Ford Focus ST 2.5T
Discussion
Afternoon all!
Thought I better post up my latest car after not having too much luck with my old MG ZS due to the Head Gasket deciding to keep going pop due to a very sunken cylinder liner
so I sort of lost faith in that so sold off cheap and wanted to start afresh and brought one of my all time favourite cars, a Mk2 Ford Focus ST 225!
Plus now that I'm 22 years old insurance is coming down a fair bit so thought why the hell not!? Infact this Focus ST is cheaper to insure my old MG ZS 1.8.. Mad!?
Anyway here's a few pics..
As you can see I decided not to go for the Electric Orange ST trademark colour and decided to go between either Blue or Black, as you can see I chose Panther Black for something a bit different and to have something a bit more subtle.
The car is in ST3 spec aswell so comes with some very tasty Recaro full leather seats all around, Sony 6 CD stacker, HID headlights and all other Ford mod cons such as heated screen, heated seats, phone connectivity etc.. Fully kitted out pretty much and a nice wedge of service history, decent Vredstein tyres showing the car has been property looked after, mileage is only just coming up to 60k too, so not too high for the year in all fairness.
Few interior pics
Oil Temp, Turbo Boost, Oil pressure pod upon dash top..
So what's it like to live with?
Simply brilliant. Have owned the ST since mid August this year and I can truely say it's one of the nicest cars I've had, I know it's not to everyone's taste but it's a perfectly good all rounder! Nice interior, good road holding if not a tad nose heavy in some circumstances which can always be sorted with a tad of lift off with some provocation, decent turn of speed and a lovely engine note from the 5 cylinder Volvo sourced lump. I will even go as far as to say it even looks good, compared to a normal Focus mk2, the ST is just that but muscular with its deeper front grille, flared arches, Roof spoiler and small detailings, it certainly looks the part without being too in your face, plus the Black paintwork is a lot more toned down over the Orange choice I find also, yet still turns lots of heads.
Over long drives it's perfectly adequate, nicely refined, maybe a bit of road noise from the 225/40/18s on poorer road surfaces, but on a recent trip to Cornwall and back, approx 860 miles in one week, the ST was a superb motorway cruiser yet stick it on a tight twisty B road near the north Cornwall coast, it's great fun to drive and still has a great turn in and feel!
Any complaints?
Firstly, it's a tad juicy... But it's not overly bad. Coming from a 1.8 MG ZS which would do about 35 - 40 mpg down to the ST which will average about 25 - 28mpg was a bit of a pain at first but you soon get used to it. Nail it and you'll see 18mpg but on a good motorway cruise I've had it up to 33mpg so it just depends on how you drive really, if you want economy, buy a diesel maybe?
Any plans?
No major plans in the pipeline just yet, maybe over time it will gain a new exhaust to really emphasise that 5 cylinder engine note, which is absoloutly fantastic...! Seriously... Stand behind one accelerating away from you on full chat is one of the nicest engine sounds you'll hear, proper Audi Quattroesque! And even the standard exhaust pops and bangs on gear changes! Very addictive!
Apart from that there is a slight knock from an anti roll bar bush up front so may upgrade to poly bushes but apart from that it will stay standardish for now.
Comments welcome, thankyou for looking / reading.
Rik
Thought I better post up my latest car after not having too much luck with my old MG ZS due to the Head Gasket deciding to keep going pop due to a very sunken cylinder liner
so I sort of lost faith in that so sold off cheap and wanted to start afresh and brought one of my all time favourite cars, a Mk2 Ford Focus ST 225! Plus now that I'm 22 years old insurance is coming down a fair bit so thought why the hell not!? Infact this Focus ST is cheaper to insure my old MG ZS 1.8.. Mad!?
Anyway here's a few pics..
As you can see I decided not to go for the Electric Orange ST trademark colour and decided to go between either Blue or Black, as you can see I chose Panther Black for something a bit different and to have something a bit more subtle.
The car is in ST3 spec aswell so comes with some very tasty Recaro full leather seats all around, Sony 6 CD stacker, HID headlights and all other Ford mod cons such as heated screen, heated seats, phone connectivity etc.. Fully kitted out pretty much and a nice wedge of service history, decent Vredstein tyres showing the car has been property looked after, mileage is only just coming up to 60k too, so not too high for the year in all fairness.
Few interior pics
Oil Temp, Turbo Boost, Oil pressure pod upon dash top..
So what's it like to live with?
Simply brilliant. Have owned the ST since mid August this year and I can truely say it's one of the nicest cars I've had, I know it's not to everyone's taste but it's a perfectly good all rounder! Nice interior, good road holding if not a tad nose heavy in some circumstances which can always be sorted with a tad of lift off with some provocation, decent turn of speed and a lovely engine note from the 5 cylinder Volvo sourced lump. I will even go as far as to say it even looks good, compared to a normal Focus mk2, the ST is just that but muscular with its deeper front grille, flared arches, Roof spoiler and small detailings, it certainly looks the part without being too in your face, plus the Black paintwork is a lot more toned down over the Orange choice I find also, yet still turns lots of heads.
Over long drives it's perfectly adequate, nicely refined, maybe a bit of road noise from the 225/40/18s on poorer road surfaces, but on a recent trip to Cornwall and back, approx 860 miles in one week, the ST was a superb motorway cruiser yet stick it on a tight twisty B road near the north Cornwall coast, it's great fun to drive and still has a great turn in and feel!
Any complaints?
Firstly, it's a tad juicy... But it's not overly bad. Coming from a 1.8 MG ZS which would do about 35 - 40 mpg down to the ST which will average about 25 - 28mpg was a bit of a pain at first but you soon get used to it. Nail it and you'll see 18mpg but on a good motorway cruise I've had it up to 33mpg so it just depends on how you drive really, if you want economy, buy a diesel maybe?
Any plans?
No major plans in the pipeline just yet, maybe over time it will gain a new exhaust to really emphasise that 5 cylinder engine note, which is absoloutly fantastic...! Seriously... Stand behind one accelerating away from you on full chat is one of the nicest engine sounds you'll hear, proper Audi Quattroesque! And even the standard exhaust pops and bangs on gear changes! Very addictive!
Apart from that there is a slight knock from an anti roll bar bush up front so may upgrade to poly bushes but apart from that it will stay standardish for now.
Comments welcome, thankyou for looking / reading.
Rik
Great cars, love mine. Its unusual for the arb to knock and is a pain to swop the front bushes .Check the rear bushes on the wishbones ( largest bush) they break up and clunk. Just done mine and all is good again. There is plenty of scope for tweaking them and a set of Eibach springs and Whiteline rear arb should be on your Christmas list.Makes it sit better and handle better too. Enjoy the car. I cant think of anything else worth swopping it for, so its a keeper for a while yet.
Got my facelift ST same time as you (theres a thread on it a few pages back) and ive got to say its a great all rounder.
Yours looks mint and will be even better with a simple remap. Mines going in for stage 3 (320bhp) next week and it will totally transform the car
I wanted black or orange but in end orange won as I like the stand out looks.
Only bad thing like you said is mpg but the 5 cylinder more than makes up for it. Enjoy!
Yours looks mint and will be even better with a simple remap. Mines going in for stage 3 (320bhp) next week and it will totally transform the car
I wanted black or orange but in end orange won as I like the stand out looks.
Only bad thing like you said is mpg but the 5 cylinder more than makes up for it. Enjoy!
Podie said:
Seem to be a few of us getting these at the moment. Picked up mine in August and enjoying it, although after the V6 ST220 I'm finding the engine note a bit boring.
I'm going to do a thread in a few weeks comparing the Focus with the Mondeo.
As one of your best friends, I feel it is my duty to simply point out two words:I'm going to do a thread in a few weeks comparing the Focus with the Mondeo.
Mountune exhaust.
GregE240 said:
Podie said:
Seem to be a few of us getting these at the moment. Picked up mine in August and enjoying it, although after the V6 ST220 I'm finding the engine note a bit boring.
I'm going to do a thread in a few weeks comparing the Focus with the Mondeo.
As one of your best friends, I feel it is my duty to simply point out two words:I'm going to do a thread in a few weeks comparing the Focus with the Mondeo.
Mountune exhaust.
It makes better economic sense to go MR290 (full exhaust and even more grunt!)
I was surprised when I bought my ST3 back in 2009 how cheap the insurance was compared to what I expected it to be. I was 23 at the time.
The arches arnt flared, they are the same as a standard Focus.
When you want more power & to get rid of the dip in power mid way through the rev range, have a look at this. You wont regret it.
http://www.dreamscience-automotive.co.uk/ford-focu...
The arches arnt flared, they are the same as a standard Focus.
When you want more power & to get rid of the dip in power mid way through the rev range, have a look at this. You wont regret it.
http://www.dreamscience-automotive.co.uk/ford-focu...
Edited by thebigmacmoomin on Friday 18th October 10:01
GregE240 said:
peterattheboro said:
GregE240 said:
Mountune exhaust.
- cough* Milltek *cough*
As a former development bunny for them, Pod should indeed look in to this. The Mondeo sounded lovely.
The Mountune exhaust is a branded Milltek, and a touch cheaper I believe.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff