tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

i had a look inside one at a track day at the weekend and i thought the interior quality and equipment was far better than the wrx.

as you say leather recaros vs crap wrx seats, also the focus had a sony dab radio that was factory fit vs the imprezas double din cassette cd combo from the 90's

i agree the focus dash looks a bit plastic, but the imprezas isnt any better.

i guess the answer is to drive both but personally i think id take a focus st

Jamescsti

There's a guy who's a member on Focus STOC has now designed and is selling a quick hit kit which works on both the ST and RS, superb bit of kit great design and he only charges £80 for it, makes a huge improvement. I have one on my car.

P1Fanatic

The bryshifter?

Jamescsti

Sorry for the late reply,

That's the one I have, great bit of kit. There's a few others but Bry's seems to be the best.

P1Fanatic

The standard gearchange on the RS feels a bit unsporty i.e. doesnt have the notchy feel of the WRX STi as you engage a gear. But there is nothing wrong with it in terms of useability. Honda are supposed to have one of the slickest gear changes and tbh I prefer my RS over my previous FN2 Civic in that regard.

Scooby Boovy

I had a 330bhp focus ST for 5 years! It was modded for fast road and occasional track days.
It was a fantastic car and I do miss the power!
It was completely reliable and even on standard clutch! Some slip after remap,
some dont! If it does just put in an RS clutch at £650 plus fitting.
I had so much fun in the ST over the years and it can embarrass exotica. At over 300bhp it will leave a WRX once rolling and will do the same with a standard sti or evo. But standing start they will all fly away from the ST because it spins the wheels all day long even with a quaife LSD. Even standard ST spins up too much.
I loved the car, sound, everyday reliability, ease of clutch, comfiness and lots of excellent tuners out there to help you out.
However I got bored of not being able to put the power down from a standing start and on track 4wd and rear wheel drive can get on the power much earlier and its hard to catch up against them even if they are slower on the straights! Also even though a modded ST will be quicker than a focus RS it can't match the handling and when my friend got an RS I started to lose love for the ST in general.
I am going to spa and the ring next year so needed a car that can do them tracks half decent out of the box and didnt want front wheel drive anymore.
I wanted an e46 m3 but don't have the time or money to look after one.
So I bought a discreet crystal grey hawkeye wrx which I was going to leave standard as it is a 2 owner immaculate low mileage subaru bought car but I am a slight modder at heart so will soon have a few simple mods to help it go a bit quicker and handle and brake a little bit better.
A WRX with a remap, decat and panel filter is pretty quick and with 4wd a very capable ground cover. However on e you start modding it never stops.

So my answer to you is you can't go wrong with either because try are both fantastic in their own way, but if you have had a 300bhp front wheel drive car before I would say find the best wrx or sti and enjoy 4wd!

Also my ST modded and un modded cost me £50 a week to run and the WRX is half that at circa £25 a week. Insurance is £150 more on the WRX.

triggster

iTrader: (4)

^^^ great comparison, ive driven two focus st's recently and have not been tht impressed but then with the current owner sat next you, its a little difficult to relax, they both seemed to be "lumpy" low down the revs driving in built up area upto about 20 mph, Its not a very good description I know, both were standard, also when travelling a steady 60 in 5/6th gear the roadnoise/engine noise is very loud and intrusive - they sound fantastic when really driving hard, but so far have not found one I like.
I also have been reading lots about the wrx 2.5 issues, such as head gaskets and piston problems, even the local subaru garage told me they're aware of the head gasket problem !!! so may have to go back to the drawing board lol

Scooby Boovy

It depends what exhaust setup you have on the ST. I had full decat turbo back mongoose but with Janspeed catbacks to keep it as quiet as can be and it was loud at coldstart for a minute then went very quiet at normal idle. Quiet when driving and motorway cruise with no boominess, but sounded loudish and fantastic at full acceleration. Some like the Piper setup sound like a tractor when cruising then sound like the old audi Quattro rally car when opened up. A standard wrx sounds a bit crap and very quiet but very sleeperish(is that even a word!? Lol!). I prefer the sleeper approach myself as I start leave for work at 3am.

Also to add the wrx is much safer on the limit and you can drive it at 7/10ths and it will be very fast down the country roads. The ST is more nervous on the limit but you can still chuck it about and it won't catch you out. However the 4wd WRX will offer more grip, safety and different cornering techniques. To have the fun factor in an ST on country roads you end up going dangerously fast and the plod won't like it but you can drive the WRX at 7/10ths and have fun and also cover ground stupidly quick while being safer. Hope you understand what I am trying to explain.
Whatever you go you will love!

romford-boy

Unmodified the ST might be a bit faster, bit quieter, bit more comfortable.

In favour of the ST is also how cheap it is to modify and and its bags of low down torque.

In favour of the Subaru is that boxer engine, the aggressive delivery and the AWD - but 6 months in you will lust after an STI and that really is a whole different kettle of fish!!

triggster

iTrader: (4)

Well, a bit of an update, I looked at 4 ST's all dogs, TBH for my budget I was at the lower end of the market, but was not impressed with condition of what I saw, also driving the st in 1st gear at low speeds felt very lumpy ? not a great decription I know but two I drove were both the same, I agree with little mods you can get a great deal of low down torque.
I could'nt afford the wrx hawkeye I saw and liked and was tempted by another but that needed tax £475, a cambelt service and new prodrive/alcon discs/pads which would be around £600, so decided against that also.
Then last week after being fed up of travelling all over the country I saw a lovely looking 330ci m sport on a 53 reg, low miles, low owners, a lot different from what I was after but I was struggling without a car, so I bought it.
Really like it, then whilst waiting for the other half in tesco's the other day parked at the rear of the car park, I saw an absolute peach of an impreza, the owner returned whilst I was drooling over it, it drove off and the sound was lovely !!! I think I should have waited !!!!
The beemer is lovely very well spec'd and seems bullet proof. But time will tell......