Some power again... (Focus ST)

[TopCat]

Well, I never thought I'd hear these words from my mouth but, I bought a Focus!

While the Audi A4 was nice, actually, great car to be fair, the boot was just a little bit small, and I couldn't quite fit my bike in for weekend trips, so I needed something more "practical". Lots of things crossed my mind, and I was very close to closing a deal on a swap for an A4 estate, but I walked away from it, and boy am I glad. I was thinking as long as it had folding seats, it might serve the purpose I require, but I did want something a bit different. Logic said diesel, so I had considered Alfa GT's, but what I really was longing for was a Brera, the 2.4L. But, they were big money (and hard to find).

So, last week, I remember a friend had an ST before. Quick text, what were his thoughts... simple enough "get one!!". (In fact he's considered getting one again, says a lot in my eyes). That's what good car friends are for though, they know the answer you want to hear (few like that on here too ).

So, looked at a few, and with a final bit of encouragement and help from someone here, I picked up this last night...



Ok, its very early impressions, but... very happy with it. Great all round car. Surprisingly quiet on start up and driving, solid build, and power and torque that is, well, addictive! Lovely little burble from the 5 cylinder when you give it some, and the power is there very early on, and not in the big lump I expected with the turbo. Nice progressive power, and don't need to ring its neck to get most from it. Feels planted on the road without being harsh, and doesn't seem to have any issues with delivering 225bhp through the front. Besides the tax, I think this should be a very easy car to live with. Fuel, well its not gonna be cheap, and I'm not expecting that, but I got over 30mpg on the 100+ mile trip home last night, and that was with getting off the motorway early for some light entertainment .

And its good to be back in something I won't be hiding in the back of a car park at a car meet!

So, something more practical than an A4 Diesel = Focus ST. Well, can be debated, but I don't really give a $hit, I'm smiling when I drive again!

*Edit to fix link

[goz_83]

That smiling is all that matters. Lovely car mate.

[Myfeckin FTO]

Very nice car Tom - was eyeing that on donedeal during the week. Same basic engine as the RS and can easily be remapped to 300bhp. Good quality tyres on there (Pirellis & BF Goodrich) as well which for me is always an indication that car is well looked after. Some really incredible metal around for the money at the moment.

[TopCat]

Thanks guys.
Yeah, plenty of choice in that kinda price bracket. I looked a 3 similar cars, and even though this stood out, I wouldnt have been disappointed in going home in either of the other 2. The hardest choice was deciding to move out of the 2.0l tax bracket. Considered a GTI also, but I think overall value for money, this is a better buy. For me anyway.

[Bernard]

Nice purchase Tom, and like you say it's nice and practical too.
Out of curiosity, what does it weigh? I wonder what the power to weight ratio is like versus the FTO?

[TopCat]

Not sure of the weight off hand, but it's definitely heavier, by quite a bit id guess. BHP per ton, I'd say the GPX would have it. But the torque of the ST would give it the advantage I'd think?

[goz_83]

Maybe at the next meet we can find out

[colm_mcm]

Car weight 1437kg


Lovely car Tom

[optical illusion]

You've had my comments but well wear again

As I said was very much on the list and nearly bought before the 225.

[CJ]

Nice leftfield choice, well wear.

[Mustang]

Well, I never thought I'd hear these words from my mouth but, I bought a Focus!

While the Audi A4 was nice, actually, great car to be fair, the boot was just a little bit small, and I couldn't quite fit my bike in for weekend trips, so I needed something more "practical".

When I read that first I thought it read
"While the Audi A4 was nice, actually, great car to be fair, the boost was just a little bit small"

TC I'm a big ST fan -just love it. The performance, the practicality, the blue collar credentials -the fact that it isn't a golf. High on my to do list. Does it have the leather recaro seats?

I refer you back to this thread

And specifically my prediction

Disclamer: Past performance is not an indication of future performance. The performance of your car may go up as well as down.
Based on the support and resistance levels the channel in which you are currently trending is generally upward -Remember vehicle ownership is a long term propect - a marathon not a sprint. The good news is that your next car could reasonably be expected to have ~250 bhp. However it is also due to be fwd -so should be a bit of a handful

In fairness I wasn't far off the mark, a simple remap would give you the extra 25bhp required to make it a reality

[TopCat]

Haha, well spotted Ross, and nicely predicted. So can you have a guess at what lies down the road for me after this?

There does seem to be a lot of potential to (relatively) easily up the bhp figure to closer to 300, but I have no intention of doing that (yet anyway ). I'm going to leave her as is for now, standard as it came from the shop. The only thing I want to do, is swop out the seats for the higher spec leather. It has the cloth Recaro's at the moment, and even though they are very comfortable, I have been in the leather ones before, and I can't think of a better seat in any car I've been in, they are class. I thought I had a set sourced in Donegal, but that looks to have fallen through.

It's certainly not an obvious choice, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. And after test-driving the first one, I knew it was just a matter of finding the right one. I'd like to have got an ST3 (the top spec with the leather), but the condition of the ST2 I bought is really good. This one also has the decal on the side, and although I wasn't sure about it originally (I normally prefer a clean, understated car), it has grown on me, and makes it stand out just enough.

Driving wise, now that I've a few more miles on it, its a cracking drive. Power is just always there, and 50-70mph (and maybe beyond) is so quick, and really effortless. Not sure how to compare it to the FTO, they're just from a different eras. Built quality and refinement as a result is much better, but there is a certain familiarity with that kind of power going to the front. In every day driving, the ST feels more powerful, but if driven right (ie keeping in the Mivec zone), I'd say they'd be a good match, especially around a track. (Hmm.., maybe I will have to get that re-map).

[TopCat]

Well it didn't have leather, and I eventually managed to do a deal with the guy for the leather seats. So after, after a productive Saturday morning, the interior looks like this...





Very happy with it, very comfortable seats in great condition. I know in the pic there looks like there is a mark in the middle of the rear seat, but a bit of massaging took care of that.

[Mustang]