Ford Focus ST170
Discussion
Hello all,
Long time reader yet first time poster! Just after alittle advice really... I currently drive a Ford Focus 2.0 Zetec ESP (52 Reg) but for some reason over the past few months have had an urge to trade up to a Focus ST170.
Just wonder what your opinions on this would be? Is it really worth shelling out a possible extra £1500 for the sake of the ST170?
I'v always enjoyed small hot hatches and the current Focus was me trying to be sensible after owning a dog of an Alfa before. I adore my current car as it is reliable, comfortable and does everything I need.. Just wish it had alittle extra poke..
Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Long time reader yet first time poster! Just after alittle advice really... I currently drive a Ford Focus 2.0 Zetec ESP (52 Reg) but for some reason over the past few months have had an urge to trade up to a Focus ST170.
Just wonder what your opinions on this would be? Is it really worth shelling out a possible extra £1500 for the sake of the ST170?
I'v always enjoyed small hot hatches and the current Focus was me trying to be sensible after owning a dog of an Alfa before. I adore my current car as it is reliable, comfortable and does everything I need.. Just wish it had alittle extra poke..
Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
I went to an ST170 (54 plate) from a 1.8 zetec and loved the extra poke. But the main thing for me was the chassis the ST had so much more grip, sharper turn in and was generally a hoot to go round corners in, and the Zetec wasn't a bad car for bends.
Powerwise you will notice a difference but I am sure someone will suggest you should plump for an RS. The RS is a different highly strung beastie and will need looking after but feels a much much faster car than the ST170.
If you like the ST170 you won't be disapointed that you made the switch, but you will possibly want more power from it and that isn't easy unless you are a great engineer or have a few thousand to throw at it.
I do miss my car occasionally but was frustrated at the fuel cost when driving sensibly and the fact that on a motorway the handling was wasted and the engine quite tiresome. I now have half the fuel bills and 70% of the cornering fun, coupled with more relaxed drives to work.
Powerwise you will notice a difference but I am sure someone will suggest you should plump for an RS. The RS is a different highly strung beastie and will need looking after but feels a much much faster car than the ST170.
If you like the ST170 you won't be disapointed that you made the switch, but you will possibly want more power from it and that isn't easy unless you are a great engineer or have a few thousand to throw at it.
I do miss my car occasionally but was frustrated at the fuel cost when driving sensibly and the fact that on a motorway the handling was wasted and the engine quite tiresome. I now have half the fuel bills and 70% of the cornering fun, coupled with more relaxed drives to work.
Thanks for the reply Chris.
If driving the ST170 at normal pace either on motorways or in town what sort of figures where you returing on MPG?
In all honesty alot of my driving is motorway based and very rarely do I actually get to drive on a twisty fun road. Thinking now that maybe a car like an ST would be wasted on me!
If driving the ST170 at normal pace either on motorways or in town what sort of figures where you returing on MPG?
In all honesty alot of my driving is motorway based and very rarely do I actually get to drive on a twisty fun road. Thinking now that maybe a car like an ST would be wasted on me!
Hi
To be honest i have had 2.0L ESP, and 2xRS's don't bother with the ST170 you will be really disapinted with the perfromance. The handling is great but power wise you have to drive the ST hard to get all the power from it.
If you have a standard RS and drive is normally you will probaly return similar in fuel to an ST170 anyway, because you don't have to rev so high for the power return.
Regards
Tom aka Zippy
To be honest i have had 2.0L ESP, and 2xRS's don't bother with the ST170 you will be really disapinted with the perfromance. The handling is great but power wise you have to drive the ST hard to get all the power from it.
If you have a standard RS and drive is normally you will probaly return similar in fuel to an ST170 anyway, because you don't have to rev so high for the power return.
Regards
Tom aka Zippy
Thanks everyone for the replies.
Zippy, I have to admit I have heard similiar things mentioned before that it wasn't too rapid.. Apparently it was geared to long to ever feel rapid. Just thought I'd get the opinions of people who will know far more than me!
I would love an RS unfortunately a tad out of my budget! Before the Focus I own now I had an Alfa V6 and a Rover 220 Turbo before that. Both cars pretty quick but could not live with the Alfas' reliability (It was a dog!) and couldn't live with the Rovers' MPG.
Like my Fords' though. Fiesta was first car and also had an Escort 1.8 Ghia X. Just fancied something quick yet also a Ford and the ST170 came in at budget with everything I needed... Just want something that if I fancy having a blast will put a huge grin on my face... Oh well.. Keep on looking!
Zippy, I have to admit I have heard similiar things mentioned before that it wasn't too rapid.. Apparently it was geared to long to ever feel rapid. Just thought I'd get the opinions of people who will know far more than me!
I would love an RS unfortunately a tad out of my budget! Before the Focus I own now I had an Alfa V6 and a Rover 220 Turbo before that. Both cars pretty quick but could not live with the Alfas' reliability (It was a dog!) and couldn't live with the Rovers' MPG.
Like my Fords' though. Fiesta was first car and also had an Escort 1.8 Ghia X. Just fancied something quick yet also a Ford and the ST170 came in at budget with everything I needed... Just want something that if I fancy having a blast will put a huge grin on my face... Oh well.. Keep on looking!
I've had the pleasure of owning 1.6, 2.0 & RS variants of the Focus, my good friend has an ST170 and I've driven it quite a lot.
An ST170 is only worth it IMO if you get a fully loaded one, xenons, Recaros, climate control. They are sharper to drive than the 2.0 is standard. I had my 2.0 lowered and 4-1 manifold it cornered just as well and only right at the top end was the 170 faster due to the extra revs & extra gear.
There is nothing between the 2.0 and ST170 MPG really although the insurance is a full 7 groups higher. Worth driving one and see what you think. Like I said if you can find a good one do it. Some engines are better than others so shop around
An ST170 is only worth it IMO if you get a fully loaded one, xenons, Recaros, climate control. They are sharper to drive than the 2.0 is standard. I had my 2.0 lowered and 4-1 manifold it cornered just as well and only right at the top end was the 170 faster due to the extra revs & extra gear.
There is nothing between the 2.0 and ST170 MPG really although the insurance is a full 7 groups higher. Worth driving one and see what you think. Like I said if you can find a good one do it. Some engines are better than others so shop around
I owned an ST170 for 6months and sold it as whilst it was fun to drive it was grossly underpowered for a hothatch.
The gearing on them is silly. Its a 6 speed box yet has long ratios iirc it will do 75mph in second, 100mph in 3rd. Now to me when you have a 6 speed box this is ludacris. The st170 could have been so much quicker with shorter gear ratios and then used the 6th gear as an overdrive gear so the rev's would drop right down for motorway driving etc.
I now have a Clio 182 and it's a hoot to drive. Feels so much quicker in everyway than the Focus although admittedly it isnt as nice a place to be on a long drive it does return excellent fuel consumption. Can see 36mpg+ day to day and 40-45 on a run depending on what weight your carrying in the car
The gearing on them is silly. Its a 6 speed box yet has long ratios iirc it will do 75mph in second, 100mph in 3rd. Now to me when you have a 6 speed box this is ludacris. The st170 could have been so much quicker with shorter gear ratios and then used the 6th gear as an overdrive gear so the rev's would drop right down for motorway driving etc.
I now have a Clio 182 and it's a hoot to drive. Feels so much quicker in everyway than the Focus although admittedly it isnt as nice a place to be on a long drive it does return excellent fuel consumption. Can see 36mpg+ day to day and 40-45 on a run depending on what weight your carrying in the car
R3v 1 said:
If driving the ST170 at normal pace either on motorways or in town what sort of figures where you returing on MPG?
In all honesty alot of my driving is motorway based and very rarely do I actually get to drive on a twisty fun road. Thinking now that maybe a car like an ST would be wasted on me!
A turbo charged motor would possibly return better motorway mpg due to its higher torque. Oh and what was said about the gearing is true they are very long but there is something amusing about doing 75 in second and nudging 100 in third
, that particular trait came in very handy when exiting fast corners or big roundabouts follwed by or following much faster cars. sorry have to disagree ive had my 170 for 4 years now with 99k on the clock and still love it.my partnar has one too. we can keep up with most cars like the civic type R's ect ect just need to rev it high to get the permance out of it. But isnt that what the red line is for. great car for long miles and for the motorways just need to use the gears more. we both get around 280miles out of a full tank. they handel great to.
I have a 2002 3 door ST170 for sale. Its blue, 42020 miles, 6 monts TAX, 12 months MOT, FSH and just serviced. Let me know if your interested.
R3v 1 said:
Hello all,
Long time reader yet first time poster! Just after alittle advice really... I currently drive a Ford Focus 2.0 Zetec ESP (52 Reg) but for some reason over the past few months have had an urge to trade up to a Focus ST170.
Just wonder what your opinions on this would be? Is it really worth shelling out a possible extra £1500 for the sake of the ST170?
I'v always enjoyed small hot hatches and the current Focus was me trying to be sensible after owning a dog of an Alfa before. I adore my current car as it is reliable, comfortable and does everything I need.. Just wish it had alittle extra poke..
Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Long time reader yet first time poster! Just after alittle advice really... I currently drive a Ford Focus 2.0 Zetec ESP (52 Reg) but for some reason over the past few months have had an urge to trade up to a Focus ST170.
Just wonder what your opinions on this would be? Is it really worth shelling out a possible extra £1500 for the sake of the ST170?
I'v always enjoyed small hot hatches and the current Focus was me trying to be sensible after owning a dog of an Alfa before. I adore my current car as it is reliable, comfortable and does everything I need.. Just wish it had alittle extra poke..
Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Good cars, my workmate went from 2.0 > 2.0 ST170 and the overall detail changes are worth the move if you otherwise like the Focus. Has been very reliable. A good blend of sensible grown up car and also very nice when pushed.
Nippy enough, the gearing isn't really that long, it just feels it. My lower powered less torquey GTi6 had very similar gearing and never felt long geared, it's just the flat output of the ST170 makes you feel you are never on cam in the higher rev sweet spot... rev it and it is plenty fast enough, don't rev it and it's still fairly torquey.
Only downside is economy is pretty poor really for what it is, but not massively so.
At least try a Clio 182 and Civic Type R to make sure the Focus ST170 is the one for you though!
Good luck
Nippy enough, the gearing isn't really that long, it just feels it. My lower powered less torquey GTi6 had very similar gearing and never felt long geared, it's just the flat output of the ST170 makes you feel you are never on cam in the higher rev sweet spot... rev it and it is plenty fast enough, don't rev it and it's still fairly torquey.
Only downside is economy is pretty poor really for what it is, but not massively so.
At least try a Clio 182 and Civic Type R to make sure the Focus ST170 is the one for you though!
Good luck
I had a ST170 .. got on average 32mpg and now have a Clio 182 and get 34mpg..
So nothing in it.
The handling on both are brilliant..
The 182 has it for performance .. the ST170 is a little lacking in performance but saying that - it's now slow.
Both make excellent everyday and drivers cars.
So nothing in it.
The handling on both are brilliant..
The 182 has it for performance .. the ST170 is a little lacking in performance but saying that - it's now slow.
Both make excellent everyday and drivers cars.
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