Ford Focus ST

The new and current ST or the previous ST170??

In any case, the answers are: 5cyl ST ST170

1) Plated Dry Liners cast in. 2) Limited room, Care needed~£200. Circa £160, again limited room. 3) Yes Yes 4) 23-27mpg 25-30mpg 5) Ok, but max power on 99. Reasonable, 99 preferred.

Hope this helps.

Tim..

Sorry , I should have made that clear. The latest Focus ST1, ST2, ST3 (5 cylinder turbo)

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately my newsreader lost all the formatting of your columns, making it difficult to be sure which answer applied to the

5 cyl. ST and which applied to the ST170.

Please can you confirm that these are the answers applicable to the 5 cyl. Focus ST1, ST2, ST3?

Focus 5 cyl. ST

1. Aluminium cylinder block fitted with dry liners, cast in.

1. Cam belt change - circa £160, limited access.

2. Dual-mass flywheel - Yes

1. Average 25 - 30 mpg

2. Engine runs reasonably on 95RON, but prefers 99RON.

How do you get hold of this sort of information? Is there a Website anywhere that gives detailed technical information of this type?

Maybe you could answer some additional questions?

Does the ST have a traditional throttle cable, or is it 'fly-by-wire'?

Two Ford Main Dealer salesmen have independently assured me that the Focus ST2 is fitted with a limited slip differential. I'm not convinced as it is not mentioned in any Ford brochure or Focus ST review that I have read. I think it just has an Electronic Stability Programme. Can you confirm whether Ford fit a LSD to the ST2?

I see that Ford offer a Wolf performance upgrade and Superchips UK offer a Bluefin performance upgrade. Neither are cheap and I think that at 300bhp, the Wolf upgrade is probably a bit over-the-top. Is the Superchips Bluefin upgrade worthwhile, or have Ford got things more or less right with the standard ST?

Thanks

1) Yes 2) Circa £200 at your local good independant- more at Ford dealer 3) Yes 4) Yes 5) Yes.

I used to work for Ford R&D and still have close contacts there now.

Fly by wire. Nearly ALL new cars are FBW nowadays.

No LSD - its all done electronically via braking individual wheels and regulating engine torque.

The max you will get from the 5 cylinder from just a remap is around

255-260hp. The Bluefin /superchips is the best option.

Stock intercooler especially, turbo and downpipe are the limiting factors, anything much over 300hp and especially 400nm and the rods bend. This motor is not designed to be a high blow unit. (0.6bar as stock)

Hope this helps.

Tim..

Thanks Tim - excellent information.

If only Ford Main Dealers knew a little more about the cars they are selling!

I'm aware you never asked if you should buy one, but they're really not all that fantastic. I've driven two, one new, one used. Both were Fords, which would explain why I felt the way I did about them after the half-hour drive. I really don't think it passes the 'briefcase' test.

That sounds like it didn't pass your test, though.

On the other hand, the five cylinder model has enough go and handling abilities to be a good hot hatch, but also has the other Focus attributes, so it's a great car, too.

I agree, and if I had a spare £16 or so k, i'd have one today! (not in orange though)

Tim.

It's one of the cars on my list. I'm looking for a sporty hatch that doesn't upset 'Golden' Brown (Prime Minister in waiting) too much.

I test drove one last week. It only had 300 miles on the clock, so was still tight. Must admit, I did enjoy the handling and performance. The

6-speed cogbox was pretty slick too (although any cogbox would appear slick compared with the harsh, 'agricultural' transmission in my current vehicle).

By 'Both were Fords' do you mean as opposed to being Volvos with the same (T5) engine (i.e the V50)?

I would have liked a longer test drive. In fact, I would like to have done my usual 'to and from work' 50 mile journey in it to establish whether I could live with one.

The fact that the ST had an instrument that I thought was long extinct, the oil pressure gauge, almost convinced me to buy one ;-)

I don't know whether there are any reliability issues, but on the face of it, the Focus ST2 seems good value for money, although possibly with the usual Ford 'lead balloon' depreciation.

Then you might want to consider something with a chunky diesel engine instead of a chunky petrol engine, especially since carbon dioxide is the only pollutant known to man.

Aie I should say!

No, probably that the poster doesn't like Fords.

Absolutely.

Perhaps. Years on, higher performance Fords retain their value much better than the ordinary models, providing you look after it of course.

I assume that Superchips/Bluefin mainly obtain the extra power by increasing the turbo boost. I'm always left wondering why, if such increases are technically acceptable, the original manufacturer (in this case Ford) didn't do it themselves.

Superchips don't seem to admit to any detrimental side-effects when their Bluefin remap is installed, e.g. fuel consumption doesn't increase. There has to be additional stress on the engine, but are there any other trade-offs? Would the remap preclude the use of 95RON petrol, for example?

Is there a road test/review of the Superchips/Bluefin remapped Focus ST anywhere?

Not always, though.

provide some answers, but in this case, it may be for marketing purposes.

You could try the Focus groups.

On the subject of marketing, one of the reasons why lots of cars have a maximum power output of X (say, 163 PS, now 170 PS or 50 PS now 60 PS) is because of European tax laws. The same may be true of the Focus ST.

Or Ford didn't want to nick sales from other models in the range(s), so the Focus ST has been deliberately kept where it is.

Tim.. ( snipped-for-privacy@spam.btinternet.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

That colour is the only thing about it that actually appeals in any way. Apart from that it's just another over-powered over-bloaty hatch.

Such as?

I understand that Toyota has recently brought out a new 2.2ltr chain-cam diesel engine that is getting very good revues. Unfortunately, Toyota don't appear to fit it into anything I would be keen to own.

It is unfortunate that this paranoid government has declared the UK culpable for all aspects of global warming. It is equally unfortunate that 'Golden' Brown's favoured solution to any such issue is to nail a green label on it and hit it with a massive tax hike.

If I was cynical, I might suggest that this bankrupt government is literally mugging the UK population under the deceptive guise of 'green issues' to fund illegal wars and failed immigration policies. But fortunately I'm not, so I won't ;-)

Anyway, I digress. I'm mainly trying to buy a sporty hatch (or estate) that is below the >225g/km (£300) vehicle tax band G. The Focus ST just creeps into the vehicle tax band F at 224g/km.

It's been out for a while, at least, if it's the one I'm thinking of.

Oh surely not...

Hmm. The only hatchback I can think of that has a similar performance and CO2 output is the BMW 130i, but that's a tad dearer.

If you're willing to drive something a little slower and are happy with it, how about the 2.4 JTD Alfa Romeo 156? It is slower, but its CO2 is ~180 g/km and it also has five cylinders.

Is the 3.0 Vectra diesel a bit too big?

But you really want an Alpina D3... :)

You could be right. Honest John was praising the engine a week or so ago in the Saturday Telegraph and I assumed it was a fairly new oil burner.

I have considered BMW, but I don't have a local BMW dealership, so ownership of a BMW could become inconvenient.

I haven't looked at Alfas lately. When I sat in one some years ago, I discovered the driving position was designed for people with short legs. I usually have an issue with legroom in cars, except with the Mercedes C & E Class.

That's one I hadn't considered, but the Vectra wouldn't be too big. I don't really like the Vectra though.

Not much has changed. They're designed around the engine I guess, rather than around the driver. :)

I'd suggest you at least try it. The new shaped Vectra is a world apart from the older model. The 2.2 petrol SRi was a hoot, the ordinary 1.8 petrol (okay okay it's a dual fuel model) is, well, okay...

IS220d?

Anyway, you mention that C or E class fits you well - plenty of them around you know!

To get the CO2 down into the tax banding...

Rica offer 260bhp from a remap. My Volvo (5 cyl 2lt turbo) was done by them and was significantly better to drive for it.

Yes, I found the same answer in Honest John's Telegraph Motoring section this Saturday: "engines are mapped to deliver best results in EU emissions and fuel-consumption tests... "

How many other companies offer remapping, apart from Rica and Superchips?

Who offers the best product/service, or is there little to choose between them?