Focus ST170 - Should it be the forgotton hot hatch?
Discussion
I saw one parked up today and i have to say it looked quite discreet yet quite purposful sat lowered suspension and on its multispoke alloys and had a nice if underated interior with sports seats along with a token alloy gear knob.
Anyway i looked on here when i got home and realised these can be bought for around 2 grand now. Ok its not a fire breathing RS but surely a rev happy bhp figure of just under 170bhp is not to be sniffed at and along with the legendary focus handling must and should be a giggle when all said and done.
It got me thinking, They were slated to a degree for having a relatively gutless engine that had to be thrashed and imo were certainly overlooked compared to a 306 Gti6/Rallye but it still has almost 170 bhp in a relative light car and coupled with a good chassis.
So i ask are they that slow? and whilst they wont set the world on fire or in fact wont hold a candle to something like a 172 for a couple of grand you can get a quick (ish) car coupled with excellent handling that should be relatively cheapish to run so why does it seem like a forgotton hot hatch?
Anyone owned one on here like to take me up on my points?
Cheers.
Anyway i looked on here when i got home and realised these can be bought for around 2 grand now. Ok its not a fire breathing RS but surely a rev happy bhp figure of just under 170bhp is not to be sniffed at and along with the legendary focus handling must and should be a giggle when all said and done.
It got me thinking, They were slated to a degree for having a relatively gutless engine that had to be thrashed and imo were certainly overlooked compared to a 306 Gti6/Rallye but it still has almost 170 bhp in a relative light car and coupled with a good chassis.
So i ask are they that slow? and whilst they wont set the world on fire or in fact wont hold a candle to something like a 172 for a couple of grand you can get a quick (ish) car coupled with excellent handling that should be relatively cheapish to run so why does it seem like a forgotton hot hatch?
Anyone owned one on here like to take me up on my points?
Cheers.
I brought the wife an imperial blue one last year, hard to find a practical 5 door car with decent performance and handling within budget. It took me ages to find a good one that felt on the test drive that it had all its pony's! Ours will pull happy from 1500rpm but the real kick starts happening from 4500rpm. I think they are underrated to be fair, the speed you can carry through corners is fantastic for a warm hatch. The £2k ones are likely to be early ones (smaller clutch plate) or shagged, I paid £4,500 for ours last year July 04 plate 39K miles with FSH with all the old MOT's etc.
I had one for about 2 years. Great car but it's a 'slow burner'. They never feel like they have the full 170bhp, mainly due to the very long gearing in the lower gears. 1st is good for 40mph and 2nd will get you to 70.
On the plus side I think they look great, and if you can find one with both the custom and comfort packs then it's a well equipped car with climate control, Xenon headlamps, leather Recaro seats and a decent stereo with boot mounted sub-woofer.
On the plus side I think they look great, and if you can find one with both the custom and comfort packs then it's a well equipped car with climate control, Xenon headlamps, leather Recaro seats and a decent stereo with boot mounted sub-woofer.
they are very good cars. The focus is an awesome car, even with the smaller engines it handles really well.
Infact, I'm actually building a Focus track car. I'm using an St170 engine and making it a turbo, Its actually a better engine than the RS once you've spent a few pennies making it ideal for the turbo conversion. Always loves the noise it makes. On, as said before its not an RS, but once its hand a few bits done to it, people wont be expecting it to be as fast as it is...
I'll do a build thread at a later stage :-)
Infact, I'm actually building a Focus track car. I'm using an St170 engine and making it a turbo, Its actually a better engine than the RS once you've spent a few pennies making it ideal for the turbo conversion. Always loves the noise it makes. On, as said before its not an RS, but once its hand a few bits done to it, people wont be expecting it to be as fast as it is...
I'll do a build thread at a later stage :-)
Nick CD said:
they are very good cars. The focus is an awesome car, even with the smaller engines it handles really well.
Infact, I'm actually building a Focus track car. I'm using an St170 engine and making it a turbo, Its actually a better engine than the RS once you've spent a few pennies making it ideal for the turbo conversion. Always loves the noise it makes. On, as said before its not an RS, but once its hand a few bits done to it, people wont be expecting it to be as fast as it is...
I'll do a build thread at a later stage :-)
Look forward to it! Plenty of engine built pictures please! Infact, I'm actually building a Focus track car. I'm using an St170 engine and making it a turbo, Its actually a better engine than the RS once you've spent a few pennies making it ideal for the turbo conversion. Always loves the noise it makes. On, as said before its not an RS, but once its hand a few bits done to it, people wont be expecting it to be as fast as it is...
I'll do a build thread at a later stage :-)
I had the Imperial Blue 3 door. Great handling car but a touch underpowered on the straights, however, the cornering made up for it. An induction kit provided a bit more theatre, and looking back I wish I had done the exhaust.
I actually still miss this car, despite moving on to some slightly more powerful motors...
I actually still miss this car, despite moving on to some slightly more powerful motors...
Nick CD said:
they are very good cars. The focus is an awesome car, even with the smaller engines it handles really well.
Infact, I'm actually building a Focus track car. I'm using an St170 engine and making it a turbo, Its actually a better engine than the RS once you've spent a few pennies making it ideal for the turbo conversion. Always loves the noise it makes. On, as said before its not an RS, but once its hand a few bits done to it, people wont be expecting it to be as fast as it is...
I'll do a build thread at a later stage :-)
Slightly OT but would a better base for a turbo focus be a 2.0 Zetec lump because to get the most from a Turbo you will need much lower compression than the ST170 has so will use some of it's uniqueness. Infact, I'm actually building a Focus track car. I'm using an St170 engine and making it a turbo, Its actually a better engine than the RS once you've spent a few pennies making it ideal for the turbo conversion. Always loves the noise it makes. On, as said before its not an RS, but once its hand a few bits done to it, people wont be expecting it to be as fast as it is...
I'll do a build thread at a later stage :-)
If you want to use an ST170 lump look into supercharging or ITBs instead.
CHIEF said:
Can any owners provide comparisons with other hot hatches (in performance terms) i.e. 306 GTi's 172's 197's etc, How did the ST stack up against other suposedly better and newer hot hatches?
Quite poorly against the 182 i replaced mine with.Build quality was slightly better with the Focus but everything else the Clio comes out on top IMO.The Focus is still a good car though in it's own way,i just found the Clio better
The ST170 is a great hatch with great handling, but it's not as raw as its counterparts and nor do I think it was designed to be. It's quite comfortable and in my opinion grown up. I had one for a while and did loads of motorway miles where it was a nice place to be.
My only criticism is that it could probably do with another 20bhp.
My only criticism is that it could probably do with another 20bhp.
It's heavier than those 3 cars, so performance doesn't stack up too well. Probably better to compare it to the Golf GTi 1.8 Turbo or the Astra 2.2.
You do have to keep it in the 5-7000 rpm range to get the most out of it, and the long gearing often makes this difficult. But with a nice gearchange it is fun to hustle.
If you look at the performance figures alone, you'll be disappointed. You have to look at the overall package to find the cars strengths.
You do have to keep it in the 5-7000 rpm range to get the most out of it, and the long gearing often makes this difficult. But with a nice gearchange it is fun to hustle.
If you look at the performance figures alone, you'll be disappointed. You have to look at the overall package to find the cars strengths.
paulmoonraker said:
The ST170 is a great hatch with great handling, but it's not as raw as its counterparts and nor do I think it was designed to be. It's quite comfortable and in my opinion grown up. I had one for a while and did loads of motorway miles where it was a nice place to be.
My only criticism is that it could probably do with another 20bhp.
The only criticism I had of mine (52 plate) was the lack of cruise control made my weekly motorway trip (Guildford to Manchester) interesting. I could barely stand up when I got home as my right foot was stuck in the making progress position....My only criticism is that it could probably do with another 20bhp.
Ian Lancs said:
paulmoonraker said:
The ST170 is a great hatch with great handling, but it's not as raw as its counterparts and nor do I think it was designed to be. It's quite comfortable and in my opinion grown up. I had one for a while and did loads of motorway miles where it was a nice place to be.
My only criticism is that it could probably do with another 20bhp.
The only criticism I had of mine (52 plate) was the lack of cruise control made my weekly motorway trip (Guildford to Manchester) interesting. I could barely stand up when I got home as my right foot was stuck in the making progress position....My only criticism is that it could probably do with another 20bhp.
I was too young for cruise control 
Nobody under the age of 30 should require it. Now however, well, that's a different story 
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