Focus ST170 (My First Car)

[drab1]

Tight!

[aaron_2000]

Finally got it booked in for the bodywork, having all 4 arches done, the boot, under the wingmirror, the rear left door and the jack points stripped and painted. Got plans for a track day this summer, not sure which track I'll be doing. I'd be interested in having a fuel economy map done to it, not sure how it would affect the car though?

[itcaptainslow]

aaron_2000 said:

Finally got it booked in for the bodywork, having all 4 arches done, the boot, under the wingmirror, the rear left door and the jack points stripped and painted. Got plans for a track day this summer, not sure which track I'll be doing. I'd be interested in having a fuel economy map done to it, not sure how it would affect the car though?

What’s the point? It’s a hot(ish) hatch from ten years ago, it’ll never be economical simply by the limitations of its hardware. You might gain 3mpg and totally spoil the character of the car.

Far better to get it running right (that O2 sensor won’t be helping...) then maybe look at something simple like a DreamScience or Bluefin remap-I had a Bluefin on my old one and it made a decent difference to the driveability and reduced the flatspot at 3,500rpm ish. My current one was live mapped at AMD which again has helped.

I don’t generally monitor fuel economy on the performance cars I own as it is what it is-you don’t buy them principally for high MPG. Mine to be fair to it does low 30’s generally, mid 30’s on the motorway. Probably in the low tens around and going to the ‘Ring, but hey...

[aaron_2000]

itcaptainslow said:

What’s the point? It’s a hot(ish) hatch from ten years ago, it’ll never be economical simply by the limitations of its hardware. You might gain 3mpg and totally spoil the character of the car.

Far better to get it running right (that O2 sensor won’t be helping...) then maybe look at something simple like a DreamScience or Bluefin remap-I had a Bluefin on my old one and it made a decent difference to the driveability and reduced the flatspot at 3,500rpm ish. My current one was live mapped at AMD which again has helped.

I don’t generally monitor fuel economy on the performance cars I own as it is what it is-you don’t buy them principally for high MPG. Mine to be fair to it does low 30’s generally, mid 30’s on the motorway. Probably in the low tens around and going to the ‘Ring, but hey...

Thanks for the advice, I was not really considering getting a map done due to the low numbers they get, but it's interesting hearing what you've said about it. I have noticed the flat spot around 3500, I could justify a remap if it was to sort that out. Which would you suggest, AMD or Bluefin?

[s m]

aaron_2000 said:

Decided to keep it off the road until the rust has been sorted, and until the new clutch/flywheel are fitted. Probably until summer time. I was gonna sell it because I had no room to store it while this was gonna be done, but now I've sorted storage out I can keep hold of it.

Have you read "Modern Classics" this month Aaron?
Interesting articles on the ST170, Focus RS Mk1 and an interview with Richard Parry-Jones about his involvement in the ST170

[aaron_2000]

s m said:

Have you read "Modern Classics" this month Aaron?
Interesting articles on the ST170, Focus RS Mk1 and an interview with Richard Parry-Jones about his involvement in the ST170

That's out this month? Off to the pub in a minute I'll pick it up on the way there, thanks for reminding me.

[itcaptainslow]

The interview with Parry Jones was very good.

The ST170 featured is mine...

[s m]

itcaptainslow said:

The interview with Parry Jones was very good.

The ST170 featured is mine...

"Modern Classics" is doing some great articles lately - more relevant to me than some of the unobtainium in EVO. It was interesting seeing the Focus underpinnings and RPJ's input into the car

Nice ST170

[aaron_2000]

Any idea where they actually sell it? Not at the local supermarket, they do it WHSmiths do you know?

[itcaptainslow]

aaron_2000 said:

Any idea where they actually sell it? Not at the local supermarket, they do it WHSmiths do you know?

Yes, WH Smith stock it, as do certain Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s.

[itcaptainslow]

s m said:

itcaptainslow said:

The interview with Parry Jones was very good.

The ST170 featured is mine...

"Modern Classics" is doing some great articles lately - more relevant to me than some of the unobtainium in EVO. It was interesting seeing the Focus underpinnings and RPJ's input into the car

Nice ST170

Cheers! The writing isn’t quite to Evo’s standard but being fair I don’t actually think it’s meant to be-having met a couple of the guys behind it they deliberately seem to keep it light hearted, assessable and also shy away from completely taking cars to bits.

Objectively some of the stuff they review might be crap, but it’s how it makes you feel, after all, and you can have a great deal of fun living out childhood memories in a Vauxhall Nova Spin. Even if brand new it was ste.

[aaron_2000]

itcaptainslow said:

Yes, WH Smith stock it, as do certain Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s.

Cheers, I went looking on Morrisons, I'll have to get down to Smiths tomorrow.

itcaptainslow said:

s m said:

itcaptainslow said:

The interview with Parry Jones was very good.

The ST170 featured is mine...

"Modern Classics" is doing some great articles lately - more relevant to me than some of the unobtainium in EVO. It was interesting seeing the Focus underpinnings and RPJ's input into the car

Nice ST170

Cheers! The writing isn’t quite to Evo’s standard but being fair I don’t actually think it’s meant to be-having met a couple of the guys behind it they deliberately seem to keep it light hearted, assessable and also shy away from completely taking cars to bits.

Objectively some of the stuff they review might be crap, but it’s how it makes you feel, after all, and you can have a great deal of fun living out childhood memories in a Vauxhall Nova Spin. Even if brand new it was ste.

It does feel odd in a sense reading about these cars which still feel quite new, like the Focus ST170 does to me. I can't for the life of me understand why I've not been buying it, it's a magazine dedicated to my favourite cars (80's, 90's, 00's). Look forward to reading about the ST170, never seen too many articles about it.

[s m]

itcaptainslow said:

aaron_2000 said:

Any idea where they actually sell it? Not at the local supermarket, they do it WHSmiths do you know?

Yes, WH Smith stock it, as do certain Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s.

You can also get it on 'Readly' app if you have a phone or tablet that downloads from apps

[aaron_2000]

Picked it up from Sainsbury's, looking forward to reading it tonight. Very nice ST btw

[s m]

itcaptainslow said:

Cheers! The writing isn’t quite to Evo’s standard but being fair I don’t actually think it’s meant to be-having met a couple of the guys behind it they deliberately seem to keep it light hearted, assessable and also shy away from completely taking cars to bits.

Objectively some of the stuff they review might be crap, but it’s how it makes you feel, after all, and you can have a great deal of fun living out childhood memories in a Vauxhall Nova Spin. Even if brand new it was ste.

Absolutely - for me at least, the cars you can actually afford to buy and drive as well as read about are always twice as interesting as the cars you can only afford to read about ....(or drive on an airfield under the watchful eye of an instructor for 10 minutes)

[itcaptainslow]

s m said:

itcaptainslow said:

Cheers! The writing isn’t quite to Evo’s standard but being fair I don’t actually think it’s meant to be-having met a couple of the guys behind it they deliberately seem to keep it light hearted, assessable and also shy away from completely taking cars to bits.

Objectively some of the stuff they review might be crap, but it’s how it makes you feel, after all, and you can have a great deal of fun living out childhood memories in a Vauxhall Nova Spin. Even if brand new it was ste.

Absolutely - for me at least, the cars you can actually afford to buy and drive as well as read about are always twice as interesting as the cars you can only afford to read about ....(or drive on an airfield under the watchful eye of an instructor for 10 minutes)

101%-the stuff in Evo that I find most interesting is the bits about the Up GTI’s, the GT86, Lotuses, RenaultSport products etc. Supercar features I tend to gloss over and skim read at best.

[aaron_2000]

itcaptainslow said:

s m said:

itcaptainslow said:

Cheers! The writing isn’t quite to Evo’s standard but being fair I don’t actually think it’s meant to be-having met a couple of the guys behind it they deliberately seem to keep it light hearted, assessable and also shy away from completely taking cars to bits.

Objectively some of the stuff they review might be crap, but it’s how it makes you feel, after all, and you can have a great deal of fun living out childhood memories in a Vauxhall Nova Spin. Even if brand new it was ste.

Absolutely - for me at least, the cars you can actually afford to buy and drive as well as read about are always twice as interesting as the cars you can only afford to read about ....(or drive on an airfield under the watchful eye of an instructor for 10 minutes)

101%-the stuff in Evo that I find most interesting is the bits about the Up GTI’s, the GT86, Lotuses, RenaultSport products etc. Supercar features I tend to gloss over and skim read at best.

I always found that too, I enjoy reading about the cars I could own, not the ones I wish I could own. I'd rather watch supercars on YT or TV than read what they're like for driving round town.

[aaron_2000]

What a great read that was, very interesting interview too. Think it's convinced me to get a map for mine at some point, the Scorpion exhaust is the same exhaust I've been looking at too. Interesting that they didn't think it had enough power when they launched it too.

[itcaptainslow]

aaron_2000 said:

What a great read that was, very interesting interview too. Think it's convinced me to get a map for mine at some point, the Scorpion exhaust is the same exhaust I've been looking at too. Interesting that they didn't think it had enough power when they launched it too.

The Scorpion sounds very similar to the stock exhaust, just a little louder inside the car. Ideal if you’re using it everyday but doesn’t feel quite special enough if you want something raspier.

However the K&N Typhoon apparently makes the induction noise mental at 7000rpm + on a drive by

[aaron_2000]

itcaptainslow said:

The Scorpion sounds very similar to the stock exhaust, just a little louder inside the car. Ideal if you’re using it everyday but doesn’t feel quite special enough if you want something raspier.

However the K&N Typhoon apparently makes the induction noise mental at 7000rpm + on a drive by

What I like about the Scorpion is it fits the hole in the bumper so much better while still looking OEM, not really into chavvy decat systems I was looking at the Pipercross system to get for the summer with a K&N cone filter.