Out of interest thought i would have a test drive in a focus st to see what all the fuss was about as Im thinking we may need a bigger boot due to our handsome wee boy who is 6 months old!!

Any after the usual dealer bullsxxt eventually had a shot in one of the bright orange jobbies. initial reaction was that it was a far more striking beast than my wee fabaru and then i got inside... wasnt all that special and it was a midrange spec. Anyway thought it would have a massive surge in speed and if I didnt already own a fabia with 190bhp and 285lb of torque i would have been massively impressed but still couldnt live with 20mpg even though it did sound like a racing car when booted. My car also has a jabba arb and front mintex pads, what else can I do to the wee beastie to improve handling and stopping!!!!!! and not cost too much as I am a tightass scotsman!!!!!!

You tried anything else in this sector? Octy vRS, Astra VXR, Megane 225, Golf GTi etc - just to give yourself similar models to compare it with.

Steve

Try the new Civic. Although, the Megane R26 is one of the best hotch hatches to be realeased so I've read. I would love a drive in one, and also come with the additional LSD.

Nah, the older Civic is better so I've heard. More raw and peaky. More involving too. They've apparently aimed the new one at Golf drivers through adding refinement.

Agree on the Astra VXR front though. Mental apparently. Lots of "character"

Not into Megane's. Fat ar53 and they have no steering feel whatsoever with lots of slack. Golf GTi's are highly rated but expensive. The new Octavia vRS petrol has the same engine etc but is cheaper.....quite a bit cheaper.

I've heard a few people say they weren't too impressed with the new ST though. It's too boring to drive. It's got grunt and all that but it's a broad spread of it so it's not as urgent. It's also a little vague to drive from what I've heard.

Lad at work had a Astra VXR and loved it.....had to get rid cos of the daily commute and he has a lead foot. Not a good combo for saving money.

My old man was going to buy a Focus, but the arrogance of the dealer put him off. "Of course Ford is the best because we are the most popular and always have been!".

He's now getting a Honda Civic instead which i am far more exited about!

Try a Focus RS, they're about 12k now for a decent mileage example.

Or an Octy vRS diesel, they're 170BHP out of the box aren't they?

I found the Focus ST utterly bland in every way. And the driving seat was too high. :thumbdwn:

I think the Focus is aimed at too sensible an audience really. Even an orange paintjob can't hide the fact it's a fairly average car. Probably quite easy to live with if it weren't for the fact it drinks fuel and will be expensive to tax and insure.

Buy a VXR instead.

Buy a VXR instead.

Amen to that - I loved the VXR when I drove it. The torque steer & understeer are nowhere near as bad as the magazines say & they're rarer than the ST too.

That said, they're both wallowy barges

For such a highly praised car I found the Focus ST rather boring aswell, the ST3 I drove had great seats (adjustable in every way SteVRs) but the engine wasnt quite the peach I was expecting. It was quick if you drove the nuts off it but at a couple of points I had to put it in 2nd to get it to really move because the gears felt really long, it was only the speedo that indicated how fast it actually was and it didnt feel like there was any grunt low down which was surprising given the nature of the engine. I almost didnt notice what the handling was like because I was so tied up getting the most out of the engine, all I can remember is that it felt pretty planted.

I drove an Astra VXR aswell, quick but sounded like a sewing machine (rev one hard and you will now what I mean) and the steering felt awful - I could go round a corner, throw the steering around and it would have no effect! I found the sport button which improved the steering feel to something I could live with but it made the throttle reponse really annoying, it became very hard to drive smoothly at low speed.

One of the weekends I was due to drive the ST the dealer didnt have a car available so instead of letting this put me off I went to my local Seat dealer to see if they had a new Leon Cupra - they did and I had a good poke around and found the best driving position ive ever found before being lucky enough to get a decend test drive on the spot (Im 23 year and looked rather scruffy that day so I was rather pleased). I pulled out onto the main road and it felt so right, the steering felt right - light but responsive and it drove like a diesel in that it had enough flexibility at low speeds to be in 4th at 30. When I was able to open it up it impressed me even more, it felt fast and it delivers it in a really nice way a bit like a diesel rather with a wave that lasts from 2k to 6.5k!!!!

I couldnt justify (afford) a new Cupra and I didnt really want an ex-demo so my new Candy White FR with the toys I wanted will be with me in September with money for a remap set aside should I miss the 40 BHP from the Cupra.

Hmmmmm R26 is what id be getting.

The only down side to it is that its French

Not what I was expecting to read about the ST!

Mind you,they are everywhere now.The new XR3.

Still prefer a Golf GTI or Octavia vRS out of the latest hot hatch bunch.

For such a highly praised car I found the Focus ST rather boring aswell, the ST3 I drove had great seats (adjustable in every way SteVRs) but the engine wasnt quite the peach I was expecting. It was quick if you drove the nuts off it but at a couple of points I had to put it in 2nd to get it to really move because the gears felt really long, it was only the speedo that indicated how fast it actually was and it didnt feel like there was any grunt low down which was surprising given the nature of the engine. I almost didnt notice what the handling was like because I was so tied up getting the most out of the engine, all I can remember is that it felt pretty planted.

I drove an Astra VXR aswell, quick but sounded like a sewing machine (rev one hard and you will now what I mean) and the steering felt awful - I could go round a corner, throw the steering around and it would have no effect! I found the sport button which improved the steering feel to something I could live with but it made the throttle reponse really annoying, it became very hard to drive smoothly at low speed.

One of the weekends I was due to drive the ST the dealer didnt have a car available so instead of letting this put me off I went to my local Seat dealer to see if they had a new Leon Cupra - they did and I had a good poke around and found the best driving position ive ever found before being lucky enough to get a decend test drive on the spot (Im 23 year and looked rather scruffy that day so I was rather pleased). I pulled out onto the main road and it felt so right, the steering felt right - light but responsive and it drove like a diesel in that it had enough flexibility at low speeds to be in 4th at 30. When I was able to open it up it impressed me even more, it felt fast and it delivers it in a really nice way a bit like a diesel rather with a wave that lasts from 2k to 6.5k!!!!

I couldnt justify (afford) a new Cupra and I didnt really want an ex-demo so my new Candy White FR with the toys I wanted will be with me in September with money for a remap set aside should I miss the 40 BHP from the Cupra.

Hmmm...interesting.

The only down side to it is that its French

This only downside happens to be a major one. Fat bottomed flimsy French rubbish.

Also the chassis on the standard Megane (I drove a 1.5 DCi 100bhp thingy) doesn't feel right at all, let alone with more power. Body roll is excessive too. The steering is so vague it's almost Playstation like and it has loads of slack. You turn the wheel and nothing happens, so you turn it a bit more and the car suddenly lurches left or right...it's totally unpredictable. Awful car to drive. If all they've done is lower it etc on the sporty models I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole. It may be fast but it'd be like playing Gran Turismo in terms of driver involvement and to stop all that body roll it'd be like riding with no tyres on.

EDIT: To add, I got in my vRS afterwards and it felt lovely to drive in comparison. The steering wheel felt connected to the front wheels, the body was well controlled and of course there was the power.

This is all with the Fabia in general being not the best of cars to drive in its own right compared to the likes of say BMW's etc.

Try the new Civic. Although, the Megane R26 is one of the best hotch hatches to be realeased so I've read. I would love a drive in one, and also come with the additional LSD.

And the great news for tight a$$es is that there's a diesel version too

Chris

This is all with the Fabia in general being not the best of cars to drive in its own right compared to the likes of say BMW's etc.

Quick! Call a mod! Welshy's hijacked Chrispy's account!

Quick! Call a mod! Welshy's hijacked Chrispy's account!

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

And the great news for tight a$$es is that there's a diesel version too

Chris

So with interest rates going up, that'll be all of us then. :P

the ST3 I drove had great seats (adjustable in every way SteVRs)

Too high on the bottom setting for me - felt like i was driving a bus!

I found similar when I jumped in but I found you could adjust the tilt aswell as the height which made a big difference - nothing on the low down, legs out straight with the wheel at full arm stretch away in the Leon though which is something ive never been able to get in other cars because of my short legs.

Have you driven the 120d its a very impressive piece of kit and you can pick up the oldest ones now with 60k for

The new Civic Type R is an excellent drive. The speed is shocking, but you do need to rev it to get the power. The 'type r' light on the dash only lights up once you're hitting 9/10k rpm and that is very scary.

It would be my choice of the current crop unless I were able to test drive the golf gti and be won over by the supposed low down torque. The type r is keenly priced though.

The GTI's in standard form, are not as quick as the Civic Type-Rs. And the new ones ... I'm sure the Edition 30 model is different though, and I'd be inclined to go for that one.

My choice, would be the R26 Megane. Beats the Civic for speed, and cornering, but I'm sure they've both got their good points.

The GTI's in standard form, are not as quick as the Civic Type-Rs. And the new ones ... I'm sure the Edition 30 model is different though, and I'd be inclined to go for that one.

My choice, would be the R26 Megane. Beats the Civic for speed, and cornering, but I'm sure they've both got their good points.

There cant be a lot in it, even less compared to the new one although im not sure what their 0-100 time is.

There cant be a lot in it, even less compared to the new one although im not sure what their 0-100 time is.

Can't be a lot in what? What are you comparing? The Civic to the GTI, or the Civic to the Megane?