Gunna get shot of my Fiesta as its really not a daily car, its not a decision i am taking lightly, but i feel i need to buy a car i can use which is more of an allrounder than a 21 year old ford

Been looking at the mk1 Focus RSs, anyone know much about them?

Is a 100k car something to not touch?
mpg?
Any common faults?

Any help appreciated lads

 

Great cars mate....had mine for 2 years after my rst and regret not geting one sooner really lol!! Mine's running around 300bhp and has been faultless, just get in it, drive it as hard as you like and put it away again
Get over on the rsoc in the mk1 section for buying guides, loads of info on there and ALL the common things to look for!
The engine's are good for mileage if looked after but 100k+ cars drop considerably price wise, they can rust too so check everywhere for that (arches etc).
Some parts are quite hard to come by already and not cheap but you'll love one coming from your rst!
I don't use mine as a daily drive but 250miles to a tank (Ł70 odd) driving it how you want, have done 300 driving sensibly and with motorway work so not horrendous.

 

had mine 5 years, driven daily, effortless drive, fits all the baby stuff in, great at winding up 911 drivers, done 115k now, just needs normal servicing like a standard focus

get in with a good garage (SCC st albans) and you cant go wrong. not saying they are unreliable, far from it, but when you want to mod or service it you need somewhere that you can trust

as for prices....Ł5-6k for a rough, high mileage, many owner
Ł8-9k for a decent 60k one, Ł10k for a low mileage minter

 

Cheers mate thats great info
Gutted to have to sell it but its just to mint to ruin driving it daily IMO, and worry constantly where you park it etc
i get 170 miles to a tank in my fiesta (Ł50) and thats combined so the focus seems not bad!
The focus seems a great allrounder and im sure i will be doing the right thing.

 

Quite liked this:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...ge/1?logcode=p

 

Yeah for sure mate, rst is great for shows and the odd weekend blast but not as a daily when they're mint....saying that i don't love leaving the focus anywhere for carpark dinks etc but same as any car you look after i guess and if you go for a higher mileage one you can just enjoy it
As said too they're still a focus at the end of the day and they're new enough to not have to constantly worry about things falling off etc lol, there's also someone local that's tuning/mapping them now so no worries on the specialist front either !
Have you been out in one or driven one?

 

I like mine but feel a change may be in order shortly.... Welcome to take turkey if you like...

70k on a 53 plate.

 

Drove 2 when they were about 3 years old through work but that was along time ago now!, but if they drive aswell as the st170s/2.0l etc then i will like them as they drive so tight and handle great

 

They drive exactly like any other focus....but better with the diff/wider track and better suspension etc.
Focus's in general drive really nice don't they, even my mum's 1.6 handled well!
Get them up round 300bhp which is easy to do and they are great, perfectly reliable at that too

 

I would be looking to fit st170 lights and remap it, does it take much more than that to get 300bhp?

 

there are some tuners who claim 300bhp from just a remap (or a live map)

my route would be stainless exhaust, decat, new actuator, remap, gen 2 k and n and a new manifold.....

get one with it all already done, will save a few Łk

 

No not really, decat makes a noticable difference as well as a map though!
Live mapping gets the best results which is what the guy that works at circuit motors can offer, steer clear of bluefin but dreamscience is ok if you just want a handset....peevee's car on here is totally standrd bar an ebay decat and dreamscience and made just under 280bhp

 

Great cars I also went from an escort turbo to one and have loved every minute of it, unfortunately selling mine though to fund a baby lol.
Have a look if your in the market for a decent one?
http://bbs.rsownersclub.co.uk/showthread.php?t=459288

 

Getting tempted to punt the ST200 for one of these, so this thread could make for interesting reading.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Shame you're getting rid of the Fiesta, stunning motor!

 

What kind of mpg driving 'sensibly' out of interest???

 

Never had any issues with the 2 I've owned.

 

Thanks buddy!, will put a advert up on her tonight, she is just to good for daily use

 

I want another one, hate not being able to take the car out on not so good days, cossie only goes out at weekends if its sunny and dry.

 

EXACT reason im selling mine mate

 

Slightly over standard tune, mostly driving on the mway and A roads at normal driving speeds...

340 miles is just possible to a tank which can cost anything between Ł66 and Ł72 depending on what juice you put in etc.

 

What kind of parts are hard to find mate as am also looking out for one

 

Me and the better half use our two daily. i have used mine for work ( im a builder!) and she uses hers for the school run etc. imo natural progression from a RST. cheap now too, the second one we bought is 300bhp and done 88k, and was 5k. only thing i have replaced is a few sets of front tyres.

hth

L

 

I was advised by a mate to get a bluefin (if the car that i eventually buy hasn't already got one) by a mate who has a lot of RS experience. Is Bluefin regarded by many to be second best to dreamscience and if so what makes dreamscience better?

 

The bluefin maps, whilst will run ok on the car tend to run massively rich even for a generic map and on a standard car don't run as much boost typically as dreamscience does, making them feel slower.
The new bluefin handsets also have a revised map on them which tried to overcome the 4k cough that some cars suffer from which was apparently worse than the original maps...but at the end of the day there will be people out there with bluefn that are happy with what they've got so can only give my opinion mate, your mate has his too
There are lots of options now regarding maps on the frs that have came about recently improving on what used to be the only maps on offer (i.e bluefin/dreamscience), developed for the very reasons i stated initially so my money wouldn't be going on a bluefin anymore tbh
2 companies in particular, Demon performance centre have a range of generic maps for various states of tune and another company called sabre tuning can actually offer live mapping as well as custom generic maps etc so either of those two are who i'd be using....sabre tuning being 10 minutes away from me!

 

Pretty much anything body/trim related can be a pig to find as ford don't hold stock of everything for them anymore so where it is for sale can be massively over inflated prices....body panels in particular, wings/bumpers so it's just something to bare in mind!
Not so long ago water pumps were also non existant for the car but supply has started again so not such a problem now although they aren't cheap.
There are lots of parts specific to the car and as they were only made for a short period of time and a limited run parts just aren't plentiful that's all, but with the right contacts most bits can be found to be fair

 

there are some tuners who claim 300bhp from just a remap (or a live map)

 

Thanks mate for a great reply to my earlier post, very informative. Have added to your rep in appreciation .

 

good old engines, nothing really goes wrong with them as such, very simple tech.
for me i'd be fitting a hybrid gt25 or upping to a gt28rs, then the turbo isn't wringing it's neck to get 300bhp and makes it more efficiently, along with a live remap.

i run a zetec turbo in an xr2 and it's got plenty of punch (gt30 turbo though), the standard setup with a remap isn't slow though and low lag indeed.
comfortable motor, good brakes, suspension all you could want apart from being fwd, but that just makes it a little more predictable.
all in all i'd buy one myself, having driven a couple i have been impressed.

 

Me personally would never bother with a plug and play box like bluefin or dream science as both run a little rich... Each engine /car has slight different characteristics so you can't beat a live map to suit your application.. They drive 100 times better... Also the gt28 is a very good suited application as mentioned... It keeps them off boost at cruising speed better when traveling on the motor way.

I've got a lot of parts here that I'm going to fit over winter... To mine

Gt28
Manifold
Cone filter
Decat
Airtec intercooler.

 

Adam if you get a focus mate I wants a ride lol I ain't never been in one