Focus ST Estate
Discussion
Here's a few pics of the new daily I purchased in August. I've always preferred the estate version of the ST, and after owning an ST220 estate a few years ago it was the natural choice for something sporty but practical.
The choices for estates arent great, I've only seen one other ST estate while I've had it. It's a petrol ST3 in Spirit Blue, in my opinion the best colour.
Impressions so far after 3 months are very good. Good performance, decent economy, bags of room and great handling. There is a little torque steer, especially with the crappy front tyres currently on ( which are crap in the wet). I'm hoping a decent set of tyres will help with this.
Anyway here's a few pics from picking it up from the dealer.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/YuJ3XX]
The choices for estates arent great, I've only seen one other ST estate while I've had it. It's a petrol ST3 in Spirit Blue, in my opinion the best colour.
Impressions so far after 3 months are very good. Good performance, decent economy, bags of room and great handling. There is a little torque steer, especially with the crappy front tyres currently on ( which are crap in the wet). I'm hoping a decent set of tyres will help with this.
Anyway here's a few pics from picking it up from the dealer.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/YuJ3XX]
Looks good, I really do like the estates. I wanted one too but when I was looking earlier in the year there were hardly any around, and in the end getting one in Tangerine Scream won out over the body shape!
Regarding torque steer I found a similar thing when I bought mine which I also put down to the tyres- Autogrip anyone?! I changed all 4 tyres last month to Uniroyal Rainsport 3s and the difference really is huge; there is still a small amount of torque steer but I have a huge amount more confidence in the car now. Interestingly putting the car into sport mode seems to reduce the amount of torque steer.
Out of interest, is that Ford in Bracknell? Looks familiar. In fact thinking about it I might have seen you commuting some mornings, are you in the Bracknell - Camberley area?
Regarding torque steer I found a similar thing when I bought mine which I also put down to the tyres- Autogrip anyone?! I changed all 4 tyres last month to Uniroyal Rainsport 3s and the difference really is huge; there is still a small amount of torque steer but I have a huge amount more confidence in the car now. Interestingly putting the car into sport mode seems to reduce the amount of torque steer.
Out of interest, is that Ford in Bracknell? Looks familiar. In fact thinking about it I might have seen you commuting some mornings, are you in the Bracknell - Camberley area?
Darren390 said:
Thanks for the reply, interesting regarding the tyres. Annoyingly the front tyres look fairly new, but I will replace them soon.
It is Think Ford in Bracknell, although I'm in Nottingham so it wasn't me you saw commuting!
Ah fair enough.It is Think Ford in Bracknell, although I'm in Nottingham so it wasn't me you saw commuting!
The tyres on mine were fitted by the dealer before I bought it so only had about 3k on them when I changed them. However, given the difference it's made to the car I honestly couldn't recommend enough you do it as soon possible, it really has completely changed the car.
Very nice,
Yours is a pre-facelift version. Ford recognised the issue of torque steer and made some modifications for the facelift to improve things. I've not driven both back to back but I understand they were largely successful. I believe the changes included a different engine mount, front springs and changes to the torque vectoring software (there's no 'Sport Mode' on the FL version, which may explain why engaging this improved things on the PFL).
Assuming your proposed tyre change helps, the next easiest win is to fit a uprated roll restrictor. Such as this one from Mountune:
https://www.mountunestore.com/collections/mk3-focu...
The downside can be an increase in cabin vibration at idle, so I appreciate this modification is not for everyone.
Yours is a pre-facelift version. Ford recognised the issue of torque steer and made some modifications for the facelift to improve things. I've not driven both back to back but I understand they were largely successful. I believe the changes included a different engine mount, front springs and changes to the torque vectoring software (there's no 'Sport Mode' on the FL version, which may explain why engaging this improved things on the PFL).
Assuming your proposed tyre change helps, the next easiest win is to fit a uprated roll restrictor. Such as this one from Mountune:
https://www.mountunestore.com/collections/mk3-focu...
The downside can be an increase in cabin vibration at idle, so I appreciate this modification is not for everyone.
Edited by tallpaul26 on Tuesday 17th October 14:00
Hi, fellow Spirit Blue estate owner here. Agree on the colour - not sure why they dropped it for the facelift (yet still offered it on the Fiesta).
The only real annoyance is parking the damn thing - the turning circle and length can make you look like an amateur at times!
For family use it is actually pretty tight for legroom or car seat space in the back. But otherwise a great all rounder!
The only real annoyance is parking the damn thing - the turning circle and length can make you look like an amateur at times!
For family use it is actually pretty tight for legroom or car seat space in the back. But otherwise a great all rounder!
tallpaul26 said:
Very nice,
Yours is a pre-facelift version. Ford recognised the issue of torque steer and made some modifications for the facelift to improve things. I've not driven both back to back but I understand they were largely successful. I believe the changes included a different engine mount, front springs and changes to the torque vectoring software (there's no 'Sport Mode' on the FL version, which may explain why engaging this improved things on the PFL).
Assuming your proposed tyre change helps, the next easiest win is to fit a uprated roll restrictor. Such as this one from Mountune:
https://www.mountunestore.com/collections/mk3-focu...
The downside can be an increase in cabin vibration at idle, so I appreciate this modification is not for everyone.
There is a sport mode on the facelift, just press and hold the traction control bottom for a few seconds and once it turns everything off, it flashes up 'sport mode' on the dash. Yours is a pre-facelift version. Ford recognised the issue of torque steer and made some modifications for the facelift to improve things. I've not driven both back to back but I understand they were largely successful. I believe the changes included a different engine mount, front springs and changes to the torque vectoring software (there's no 'Sport Mode' on the FL version, which may explain why engaging this improved things on the PFL).
Assuming your proposed tyre change helps, the next easiest win is to fit a uprated roll restrictor. Such as this one from Mountune:
https://www.mountunestore.com/collections/mk3-focu...
The downside can be an increase in cabin vibration at idle, so I appreciate this modification is not for everyone.
Edited by tallpaul26 on Tuesday 17th October 14:00
tallpaul26 said:
Greendubber said:
There is a sport mode on the facelift, just press and hold the traction control bottom for a few seconds and once it turns everything off, it flashes up 'sport mode' on the dash.
D'oh! I'd assumed it was just an ESP on/off.
Greendubber said:
tallpaul26 said:
Greendubber said:
There is a sport mode on the facelift, just press and hold the traction control bottom for a few seconds and once it turns everything off, it flashes up 'sport mode' on the dash.
D'oh! I'd assumed it was just an ESP on/off.Interesting about the tyres, I've noticed that when moving out to overtake you can really feel when the car crosses the white lines, squirms around a little.
Really like the car, but I've picked up an annoying noise in the cabin, can only hear it when < 40MPH it's like a cricket chirping away, it seems to emanate from the belts/chain end of the engine. But a bit of googling suggests it might be the injectors I can hear.
I'd very much like to hear if I can hear it in anyone else's FL ST, so if you are ever in North Wales let me know
Greendubber said:
The only annoying noise I have in mine (hatch) is a faint rattle from the B post. Drives me mad as it's right by by ear so can't really get away from it!
I feel your pain, in my last car (Octavia) the little door lock thing (with the security light) used to make a rattling noise when locked - right near your ear too.They torque steer like pigs, even fresh tyres and tracking wont sort it. Just have to keep the wheel steady. I found the main problem was the electronic diff thingy, turn it all off and it improves. Do they offer a LSD for the ST mk3?
I remember 3rd gear in mine, over boost and some nice cold evening air to feed the turbo made it feel rather special. Pulled well and loved to rev out.
Great daily.
I remember 3rd gear in mine, over boost and some nice cold evening air to feed the turbo made it feel rather special. Pulled well and loved to rev out.
Great daily.
BertB said:
Yes that's right, I've a 2017 estate and holding the ESC for a couple of seconds shows Sport Mode on the dash.
Checked this and it's slightly wrong. Press the button and it'll flash up traction control off then sport mode on. If you press and hold for a few seconds it says esc off.Forgot to say OP. Great choice on the colour I probably would have hade that blue if they still did it on the FL.
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