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Driving last night slowing down coming to a red light changes and a focus ST flys past me (already moving) just bout caught it up came to a rounderbout so i waited for him and the I beat him but he wasnt that far off me, just wondered wat sort of power they got cos im running just under 300bhp in my MY00 turbo 2000 classic.

It was a pretty quick car!

simo

220bhp iirc. Most 200bhp cars will give you a fair run for the money tbh, the Subaru is not the quickest car on the road despite what a fair few on SN think.

Now wait for the 'You would have had him in the twisties thou' quote

Turtle

They are quick cars as standard, but lots of owners are getting them chipped/remapped. I think the Bluefin takes them up to 255-260 bhp and big torque.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Yes they are, BUT if your scooby is genuinely close to 300bhp and similar torque then I'd suggest it shouldn't have been that much of a close call, with you having a significant power and weight advantage.

UNLESS

It could have been a bluefin chipped Focus ST which produce about 260bhp and 270 ft lbs torque (only costs about £500). One would expect that to be closer!

Ns04

stilover

There are also a couple tuner's that are offering 300BHP for the ST.

andy.downes

iTrader: (1)

to labour a very very very old point; front wheel drive, sh**e in the twisties

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Which will give lots of Scoobies (including mine) something to think about in a straight line (if it's dry anyway)

Still rather poinless though, the standard Focus ST has to be kept on a leash in 1st and 2nd (the ECU reduces the torque available significantly to avoid torque steer and wheelspin) This will be compounded by running more power.

Much as I like and respect the Focus ST, there is simply no point in having the grunt if you can't use it!

If you wan't a properly usable high powered perfomance car, it has to be RWD or 4WD.

Ns04

Bat-Fink

Didn't take long did it?

stilover

Do you only use 1st & 2nd gears??????

Maybe a ST coming off a round about in 3rd gear, and has all the power at full disposal would see off quite a few Scoobies.
Real world driving is where a 300BHP ST would work well ie 50-70 in 4th gear.
I had a Bluefin'd RS and the limited Torque in 1st & 2nd never bothered me. TBH you'd never know unless you were told.

The ST will be a wheelspinning SOB in the wet, again though, just in 1st & 2nd gear, but after that it will just fly.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

No, not all, but it does illustrate the fundamental problem with high powered FWD cars; they simply can't put the power down as well as RWD and 4WD.. Power is nothing without control as the saying goes.

In a drag strip scenario and many real world "confrontations" it would be all over by the time you got to third (approaching NSL). The Focus would never be able to recoup the deficit without resorting to silly speeds and the other driver backing off, in many instances not even then, as many scoobies have PPP or similar (exhaust and Ecutek) which puts them around 270bhp range too.

The you have the wet weather limitations, less traction etc... Don't get me wrong, I like the Focus ST very much, but there are much more effective ways of deploying higher bhp!

Ford SHOULD have made a 4WD high performance Focus.

Ns04

bluerigster

iTrader: (9)

I own a 2.5L 20g 350Ib/ft classic type RA and found ST & RS focus's not much fun to play with due to being too slow. But I am impressed with DC5 type R integras as once there up into 3rd gear onwards there a well fast car. Or the ones I've encountered are!, there is one near me which I presume is supercharged as he has no fear of trying to play with mine. I encourge any Subaru owner to tinker with a DC5 and you will be well shocked as to how fast these cars actually are. I certainly treat them with respect.

Moley

iTrader: (9)

Agreed

If i was to go back to FWD it would be a DC5.

I know a guy who has one with 260bhp, and it keeps up with a 400bhp Evo 8 on straight roads

Freelance Badger

Graham Goode Racing offer a 300 bhp conversion.....

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

When my (lardy..) newage WRX was running ~280x270 I had a good run with a decatted bluefin'd FRS and I can honestly say had no problems at any speed leaving him. Even let him past appraoching one roundabout (DC) to see how he went through and even though he was lifting the o/s/r wheel I was all over him and repassed easily on the exit.

Now from what I've heard a bluefinned FRS should be around 230-250bhp..? So with these 4wd tranny losses everyone goes on about it should have been very close, especially above 40mph..!

lol, Before anyone says he wasn't trying, you weren't there. I don't think he'd have been cocking a wheel and poping at full chat change ups without trying..!

Flame suited and ready..!

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Just to add: I realise that a FST will have more low down grunt and more tuning potential. I was just making an observation of my experience of a big powered (well handling) FWD and 'once rolling' performance..

Torquesteer

But that's the point Jasonius! In the real world, the 'once rolling' performance, is directly related the 'get up and go' ability, that the car has.

bighead

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=Ford SHOULD have made a 4WD high performance Focus.

Ns04[/QUOTE]

They have m8 it the Ford Focus WRC

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Smart ****!!

Ns04

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

*AHEM*



i thankyou...

andy

bpm1588

im not being funny m8,but with 300bhp in a my2000 he should not have seen you for dust.there's no way on this planet a standard st should be anywhere near your car

simo

You lot are having a laugh. The subaru is NOT the quickest car on the road. In the real world with real driving conditions & real drivers these cars are not that far apart. You might get the legs on him but you will have to slow down & he will be back in your mirrors. Once rolling inline acceleration will not be a million miles apart & the next juction or in traffic etc you will be slowed down again. On a track it might be a little different but on the road over 10 miles he might be 10 seconds behind, max!

westy04

I have a standard Focus mk11 ST. My bro in law has a heavily modified classic shape Type RA about 340bhp if I recall.
We had a little blat from 50mph on a private dual carriage way and he left me for dead. Made me look as though I was standing still. God knows how he would have left me if it was from a standing start.
The ST only had about 500 miles on the clock at the time, and is much quicker now. But there is no way it would touch the RA in any senario.
The ST does handle well though for a FWD, even in the wet. Don't forget Top Gear lifted the rear wheel of one in the wet.

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Obviously, but them the same can be said about ANY car on the road regardless of performance.

Saying this, in the 'incident' I mentioned previously, on the particular road we were on I could have easily left this guy a long way back . This is testament to the performance difference I found, as I was so pleasantly surprised that I kept backing off to make sure (playing with him if you like..). The result was the same in every respect (as mentioned previously).

With regards to track, I'm only concerned with on road TBH.

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Yep, remember this well. Very impressive.

Just to add, a classic RA (esp. with decent mods) will accelerate like buggery due to it's very short gear ratios. Probably the quickest of the bunch..! So don't feel to worried about it..

Now if you were up against a standard scoob (classic/newage/wrx/STI) I'm sure the story would be very different..

Out of interest, what sort of MPG do you get from your FST..?

scoobydooooo

are you havin a laugh , is he havin a laugh ??

westy04

My wife drives the car mainly (she drives faster than me) the car is returning 19mpg over the last 500 miles. Not good.