Just noticed that both start at about £8k, which one to go for

TX.

 

Personally it would be a no brainer i would get the rs, providing you dont mind having an older car?

 

Test drive the RS though. Some suffer Torque steer more than others. Mine wasn't to bad on most roads, but get it on a badly cambered road, and it would pull this way & that. Sometime side swiping the car I was trying to overtake.

On mostly `A` roads the thing was fantastic. These roads were where the front diff really worked. You can feel it pulling the car into the corner.

An ST is just an ST. But an RS is always more desirable. The ST is a big bugger too.

 

What he said.

If you can live with the age of the RS then go for it.
Loved every minute in mine.
There's still some immaculate low mileage ones around.

 

Stuff both of them and buy a nice STI

 

no such thing as a nice sti

maybe 6 years ago, not nowadays

 

Depends on what you want the car for? If its an everyday car that you want - quick comfortable fun then its the ST. RS is much more raw and less civilized. It also feels older (If that makes sense).
2 very different cars.

 

Thanks all.

Starting to get itchy feet as my old car has been gone for 6 months or so now ... was / is waiting for RS4s to drop to £25k but I've got bored waiting!

TX.

 

The ST, with the Mountune kit, is a pretty quick and useable car, but the ST's are everywhere (says a person with a common CTR!) and your always going to know you haven't got the top of the range mk2 RS.

As long as you get a nice example and can live with an older car that isnt so revined as the new ST, I think the RS is a far better option, it will feel rare and very special, and looks far better (becuase you don't seem many). I can also see them holding their value better, or you certainly wouldn't lose as much as an ST that will keep droping. I'm also not too keen on the heavy weight up front and understeer on the ST's either.

Before you decide, contact some tuning companies as I've heard they can modify the chassis/diff to tame the MK1 RS on a B road, combined with remap and tune to 280/300 bhp it will make it feel very special indeed, and drive the way it should of in the first place.

 

Gotta be the RS!

Not a particularly fast car in a straight line, but good fun.....wicked fun round the twisties though!

 

I almost went for the RS before buying the ST, but the biggest killer for me was the new tax rules - yes they have been postponed for a year, but as of next year the RS will be circa £430 a year to tax, far too much for an older car. Plus the interior is awful.

I like the Mk1 RS, although if you read this months Fast Ford you will see a tuned ST is easily a match for a tuned MK1 RS as the result was 2 all for the various tests.

I wouldn't swap my ST for a Mk1 RS, although I may for the Mk2 soon.