Having had a completely problem free 6 months with the Ibiza gti things came crashing to earth with the drilled fuel tank, a knackered gasket, a corroded exhaust, and a few other on going issues.

Also while it impressed on track at Castle Combe with the Skodas back in the spring, last weekend's track day at Oulton highlighted just how quick it is not eevn though it was awesome fun.

In short i've lost a bit of faith and have itchy feet about fniding a replacement.

Now i loved the Ibiza PD130 i had before my Fabia, and I love my Fabia.

The mix of economy and (relative) performance is great.

And another oil burner would be great.

However a high revving petrol has infected my diesel loving brain.

I casually typed "ST170" into ebay and found that Focii aren't actually far from the Ibiza in purchase price terms.

Anyone had one?

Are they reliable?

Are they fun?

Are they expensive to run? (Bearning in mind the 2 litre lump in my Ibiza isn't exactly shy of a drink!)

Are they a pain on the wallet when it comes to insurance?

Which would you chose based on a life of 90% commuting 10 miles in traffic to and from work and (hopefully) the other 10% on track?

What do we think?

Clio Cup??

I am biased here but in all honesty it would have to be a PD130.

If you want some more power then get a remap.

As nice as the ST170 would be I think for the other 90% of the time it might not be so great.

I love the general driveability of the PD130 and the effortless driving style (not needing any more than 2000 rpm most of the time and a max of 3500 rpm when you want to get going).

Phil

Clio Cup??

wow they really have come down in price!

is it likely to drink me out of house and home?

and spend more time in a garage than on the road?

I am biased here but in all honesty it would have to be a PD130.

If you want some more power then get a remap.

As nice as the ST170 would be I think for the other 90% of the time it might not be so great.

I love the general driveability of the PD130 and the effortless driving style (not needing any more than 2000 rpm most of the time and a max of 3500 rpm when you want to get going).

Phil

yeah i'm kind of biased to but have come to love a revvy petrol for everything bar it's thirst!

But am slowly falling out of love with my particular revvy petrol given it's recent issues

I've been in an ST170 but not driven it. I disliked the fact that is was exactly the same interior to my diesel Zetec. It's also not that fast and pretty heavy on fuel. But the Focus Mk1 was a lovely car to drive.

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/other-marques-33/456262-ford-focus-st170-any-good.html

Think a Clio would be more fun and cheaper to run as long as the frog electric don't turn to brie.

If you don't have kids or need a lot of luggage space the MX5 seems to be a winner for most people in the cheap/fun bracket.

Another vote for a 172 here. Or a 182. I've owned numerous hot hatches:

6 clios, 2 172's, 2 williams, 2 16v's

Integra Type R DC2

2 Leon Cupra R's

Fabia VRS

Boosted MX5

Evo 4

Ibiza FR

The most fun ive had in those, is between the ITR and the MX5. The mx was great fun, an awesome drivers car, but, was a bit costraphobic for day to day use. The ITR was the best on track, but, a little harsh day-to-day, 70mph @4500rpm :( but, when you got it on track it came into its own. I then fitted a cage and coilovers and it was nigh on untouchable. I was giving an Astra VXR race car trouble through some of the bends, admittedly, it tore me a new one on the straights. and 8500rpm is great.

The ITR was the best on track, but, a little harsh day-to-day, 70mph @4500rpm :(

Really?! Wow that's a short 5th gear! No way I could put up with that!

Yeh, its a very close ratio box. It kicks vtec in at 105mph lol. its alright on A/B roads, means you can practically go everywhere in 5th. and fuel consumption when driven sensibly, would see 30/35mpg. But, it is THE BEST fwd gear shift you'll ever feel. period.

172's get better consumption than a 182 fro some reason or other. they did change the ratio in the box for the 182's. but drive a 172 sensibly, and you'll see nearly diesel fuel economy.

BIL has had a 172 for many years and loves it. Expect cracked brake discs and broken road springs. Neither are very expensive though- but he got an extended warranty anyway.He's hanging onto it. Can get 40mpg on gentle holiday transits in France.

Prefers OE Michelin tyres apparently as well.

Edited 15 December, 201114 yr by gregoir

Having had a MkI Focus as my first car, and being a big fan of the MkI Focus (i still think its the best looking of the bunch, including the new once) when the time came to change earlier in the year i had a really long hard look at the ST170.

They are, as stated, cheap as chips to buy and are but the fuel consumption figures quoted were pretty catostrophic for a daily runner, especially given that it isnt staggeringly powerful either.

Ended up going for the Octavia instead, no regrets.

c2 vts? serious fun!

cheap too. i bought my 54 plate with 40000 miles for 4100 from a dealer couple of years back. pick them up now for under 3k!

An ST170 is quite quick when really thrashing it, but it's a car that has to be driven really hard due to the lack of torque. It will handle fantastically well - as all Mk1 Focus do - but it'll drink the go-go juice. I had a 1.8 Zetec and it'd rarely get much more than 33mpg even when driving sedately. Trouble is, it begged you to go for it.

The engineering supervisor at my work had one of these until recently. Few mods (well a fair few) was running just under 200bhp. Sounds good, goes well, but as said, very juicy. I took it for a spin a few time, when it was running just a exhaust system, felt much quicker then the 170bhp suggests (a bit like the fiesta st`s I found). I didnt think it was that "torque-less". After owning a diesel for a while you get this image that all petrol cars have no torque. Talking of which, I`m still undedicated which i`m going to track next year, Fiesta ST or Fabia vRS. . . .

Anyway OT, when I looked at the Clio`s a fair few people said they get costly to maintain after a few miles on the clock, and the huge camblet/aux belt ect scared me a bit. But they look tidy, nice inside. I`d take a few for a spin and see which felt nicest, while obviously doing lots of research about them all.

Cambelt and aux change on a cup/non ac version is about £400 from a specialist. And about £450 for an ac one. People know know what is involved with one so don't get mugged off. They're pretty indestructible engines aswell, provided no cowboys get they're hands on them. I had one from 2y old and 27k. I put 100k on it and thrashed it from cold every morning, and would see the rev limiter in 5th pretty much on a weekly basis. I then rolled it(surprise surprise) and the engine went into another shell. I thought I'd change the shells while it was out... No need. Still had the protective lining on them! And that engine produced 188bhp on a std fuel map, with a home brew induction kit, sportex cat back and ported inlet.

I have a good friend that's selling a mint Clio 172, I can PM you a link to some pics / description if you like.