think people saying it should be awd or have an lsd have not driven one or spent much if any time in one. It is a very good all round package.

Edited by rb5er on Thursday 5th April 08:48

simundo777

131 posts

170 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
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muppet42 said:
MonkeyMatt said:
What about this for a fraction of the price? Stilo GP
Good shout, though I'm a bit biased winkbiggrin Could tell your choice was going to get flamed though such is the way for some on here rolleyes
To be fair, its 100bhp down on the Mazda, its not even in the same league performance wise. Its a warm hatch at best where as the Ford (especially with the mountune map) and the Mazda are seriously hot hatches.





CrammyJay

163 posts

170 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
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rb5er said:
I averaged 26mpg in mine. Great car, and with a remap its better than the mps in every conceivable way. (obviously the remap irons out the mps's only advantage)
Please explain how it's better in every way or is that just your opinion. Have you actually driven both cars extensively?

I drove a mountune st for only a week and whilst it seemed ok I would say it definitely would not out drag or out handle a mk2 mps. The mpg was slightly worse in the st. Looks wise is down to personal taste, I would have preferred to get a mk1 mps over the mk2 but the wife put the blockers on it. I like the interior on the mps better, although that maybe down to me driving an orange st with those awful orange seats. And all the kit you get as standard is a big plus for the Mazda.

I would have bought the new focus rs though if it had kept the looks of the st.

Pentoman

4,814 posts

262 months

Thursday 5th April 2012
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I bet the matching outputs for the MPS and Mountune are no coincidence. There's probably a common component/specification in the common design there which stipulates a particular maximum figure, for safety, reliability, or whatever, so that's all they could give them out of the factory.

Mazda for me. Had a couple of hours with the Focus, loved the engine and the practicality, but as a car for driving found it very average. Might be true of the Mazda as well, but to me part of the Focus' problem was the weight in the nose. Even in a straight line on the motorway it felt wrong. But that shouldn't detract from a defining 2000s 'hot hatch'. We would be much worse off without it. Hopefully we're not stuck with 4 cylinders in hatchbacks for the rest of eternity.