Hi All,

Been away from the sporty car market for a while, but am looking at the above 2 cars on Thursday.
06 plate hawkeye wrx, 67k
55 plate focus st2 3 door 78k
Both are standard and ready for a little work
The ST is £500 more on price yet over £100 cheaper to insure for the year.

I have had 3 previous impreza's always liked the ST's anyone on here had one ?? views etc, I am aware the clutchs are pretty week once remapped and this can cost around £800 for the uprated RS one.

 

The Hawk will be higher on Car Tax (£400 + bracket).
The 2.5 piston issue is well documented.
Fuel consumption is a bit on both.
Hawk as bags of mid range torque from the 2.5.
ST/Impreza image?
AWD or FWD?

What prices are they up for?

All things to think about. The son-in-law had the Focus and was not overly impressed with it.

 

The Hawk is an 06 and advert says lower tax bracket still ?? have to double check that, that is low 4k and the ST chap wants high 4k's so its a very good price for a low owner standard ST.
Y

 

Worse case scenario, if it did develop the piston issue whats the price of a rebuild or replacemnt rebuilt engine ?

 

I had the exact same choice and went for the WRX after driving them both - no regrets.

 

what date is it regged? i have a 06 wrx and its in the lower bracket, needs to be regged before 23rd march to qualify into lower one.

 

o also how much are they?

 

Registered 1st March 2006 so hopefully cheaper one !
ST 4700
WRX 4200
Thats the best price on the phone prior to looking as both are miles away so wanted to see where land lies before making the journey

 

will be £270 iirc, def falls into lower tax bracket.

 

focus st

 

 

Deffo the WRX. After I wrote of my DC5 I wanted a not too expensive car as a daily driver. Took a Blobeye WRX and Focus ST2 for test drives.

Let's just say I now own a WRX, ST2 was sluggish and soft in comparison, disliked the ST so much I wouldn't even bother taking another for a test drive.

 

I had a Focus ST, in fact I have had 2 so any questions just ask.

However to note. 70,000+ miles the focus will have some rattles that will drive you round the bend. The engine is good and tuning is very easy. Be aware though, once you tune you will need a new Clutch. My last ST ate 3 clutches and was putting out around 360bhp after being treated to dreamscience and some other goodies.

I sold the ST last year and bought an Fn2 Type R. MUCH easier car to live with and does around 36mpg. Same driving the focus did approx. 19.

I am now in the market for an STi or RB320.. so it shows you its taken me a while to realise the Subaru brand for myself.

ST is a great everyday car, sounds good and goes well. Drinks like an alcoholic though.

If you want my views. Go for the Scoob

 

Yes thats what I was thinking, i initially intend on stage 1 at least which ever one I go for !! Thanks

 

Now ask the same question on a ford forum.
Theyre both sh1te

 

Stage 1 you will require a new clutch within 3 months or it will slip beyond belief. During that time it was also chew front tyres. I went through 4 Pirelli P Zero's in 2 years and only covered 18,000 miles in that time.

 

They are pretty rapid when mapped though. I test drove one with around 280BHP, lowered with the Pumabuild big brake setup, it felt a hell of a lot quicker when moving than my WRX with similar power did.

Thing is it's just a Focus, it has Focus good points and bad points. But it's still just a Focus.

 

I went for a test drive in one before i got my WRX, not for me Just feels a little cheap , looks like any other focus with some junk glued on.

I am sure many people would say the same about the Subaru but for me AWD and heritage HELPS!

 

I had the choice back in 06, either ST2 as was coming from an ST170 (which was great) or a Hawk WRX, both had good and bad points but I went for the WRX and never looked back, the AWD in the scoob cannot be beaten, I needed a car I could use all year round and that I actually wanted to drive!

I was a Ford fanboy but problem with them is they sell so many, in every car park you'll see a couple of ST's and the scoob is that much rarer!

 

Aren't there some 2006 hawkeyes still with the 2.0 engine?

 

Easier to live with in what way other than mpg? I had an FN2 from new for 3yrs and then moved to an RS MK2 which I still have. The civic had a better interior other than the seats but that was about it for me. Rock hard suspension (my RS has eibachs and standard 19" wheels and still feels far softer), stupidly soft paint, understeered like a dog, no torque, VTEC sounds good but doesnt really go anywhere especially if you have a passenger and / or a loaded boot. In the 23k miles I covered I had three warranty repairs including rear suspension creaky and subframe click. Gearbox synchro was always dodgy in 3rd and mine was the later MY09 model.

MPG wise over those 23k I averaged 27.8mpg. RS I have had for about 7k and averaged 26 so nothing in it. The low down torque means you dont have to drive everywhere at 3-4krpm. Also the RS gets its power down in 1st and 2nd better than the civic ever did.

Probably a few more creaks and weird sounds on the RS and the buttons and trim is deffo cheaper especially the 2 tone dark / light grey. But no way I would go back to VTEC tbh. Rear visibility was almost none in the FN2.

 

Well, I chose to look at the scooby yesterday, a totally wasted 6hr round trip. Nevermind, maybe thats why it was a very good price, lots of marks and paint work needed, the guy was honest on most of them, but they were far worse than I anticipated.
Now to look at the ST or not ???? if its still for sale lol.....

 

Ford has got a heritage that Subarucan only dream of!

 

I'm a Focus ST owner, lots of mods, hybrid turbo, over 360bhp so quite happy to give advice.
First point is an RS clutch upgrade is around £950 now, Ford realised the demand and have ramped price of the parts up, there is the option of using the clutch from a Volvo S60R which is just as good and cheaper currently.

Second point, try and get a test drive in a remapped car, even if you don't buy a remapped one to start with as the standard car is restricted from the factory, Ford restrict the boost to around 0.6 bar as standard where as a remap will allow it to boost o around 1.2 bar with ease, believe me it makes a huge difference. If you do go for a tuned ST or decide to tune it yourself join Focus STOC. The knowledge on there is unbelievable, there's a lot of reputable tuners which people can recommend but get it mapped by a man with a van and it will ruin the car and your experience.

 

Thanks, good post, where do you rate sage 1 focus st performance similar to wrx stage 1 ??



QUOTE=Jamescsti;11078949]I'm a Focus ST owner, lots of mods, hybrid turbo, over 360bhp so quite happy to give advice.
First point is an RS clutch upgrade is around £950 now, Ford realised the demand and have ramped price of the parts up, there is the option of using the clutch from a Volvo S60R which is just as good and cheaper currently.

Second point, try and get a test drive in a remapped car, even if you don't buy a remapped one to start with as the standard car is restricted from the factory, Ford restrict the boost to around 0.6 bar as standard where as a remap will allow it to boost o around 1.2 bar with ease, believe me it makes a huge difference. If you do go for a tuned ST or decide to tune it yourself join Focus STOC. The knowledge on there is unbelievable, there's a lot of reputable tuners which people can recommend but get it mapped by a man with a van and it will ruin the car and your experience.[/QUOTE]

 

[/QUOTE]


Difficult to say mate,
My only Subaru was a STi V1 wagon which was a great car and I loved it. I can't compare a Focus ST to a modern Impreza.

A Stage 1 Focus ST should see between 260bhp- 270 realistically and would consist of a remap and intercooler, at a cost of around £5-600 fitted.

 

Ive had a WRX PPP and a remapped ST. Loved both cars but they were totally different. The Scooby was great fun on twisty back roads but never try drive a few miles on the motorway with family as the cabin noise is shocking. The ST however you could happily have a conversation, build quality better than the Scooby. Bad points are when running 275bhp first 2 gears are useless in the wet.

 

Hawkeye without a doubt , I wouldn't even care if it blew up or broke down , I recently looked at a focus st 500 with a view to buying and it was the tackiest cheapest piece of s**t I've had the displeasure of sitting in ( and I used to be a ford geek )

 

???

really the focus is far better inside that a hawkeye.

personally id take the focus st over a hawkeye wrx anyday

 

I was so disappointed mate , it looked very smart on the outside and no doubt is a decent nippy car , but inside the only decent thing I could find were the leather recaros
The gearstick felt so vague , I'm sure it wasn't attached to owt and the dash and trim felt like it was made out of lenor bottles
I thought scoobys weren't the best quality but the focus was far worse IMHO