Ford Focus St 170 vs Ford Focus Rs

[sam6sic6]

Hi, I am sure this has been discussed at some point previously and therefore apologise for bringing this up. I am looking at changing my car and decided upon having a Focus ST 170 logic being cheap enough to buy run and insure, however curiosity got the better of me and I checked the insurance on a mk1 RS and it turns out to be £50 more a year (insurance being an issue due to age). Now I am in the dilemma of buying an ST 170, which I am sure, would be a great car or swallowing the cost and buying an RS. Was just wondering on peoples opinions, based on experience or not as to whether or not it is worth spending 3 times the money on buying an RS.
Thanks Sam

[oj121]

Not a contest at all. Get and RS and you wont regret it. If you get the ST170 you will always sit and think......if only i had......

Im desperate to get myself into an RS. Bought a Fiesta ST as I wanted a quick car and it was the best I could afford at the time but if I had been willing to wait 6 months I could have got into and RS. Now i cant afford to change until atleast September.....

[boobles]

RS everyday. Don't look back & regret not owning one.
Just don't expect to own one on a shoe string budget.

[neiljohnson]

Having made the change just go in feet first the Rs is a fantastic car just beware of when the modifying bug bites


Quite a bit of info here

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Focus Rs no 2376&mid=76611

Edited by neiljohnson on Sunday 20th March 18:31

[Turbofocus]

Go for the RS.The ST170 is a great car but the RS is better.

[AMST09]

Get the RS, brilliant car, will never look back

But as above don't expect to run it on bargain prices

[boredofmyoldname]

RS will need a bit more TLC (But will also be likely to have had more up to you buying it) and will probably cost a little more to run than the ST170.

My experience of driving the 2 back to back were that the RS is much quicker, but I found I could use more of the ST170s power more of the time. This meant I was able to get from A to B quicker in the ST than in the RS (Though A to B was via a very undulating B road with quite a few tight bends). Perhaps it was my driving style but I just felt the ST was easier to use.

Saying that I would love an RS, much more of a modern classic than the ST and likely to loose little if any of the price you pay for it. Also it feels and is significantly quicker than the ST, more so than the on paper stats would have you believe, and the turbo lump comes with the potential for much bigger power gains than you could get from the ST without spending lots, and the 170 is very thirsty all of the time without having such a great shove of a turbo on tap.

[AB]

ST170 = slooooooow.

Brilliant chassis let down by not enough power.

[mrsimmers]

I have owned both and still own my RS. The RS is miles better in every aspect in my opnion.

[rb5230]

The ST170 is decent

The RS is amazing


Also remember that it may cost more to buy but its an investment that will lose little if any money in depreciation and also has the potential to appreciate in value.

[paulmoonraker]

I had an ST170 and its a great car. My neighbour has the RS and its an amazing car. No contest ...

The only thing of course is MPG. His is remaped and what have you, and its terrible! So the ST170 is a better daily perhaps...

[AB]

ST170 is a great car with a not so good engine.

RS is the worst bits of the 170, but corrected.

[ALY77]

The ST170 is a quick version of the MK1 Focus.
The RS is more like a re-engineered version of the Mk1.

There isn't the drastic change that saw the RS2000 Escort morph in to the Escort Cosworth but think along those lines.