amh82

After switching to a hot hatch last year, I'm often stuck in situations where our 330ci is the most practical car, and find myself wanting for a bigger wagon again.

Been down the Volvo T5 route before, so wanted something different, and eventually decided on a newage wagon.

However, I've always liked the ST220, been looking at them again lately and hard to ignore what you get for the cash. Good looks, lots of space, great spec, quick but not amazingly so.

I know a few people on here have owned them, and the same as impreza's, you here all sorts of stories about woeful economy.

Are they comparable to a WRX, or worse? I think for me, if they are comparable then I still need to make my mind up, but if they are worse then the lack of tuning potential would make it seem a little hard to swallow.

Even though they are a much nicer car inside, at least with an Impreza you can have good performance (post remap with a WRX) to equal out the poor performance.

Brun

From what i've read they return low 20's but what about an LPG conversion (don't have any idea what that costs though).
If i was to drop back to a car which only got low 20's that i would want plenty of get up and go - which i don't think the 220 has so an Impreza would be back on my shopping list.

Jamescsti

I was looking at ST220's a couple of months ago as I wanted to get back into performance cars, and really wanted to go back to my roots with Fords.
The Mondeo is a really nice car, well speccd and a really nice drive, interior is far better than a Subaru IMO.
I went for a Focus ST though, the boot of the focus is far bigger than any other hatch on the market and with the back seats down the load area is even bigger, being a 2.5 turbo engine the tuning potential is much better than the ST220 too, my average mpg is 24mpg.

Worth a consideration.

Saxo Boy

I currently have a stock S70 T5 (auto), used to have an ST220 and had an MY99 Turbo 2000 and an MY99 STI-5 in the past.

The Volvo and ST220 are about the same for fuel usage. The volvo would be marginally better if it was the manual. Both Impreza's were worse. I probably average around 26.5mpg in the Volvo/ST220 and about 22mpg in the Impreza's.

The only way I could ever imagine an Impreza Turbo returning better MPG than the ST is if you drove it like a total ***** and never let it spool up. Even then, if you drove the ST equally gay you'd probably get 30mpg anyway!

I liked the ST, it was a great all round car. The handling was great and always threatened to be a lot of fun. Ultimately, being FWD always served to be the frustration; it felt like it's balance and adjustability deserved a RWD set up. At least the volvo is unashamedly woeful in the bends and FWD. In short, it never threatens to be fun in anything other than straight lines

Ayde

iTrader: (6)

I can get around 24-25mpg in my mums ST220, round town it's down to about 21mpg. They are really nice cars, handle great and look good too. Power delivery compared to a WRX is obviously different but the ST is a very rapid car and feels pretty well planted all the time. I can't really compare it to my WRX as that's 300 odd BHP so not a fair comparison.
The only thing that I find let's them down is the brakes are not great compared to the Subaru, my mates dad used to have one and actually thought he had a fault with his at first. Also rear Subframe bushes are a weak spot but can be changed fairly easily with poly ones which can be picked up for less than £50.
From what I have read they are not cheap to tune and you won't increase BHP by much over standard but I really don't think they need anymore power.

Ayde.

scoobyverysoon

iTrader: (1)

Weve just got a mondeo st TDCI and although its not as fast as the petrol - I think its great my scooby isnt the quickist 247 bhp the St is 155bhp but with decat and a remap it could be 200 bhp as already said its a lot of car for the money plenty of extras

Plus the diesel gives me back 52 mpg for a big *** car its great

2 kids and loads of stuff in the boot was the win factor for me - the wifes fiesta just didnt cut it

Bob99

Well I have an st220and a blobeye MY03 sti running 400bhp and normal driving will see 260 to the tank, managed 300 once but that was boring, on track about 6mpg. The ST220 I have had 37mpg but that was on a 400 mile run on motorways and at a steady pace, around town and A roads it has been down to 25mpg but normally I would expect to be around the 30mpg. Looked at possible tuning options and for the power gains I can't be bothered. Great car though, I have even managed to get stuff in the back with the seats down that we couldn't get into a discovery!!!

bern11

iTrader: (13)

I've gone from a 450 bhp scoob to a Focus ST running 320 and bought a Mondeo ST TDCI this weekend.And in all honesty i love it.It's been remaped so running 185-190 bhp and around 330-340 torque from 2000rpm it goes like stink tbh and still returns 45-50 mpg and looks good imo.Just gonna refurb the wheels and a few other bits and then it's done

Jamescsti

A lot of Mondeo ST owners fit focus ST brakes which are bigger and are a cheap upgrade as there are usually a few second hand sets on eBay where people have upgraded to 6 pot calipers on the focus ST

amh82

Thanks for the info chaps, especially saxo boy - I used to run an 850 T5 auto, then an 850R manual. I was getting about 26-27mpg out of the T5, and around 25mpg out of the 850R.

I was kind of hoping that a newage impreza would be about the same, but sounds like it will be a bit worse. I only do around 5k a year, so not massive, but it would be nice to have around 25mpg, rather than 20mpg.

The ST220 does look like a great package, I can understand people saying it has enough power, but I think 250bhp from factory would be ideal. Great car I'm sure, but have a feeling I'd get bored quick. Another T5 (S60 or P2 V70) would be better in that respect, although they look nowhere near as good as the ST imo. Probably handle worse as well. My 850R was good for what it was, but hardly dynamic!!

Focus ST would be a good shout, but too far out of budget for me at the mo (£3-4k).

It's a tough call this time, as I can't fault my 182 for what it is, other than a lack of space. With DIY, dog, MTB and camping being fairly regular, I just need a bit more space.

I've almost lead myself back down to a mk1 LCR or Octavia VRs (which I considered before the Clio). Both fairly spacious, I prefer the Octavia in terms of build quality, but I do think the LCR looks better, brembo's and the K04 help as well.

I'm just slightly put off the LCR for the cheaper looking interior, and also a friend of mine had a Cupra T which was a bit of a dog really!!

Is a stage 1 WRX even worse on fuel, or pretty much same as standard?

Jamescsti

We have a Leon FR at work, it's a 55 plate I belive, they are nice cars to drive, good power, not sure what the power actually is, it's the model below the cupra so doesn't come with the brembo's but it's worth a look if you are thinking down those lines.
The Octavia will obviously be bigger though.