Dele's Focus ST-3

[dele]

Hello boys and girls,

Recently been in the market for a "hot hatch" and eventually settled on the ST, was looking at Blue and Grey ones when this Asbo Orange coloured one turned up locally and it was a facelift, result!

Decided on the ST purely for the engine really, i love quirky engines, i know there are better handling alternatives but im not a track day warrior so doubt it will bother me.

I also know a couple of the lads down at SCC in St Albans so you can expect this will get some tuning of some description, its standard apart from the wheels being painted black.

All ive got so far is the dealer picture but ill grab more when I collect her this week.

Edited by dele on Monday 29th July 12:34

[darren9]

Looks great. These are very much on my radar at the minute. I just love the noise. The only thing putting me off is the mpg. Can you let us know what figures you get?

[pilchard8]

I bought mine about a month ago, same shape and colour, fantastic car but I'm struggling to get over 20mpg, mines around stage 2-3 if that makes a difference on fuel. Lovely sound though.

[AGK]

Can't beat an orange motor

[dele]

darren9 said:

Looks great. These are very much on my radar at the minute. I just love the noise. The only thing putting me off is the mpg. Can you let us know what figures you get?

I certainly can, however i use the train to commute so it will only get used at the weekends, im not sure how "real world" my figures will be

[Uncle John]

Real world I think you'd be looking at 22mpg.

Worth it for that engine though!

Edit to add: Love the orange as well!!

[nick s]

Nice cars, but nowhere near enough power or performance to justify the awful MPG! I could just about stomach the trade off in my old S4 of 450bhp for 18mpg! No way would I put up with low 20's for anything under 300bhp!

[JonLock]

i was getting 26-27 out of mine used as a daily, had dreamscience remap, blueflame cat back and miltek decat and k&n cais. Sounded awesome, was also fully polybushed. If kept of turbo you can get 30mpg out of them no problem. Mine was also maintained by the guys at SCC

Edited by JonLock on Tuesday 30th July 16:56

Edited by JonLock on Tuesday 30th July 16:57

[FELIX_5]

Lovely car and best colour, but isn't it missing the foglight surround?!

[Dave G fsi]

Very nice

was in the market for one of these or a Mk1 Focus RS last year, but ended up settling for the latter. If I needed it as a daily drive, I would definitely have got one of these

[Olly86]

You can get 32/33 mpg on a steady run but mine averages about 24ish. Not the sort of car you buy with economy in mind, especially with a good exhaust/de-cat... the noise becomes very addictive.

[Justin S]

Managed 39 mpg in mine, but got overtaken by everything !! Average is 24 ish mpg on the usual drive.
Facelift cars don't have the spotlight cowls like the pre facelifts.
Plenty to tune the car available. Eibach springs, whiteline rear ARB and a geo makes it handle a lot better, but doesn't affect the ride at all.

[Otispunkmeyer]

Lovely.

And the best colour!

Next car on my list. Just need to finish the PhD first and then hope BP want to hire me! Will be useful!

[dele]

So i picked her up today and i'm smitten! the engine is a beaut and the noise is lovely

But, an hour in, i noticed my oil temp and pressure gauges went mental so it was a quick pit stop to the boys at SCC to diagnose a dodgy Map sensor

So i got that replaced and put a sneaky K&N Panel Filter in while i was at it

[cerb4.5lee]

Good stuff, really like these & I do have a soft spot for orange aswell proper head turner, enjoy.

[dele]

Took some pictures of it last night, please excuse the crazy white balance, im fairly new to this photography lark

[HedgehogFromHell]

You can't go wrong with SCC!!!

I completely agree about the engines, the T5s are a pleasing wave of freshness amongst a pile of humdrum sounding engines in hot hatches! Even better with a more vocal exhaust and intake kit!

I'm gonna use this moment to post a pic of my baby that's looked after and tuned by SCC Performance...


Aggressive Stance by co1856, on Flickr


CANON7D-1.jpg by co1856, on Flickr

I'm running the Stage 4 Bluefin, but Revo is the way to go if you're tuning first time. So much more flexibility in the mapping! Hope you enjoy it! If it ever comes to the point where you want to improve handling, have a look at the BC Racing Coilovers, believe me, they're bloody good for the price - droop, bump, rebound and height adjustable! Also have a look at running AD08 tyres, they're amazing.

Edited by HedgehogFromHell on Saturday 3rd August 15:05

[thebigmacmoomin]

Black wheels were standard on the ST towards the end of its life, had to pay extra for silver wheels.

FELIX_5 said:

Lovely car and best colour, but isn't it missing the foglight surround?!

Facelift ST's don't have any.

[andituk]

Looks like mine! Only mines got grey wheels. You're right, the engine is amazing, drives and sounds fantastic. Even if I am averaging 19mpg!

[dele]

andituk said:

Looks like mine! Only mines got grey wheels. You're right, the engine is amazing, drives and sounds fantastic. Even if I am averaging 19mpg!

Yeah i think im at 20mpg at the moment lol

Had a bit of a surprise this weekend, ever since i picked the car up i was adament that it wasnt standard as it pulled way to hard and too good to be standard, my theories were confirmed when one of the boys at SCC took a look and revealed it has been remapped.

Only issue with that is its pretty difficult to tell who did it, so it could be a quality map or a dodgy one, either way i think im going to have to get it redone just for peace of mind.

Oh and the headlight washer cap fell off when washing it on Sunday, most annoying.