Scooby Roo

Looking at the ST as a replacement for the scoob. Just a bit concerned about going from a 4 wheel drive to a 2 wheel drive in terms of handling.

Straight line performance seems comparible.

Anyone got any expereince of the Ford.

Cheers

Roo

Kuro

What year?

I spend a lot of time driving the ST TDCi, which is frankly very good in both saloon and estate versions. Whilst it doesn't have the idiot proof chuckability of the Scoob, it's certainly well above average in the handling department.

The build quality is really good, and for a jack-of-all-trades car, it can't be beaten in my opinion. Unfortunately I have yet to get hold of a petrol version for a decent test.

Before the ST I had the ST24, which drove well, sounded awesome but drank like a fish

If you're in the market for new(ish) the current generation STs are a bargain as the dealers clear stock for the arrival of the new Mondeos.

dazc2

Focus ST220? Don't you mean Mondeo? They only did an ST220 Mondeo.

Scooby Roo

No I mean the Focus. I edited my first post but can't edit the title. All because I'm a moopet

Roo

billythekid

The 220 bit was dropped quite a long time ago, IIRC.

Just known as the Focus ST now. Unless this is something new.

If you look at the standard ST and WRX figures they are almost exactly the same, power, torque, weight.

NWMark

dont worry about 2wd the focus is superb in this respect, obviously not as good as 4wd but so much better than other 200bhp + FWD cars.

Dont expect much better fuel economy than the scoob though.

Mark

SPEN555

I would imagine being a five pot engine if you put a decent backbox on, it will sound rather good

NWMark

It sounds rather good in standard form as there is sound routed into the inside of the car from the engine bay area, a good exhaust just enhances this.

rabbos

A £500 remap gets you ~ 270hp/300lbft which the chassis handles remarkably well.

Scooby Roo

I'm thinking of buying over in Australia so fuel aint too much of a problem cos it's a lot cheaper.

So it look like a good bet then.

What about build quality. Not too taken by the scoob, though I will miss my bright button

Cheers

Roo

Tony MY03WRX

Have a look here m8 Focus ST Owners Club

I changed from a 03 WRX to the ST and love the car.......pick up my 3rd one 1st Sept

rabbos

Same here and no regrets, but 3 is just plain greedy!

Tony MY03WRX

I get a very good discount due to my job, so I can sell it every six months and get a new one....almost free motoring.......

mg driver

thats just not correct unless all you do is cruise straight dual carriageways.
I organised a trackday at castle combe in july and a friend took his st focus with ggr 300 bhp conversion,it was utterly useless as soon as you showed it a corner ,infact he was so dissapointed in it ,he put it straight up for sale.
Just to check he asked David De Costa (combe instructor and x racing driver)to drive it and he said the same ,totally overwhelmed by the power and awfull handling.I also know a rally driver who had some of the ford range and a track for a p.r day or summat ,he and all the other racing drivers present all drove the st and all agreed the handling was fundamentally flawed ,and couldnt get anywhere near the mondeo diesel through the corners.
To give you some idea how poor it was on track ,i could lap him in one 15 minute session with 100 bhp less .

Amazes me all these tarts who buy a turbo front driver ,chip it to 280 bhp while still on standard suspension and brakes etc and then claim its summat special ,yeah right ,on the straight roads of the usa maybe!

alackofspeed

I echo mg driver's comments - I drove a Focus ST, and wondered what all the fuss is about. I thought it would make a good mile muncher, but wasn't really a car to throw about. When hussled down some B-roads it felt very nose heavy, and seemed to roll quite a lot. I was very surprised how underwhelmed I was by the car.

I also didn't like the driving position - it's like the MK1 Focus only higher up, which I never thought possible!

I prefer the drive of the old shape Mondeo.

Shame really, as I wanted the car to be really good.

Dracoro

I thought it was either a Focus ST170, not a 220, or a ST (still with 170bhp)?

Shark Man

LMAO. I thought it was only me who though the MK1 fovus was like sitting in a transit, and MK2 is no better Certainly felt like that when compared to a MK5 RS2000 with the Recaros set at a sensible height.


(PS, if you think Focus is bad, try a Monaro...it's like sitting on the top level of a double decker bus ).

Anyhoo, back to the handling, not sure which ST the thread starter is on about, and I am yet to drive the lastest ST, but have driven the non ST versions and the old shape ST Focus, and can say its good as far as a slightly lardy family hatchback will go. Liked it, but didn't really inspire me much. I suppose if you want a good handling car, you don't buy a family saloon/hatch back, really now. Do you? Such is the compromise.

I bet an old Nissan Primera Sport still remains the benchmark as the best handling family sized car. Depsite it seriously lacking enough power to make real use of it.

Matteeboy

I tested one, expecting to want one.

Good:
Handles well.
Engine sounds great.
I like the styling and interior.
It's not an Audi or BMW.
Good brakes.

Bad:
Atrocious mpg for it's bhp -really really poor - my R32 was better!
Very heavy for a FWD hatch.
Some interior bits cheap and nasty (rear shelf is like a piece of cardboard).
Seemed hesitant to get to 4k rpm, then it really took off.

I went from 4WD to FWD and thought it would be a nightmare but if the chassis is decent (the Focus is), you soon learn to adapt "back" to FWD.

Scooby Roo

Some good feedback here.

I wasn't proposing to chip, just leave as standard [keep the warranty and all that].

I haven't been in one yet but it seems that the interior build is better than the scoob.

If the car was standard does it handle as well as a scoob. With both cars if you up the power to 280bhp the brakes not to mention the suspension needs some tweakin [though with 4WD the scoob maybe less so on the suspension].

I'm basically in two minds....

New Focus ST [or XR5 Turbo as it's known in Aus]

or

Scooby Wagon [I currently have a Classic Wagon]

At the moment the jury is still out.

What do ya reckon Scoob or Ford

Scooby Roo

Surely the mpg can't be worse than a Scooby

So heavy round corners

jonc

Considered a Focus RS instead?

rabbos

Your comments would have made sense if I had actually said it was something special. It goes without saying that fwd is somewhat compromised when applying too much power through a bend, and so I didn't think it needed to be spelled out...

Your mate sounds like a duff driver tbh - tight bends require some throttle modulation. I have a great time with it here on the mountain roads (alps &Jura)

Scooby Roo

Haven't found one for sale in the Brisbane area, though I reckon there must be.

RS suffers from serious torque steer does it not. Is this the same with the ST.

Roo

Scooby Roo

Looks like a cracking place


http://www.planetfear.com/includes/i...5road2Park.jpg

Does the ST perform here ??

http://www.gdargaud.net/Photo/1024/2...MtCookRoad.jpg



If I choose the ST I will have to change driving style quickly before it all goes Pete Tong.

Matteeboy

Scooby - they are honestly in Scooby territory for mpg - I can't quite work out why they are so thirsty!

I'd take a new Scoob any day to be honest - at least there's a REASON for the poor mpg!
I nerdily checked the long term mpg of the trip computer of the one I tested (4k miles on it) and it was 22mpg over 4k miles!!!

To me, that rules it out - An Astra VXR manages mid to high 20s, a mk5 Golf GTi manages over 30 and both are pretty much as quick. New Leon Cupra looks useful too with 237bhp and a more sorted chassis than the VXR.

But they are all still FWD - A Scoob has a well sorted 4WD platform.

RS Grant

Thought that the older shape Focus RS was a UK-only Limited Edition...... maybe I'm wrong.


Cheers,
Grant

sandyRS16i

iTrader: (13)

mark 1 focus RS released in the uk and Eurpoe.

the mk2 focus ST is a totally different type of car.

the RS was built to a very good chassis, with brembo brakes, OZ alloys and was built as a drivers car. the ST is much more a normal day-to-day run about, the brakes fade a lot quicker, its heavier and the chassis, although good is nowhere near the levels of the RS.

The ST does benifit from the 5 cyl Volvo lump and is very torqy, they come as 225 bhp in standard out of the box trim, but 300 bhp and 400+ lbf can be gotten easily through the like of grahame good or pumabuild etc. The best spec has to be the ST3, in terms of what you get over an ST2, ist worth more that the cost. Also the electric orange paint jobs actually cause ford to make a loss on each one they sell

the difference between an RS version and the ST is the same as the XR and RS models in the 80's or similar to a uk turbo scoob (ST) and a jdm STI (RS) they both are very similar but highly different to drive

Bodgit

My neighbour tunes Fords for a living. He was telling me the car to have is the RS. He would have developed more for it if it wasnt so limited in numbers.

He is doing loads of work on the Fiesta ST's at the moment. Cosworth Powering, supercharging them etc. If you want a smaller car these are the way to go. The chassis is supposed to be excellent.