06 Focus ST

[r200ti]

06 ST-2 with springs, intercooler, CAIS, zorst, remap.

It took me a while to get used to the ST as at first its quite a disapointing car.

For all that glued on plastic its not a particulary aggressive hatch to drive. Being i got one as a backup for trackday use this was annoying. Also the fact they are huge. Even when lowered the roof is higher than some people carriers!

The controls are all very soft, like the suspension. Dont get me wrong, its full of feel and superbly progressive but its like it was built for your gran to drive.

The interior is very basic and spec is generally low, however Ford give it some good wins. Heated front screen, twin 12v ports, aux in for the stereo, huge air conditioned glove box, fantastic comfy and supportive seats. Plus there is the auxilary dials, for a loon like me these are essential and a pleasant addition.

The boot is big and its opening wide and square, interior space is good.

The ST is hard to fault for a practical or daily use proposition.

The engine is full of charisma. Maybe not the most powerful or economic unit, std or remaped but it has huge torque. It also sounds fantastic from idle to its 7k limit.

The chassis as mentioned before is a bit soft in more ways than one. Lift off is frustratingly slow to react and turn in just isnt sharp enough. However, grip is immense and once you get going the car covers ground easily. It may not post the fastest lap times, but if your not taking risks it will keep up with almost anything through its compliance and versatility. ABS and ESP are very well judged. Im not a fan of abs, ive grown up without it but forcing the ST's system to kick in returns scuffs and releases far superior to my best cadence efforts. The ESP lets the car do its stuff and only interupts when you start to go to far.

In the wet its superb. Im a fair weather racer and scared of the wet, but the ST works incredibly well on damp or wet surfaces.

See past that body kit and that cool but questionable 2.5 litre engine and the ST is just a super friendly jack of all trades.

- mpg

- not as fast as youd expect

- questions over reliability

- Struggles to find traction at lower speeds

- chassis a bit to tame

+ massive grip and front end bite

+ very, very practical

+ simples to drive

+ 5 pot turbo

+ much cheaper than a VXR, MPS or Cupra

EXTRA.

Modified Vs std:

Ford approved springs lower the car and improve handling with little imapct to ride.

Remap makes the car much better to drive and noticably faster, however the std map has more character. It has a kick at 4k and the flatter torque curve feels more racey. For pure fun id have the std map over the diesal like remap, but the lack of power and the fact the engine doesnt run as smooth means a remap is effectivly essential.

30-70 in 3rd

std ST: 6.3seconds

ST with CAIS and zorst: 5.9

ST stage 2 with oe cat: 4.5

Audi S3 261 (ref): 5.8

[D@z]

pretty good review, pretty much all the things I thought when I looked at one last year.

Also, where are you getting those times mate? Im quite curious to test my Octy Derv against some of these "hot hatches" times.

[modra_vrs]

Good review.

I owned a DS remapped 56 plate ST for two years. Findings much the same as yourself. Ran two maps - DS Race + and DSCI. Like chalk and cheese. Race + more lower down wallop like a diesel whereas DSCI was much more rev friendly.

MPG pretty bad though, never more than 30, tended to get 26 everday, 18 on a spirited drive...

Faults - I had a new gearbox under warranty. Shift was very notchy. Also PAS pipe fell off , a TSB warranty notice was issued for this so all should be done.

Also worst car I have had to park due to limited turning circle given by the quick rack fitted only to th ST.

Still my favourite car of all I've owned overall.

[r200ti]

Yeh, the mechnicals are highley qestionable on them. Luckily ive not had problems bar a knocking in the transmission when i change gear. But they are good cars all in.

Also, where are you getting those times mate? Im quite curious to test my Octy Derv against some of these "hot hatches" times

Off the net!!

nah, the times for my cars are from a G-meter. Seems to be accurate enough as my remaped times are identical to those done by magazines with GPS. Its been really usefull assesing my cars and the mods done. The vag and stock st numbers are off the net/magazine tests.

If your around this area you can use mine.

J

[Vrs Shark!]

Nice review mate! I almost bought an ST3 or a Honda Civic Type-R last year. The Honda dealer were not able to give me the deal I wanted :( So it was an ST or Vrs, I went with the Vrs on the end Not that this really matters but how does the Ford Focus ST compare to Vrs? The performance in both these cars are almost identical or am I missing something here? :wonder: I don't know why you think the engine of the ST is questionable, as it's a Volvo engine!. I always thought anything by Volvo is bullet proof like they're cars? :wonder:

Edited 16 April, 2011 by Vrs Shark!

[r200ti]

Thanks

Apparently there a few issues with them, ranging from annoying to extremly serious. (split block, oil pressure valve failure etc)

Must admit, mines been fine as most are, but then its still not done many miles.

Depends if its a mk1 or mk2 mate? But compared to the mk1 we had, tbh its a completly different machine.

J

[Guest BigJase88]

I had one! Worst car ive ever owned

Turning curcle is useless, economy is useless, not overly quick, and ford reliability.... Thank god i sold it

[Brian69]

I like these. However, one parks outside my work and it does look like bits have been stuck on with sticky-back plastic (which if the Fiesta ST is anything to go by, probably isn't far from the truth).

[r200ti]

As im a bit bored ill update the Mk2 ST review with its track performance.

The car i took to the track was reasonably std, 290bhp (remap, intercooler, cais etc) and eibach springs with a thicker rear arb set to soft. And on Road tyres.

It was a real mixed bag.

What suprised me was it was incredibly agile. Direction change and turn in were a match for small hatches, infact id go as far to say evo like. And its braking was awesome, aided by its excellent electronics.

The brakes also held up pretty well, for the weight and power I really expected them to go away after 2 laps.

On the negative side with soft springing, 1.6 tons of mass (was carrying a 100kg passanger), no LSD and 380lbs of torque it just span up even through 4th gear. This made corner exits incredibly frustrating.

The engine is great, even pulling all that bulk and having a bit to much torque and not quite enough power it still goes well and sounds amazing.

Fit an LSD to it and i reckon the ST would be a potent track car considering its bulk and small turbo.

Also re the electronics, while the ABS programme and ESP were amazing and did things I couldnt with an extra set of limbs the traction control was awful.

Turning it off dropped laptimes by 2 seconds!! But did require a very delicate right foot.

My conclusion of its track efforts are its typical 'road car'. Itll get beat not because it useless, it just doesnt do what a track car needs to do - get out of the corner as fast as possible.

But considering its a cheap, extremely practical road car the fact I had no problems with scoobies or Clio 200's means its not as bad as many would think.

And yes, without a remap and/or breathing mods (breathing mods can up it to around 250-260 before a remap)they are not quick cars. 220bhp + 1500kg dont go!

J