New Focus ST Info thread.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Its possible they will go to Thai built.. Makes logistics much simpler.

As for the estate I would buy one in a heart beat, providing it had Mondeo seats!

[WILDB]

Originally Posted by martinijosh

Could even just buy a US front honey comb grille and make up your own bracket.

Originally Posted by DJM83

That is what he has done.

Doesn't that just look so much better.....

[pajoda]

I agree wildb, what did it set you back? If you don't mind me asking

[WILDB]

Under $300 delivered. It wasn't too hard to fit either.

[usernametaken]

how are these 25w xenons going?

Are they standard or optioned?

opinions?

[WILDB]

I find the Xenons to work very well, especially high beam.

[DJM83]

Looks heaps better Will

[pajoda]

Originally Posted by WILDB

Under $300 delivered. It wasn't too hard to fit either.

Thanks wildb

[Bossxr8]

SCT have just cracked the ECU in the US. Gained 25hp and 55 ft/lb of torque with a tune.

[martinijosh]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

SCT have just cracked the ECU in the US. Gained 25hp and 55 ft/lb of torque with a tune.

18.6kw
75nm


....75nm

[BaraFGXR6]

SOOOO EXCITED!!!

Finally got a test drive hooked up at Peter Warren Ford for tomorrow!

Really hoping it will blow me away so i can put one on order in WHITE or BLUE (havent decided yet)..

If all goes bad, il probably be going for a 2013 subaru WRX S-edition.... yeah i know, i know.. but god that thing made me smile when i drove it. I did not think i would like the rex as much as i did, but you cant help what you feel.

Fingers crossed the ST can sway me back to Ford!

[BadMax]

+1. Got a test drive booked in for tomorrow morning, just a short one for now. If the missus likes it and it makes the even shorter short list, they'll give it to us for an overnight test drive...Helps when you've bought a couple cars from them and spend a fair few bucks on parts a year.
Looking forward to it and the Megane RS265 drive, the others will be driven for the 'why not' factor.

[BaraFGXR6]

Well finaly got a brief test drive today.

All i can say is wow.

Ford have really impressed me on how good the build quality is in this car. I would dare say its comparable to Golf levels of build quality! Such a quiet ride and the soft touch panels and steering wheel were a delight!

The engine pulled strong aswell. This to me was the biggest surprise. At first i didnt like the flat tourque curve. But after a few rolling starts i really started to dig it. (Did i just say that? Dig? Really? Moving on..) The sound inside the car was also a welcome addition. Sounded very meaty and aggressive - just wish it had the exhaust note to match.

- The recaros - excellent but felt a little tight for me. This wasnt the case at the motorshow and im breaking this down to the fact that the car only had 7km on it and they needed some time to wear in a bit. Can anyone confirm this??

- Torque steer. Okay this was a problem and caught me a bit off guard at first. Iv never driven a high powered front wheel drive car so this could be adding to the sensation of it. I.e, its probably alot worse in other cars.

- Room. Rex has more room, but the focus can fold rear seats down.. Tuff one here.

- Handling. Cant really comment too much on this as i didnt have a chance to take it on a spirited drive with the salesman in the car. But it feels very capable of shaming the Rex should it be given the chance.

Im really torn between the rex and St now :( The rex i feel has the slight edge in terms of performance, street cred and seat of the pants feel. But the focus ST just puts forward a class of refinement that is hard to ignore.

Will need to drive them back to back now to see which gives the bigger smile

[Redrum]

Started putting the foot down on mine a bit now as I hit 1000km's. I love the fact when you give it a squirt, there is that squat, sleight bit of axle tramp and then it is party time. The handling just keeps impressing me and as I get used to the torque steer I am pushing it more and more and the car keeps responding!

[BadMax]

Well **** me! Ford have got it right

It's nice to be thrown the keys by the salesman and him saying 'see you when you get back'.

Firstly, fit and finish is fantastic, better than I expected. Seats are tight on me, but perfect for my wife. The only issue she had was smashing her left elbow into the side bolster.

Cruising along the car has a frim ride, not uncomfortable but firm sort of BMWish. Cabin is quiet, easy to see out of and comfortable. Which brings me to the sound generator, it's **** factor plus. I'd rather do without it full stop, it's not needed.

Damn, has this thing got some gadgets! No wonder the options list extends as far as the colour and that's it, seriousley how much more kit do you need?

Now, we got to scoot around familiar twisties and swapping drivers. This car does stick like ***** to a blanket, slight lift off mid corner will lighten the rear of the car. The power delivery is fairly linear but it's got a great amount of torque. Which leads me to torque steer. Yes it does have some and yes it does a great job of controling it. If you've never had a powerful fwd it will feel a little alien, wife had no problems as she drive a 180kw, V6 fwd.

All in all, it's a ripper! We are both thoroughly impressed, enough for my ultra fussy and car savvy wife to say 'yep I really like it'.

Which leads me to the second test drive, Megane Cup RS265. I didn't even bother driving this one. Similar roads but I felt it was uncomfortable, fit and finish not great and quite jittery on the same roads. But I must say, the exhaust note shat on the ST.

The the third test drive which was more of a 'why not'. Hyundai Veloster Turbo. Hey, for the price it's not a bad deal. Very similar specs gadget wise to the ST but lacking in all out grunt. The Veloster would make a great daily friendly drive for someone who wanted that little more oomph from the norm.
We would actualy pick the Veloster over the Megane because of the price difference.

We're pretty much sold on the ST, but we will go and drive the Mazda MPS, Golf GTi and maybe and 86, just to compare.

Well done Ford, you've built a great hot hatch!

[martinijosh]

Went to my local ford to see if they had one on the floor, indeed they did. And in blue too!

The disappointing thing after seeing one in the flesh is just how cheap and tacky the insides of the headlights look... fake chrome headlights should have died in the 90's.

[martinijosh]

Originally Posted by martinijosh

Went to my local ford to see if they had one on the floor, indeed they did. And in blue too!

The disappointing thing after seeing one in the flesh is just how cheap and tacky the insides of the headlights look... fake chrome headlights should have died in the 90's.

I suspect many people will end up cracking the headlights open and painting the pieces black like the yank/euro lights

[Franco Cozzo]

Or you could just import the Euro headlights if you CBF trying to split open the housing, newer Ford stuff is sealed with this "permaseal" crap, which is a total bastard to try remove to remove the lens.

[WILDB]

Those lights are allegedly over 600 pounds each, yeah they look great but for that price I'll put up with my silver ones...

No RHD vehicles have been built with black lights AFAIK.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by WILDB

Those lights are allegedly over 600 pounds each, yeah they look great but for that price I'll put up with my silver ones...

No RHD vehicles have been built with black lights AFAIK.

Even the Euro RHD countries?

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by martinijosh

Went to my local ford to see if they had one on the floor, indeed they did. And in blue too!

The disappointing thing after seeing one in the flesh is just how cheap and tacky the insides of the headlights look... fake chrome headlights should have died in the 90's.

They arent that bad.

As Will said no RHD cars will have black headlights, unless they have been swapped.

[WILDB]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Even the Euro RHD countries?

Correct, I've only seen them on pictures of LHD vehicles in Europe.

There are various threads on UK forums of owners complaining that their cars don't get black lights like the rest of Europe.

[AG3]

Originally Posted by WILDB

Correct, I've only seen them on pictures of LHD vehicles in Europe.

There are various threads on UK forums of owners complaining that their cars don't get black lights like the rest of Europe.

The black Focus ST used in the British film "The Sweeney" was RHD and had dark headlights.



http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/11...r-in-2012.html

[DJM83]

It's not an ST.

[WILDB]

Originally Posted by AG3

The black Focus ST used in the British film "The Sweeney" was RHD and had dark headlights.

I should rephrase that, on the UK forums there have been no vehicles people have bought that have come with dark headlights.

[martinijosh]

Originally Posted by DJM83

It's not an ST.

okay...

For the 2012 film, production of which is continuing until Christmas, Ford said that it has delivered several early-build Focus ST hatchbacks that join the Mondeos, Galaxys and Transits also being used in the movie as unmarked vehicles.

[damoose]

Was tossing up between mondeo titanium or one of these so glad to choose the st what an awesome little. I had forgotten how much fun driving could actually be.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by martinijosh

okay...

IIRC in the very early stages it was a 1.6. may be an ST now. Happy to be proven wrong though.

[kane_tools]

Ford is now retrofitting black headlamps now to uk cars free of charge.
I read this on focusstoc.

[Smoke Pursuit]

That is odd!!