Currently using the ST170 everyday but my company car allowance policy has changed and I can now have up to a grp16 instead of 14 being the limit, and as the Focus RS is apparently only a grp16, thinking of trading the ST in against one locally on an 03 for £16,800 - but seeing as the ST has the full heated leather and sound system custom pack and no doubt only get about 9-10 for it trade in on an 02 plate, is the extra 7-8k really worth it for 30-40bhp?

 

Yes

 

 

I was fortunate enough to have a drive in SCC's Focus RS at Brunters last year and it blew my mind. I was so impressed with how well the car drove.

Get one mate

 

I may be bias but......YES!!!!!

I absolutely love mine, well impressed in every department. So much better than the ST in every sence, not just an extra 40BHP. If you get one then Bluefin is a must simple mod.

 

do it!

a good mate of mine has got one, hes used 2 having 400bhp+ escort and shaffy cosworths and he loves it. looks awsome as well

 

Oh God yes... ST170 is 'nice' but thats all. Nothing special... but the RS IS a special car.

Do you read Autocar? Chris Harris rates it as pretty much as one of the best all round cars ever made

 

just cant get past the extra 8k for a different colour car with 40bhp more

 

Drive one mate and the ST will soon be winging it's way back to the dealer. Defo Bluefin it and a full zorst and cat by pass pipe makes a nice difference.

 

For a start there's obvious stuff like looks, interior (personal thing but I love it). Then there's the extra power (don't forget torque), easily modded for a fair power hike for peanuts, the handling will be in a different league, brakes...etc etc

 

Ok, let me get this straight you get to drive an ST170 as a company car and you can upgrade to an RS? I have a Dodge Minivan as a company car and a ST170/SVT as my personal car, wish it was the other way around.

You are my new hero...

 

lol thats nowt, for 5 years I was driving a 330 Sapphire Cossie as my company car well, car used for company use and paid a monthly allowance which is what I'm doing now with the ST, but now insurance restrictions have been lifted I am thinking about the RS but as with the cossie, most of its use will be motorway based plus leaving in risky places etc and so defo no modding to be done to it this time round and want it to be there when I come back for it from a meeting hence why I say about the extra 8k for 40bhp when I'm not gonna get to use it that much, and with the increased fuel consumption + paranoia of leaving it in Asda car park etc lol not sure it would be a good 8k spend DOH!

 

Just go and drive it and then see if YOU think all the extra hassle is worth it .

PS. If you want advice on what clothes to wear down to the show-room, I'm sure we can advise .

 

I would personaly take Mike out of the 'we' in that statement if I were you!

 

Buy the RS and then out of your funds buy a snotty £1000 Cavalier Diesel and use that for the work miles

 

lol no! cos I know it will make up my mind on the spot and that would be for the wrong reasons as thats not how i would be driving on the motorway

fpmsl with your fashion sense, no ta!

if only! unfortunately my company rules include having summat under 5 years old and wont get one that cheap at that age + already been there last year where I had me cossie as "the weekend car" and it just didnt work

 

I'm in exactly the same situation as you Andy - got the ST at the mo but really want to stretch my company car allowance over to a FRS. Can't really complain about being paid to drive a Focus RS about all day. Do it chap - if not tell me where it is !!!

 

Ehhh its an "RS" theres ur 8 k

 

Been considering the same thing as you 2.

I have had the ST for 6 months now and know how my company allowance is working out (and its in my favour ) so have been looking at upgrading the ST to a FRS for my company car.

Only down side i can see at the moment is my ST has climate control, Heated front screen, Xeon HID lights but the FRS wont have any of those options. They came as 1 spec and 1 spec only

Tough decision, what do you 2 think then? dump the ST's in favour of the FRS ?

 

From what people have said sounds like you are getting a lot more that just an extra 40bhp for the extra cash.
I would jump at the chance.

 

Im changing to a FRS in the spring so do it I love my CTR its a Fantastic car but I miss not having an RS and the CTR forum is boring

 

Do It

Rob

 

lol @ missing climate control, heated front screen and fancy headlights in exchange for the RS!!

 

yeah but i use these things everyday and they the sort of features once you have them if there taken away you miss them.

Its like taking 2 steps forward (buying the FRS) and one step back (lack of features compared to the ST)

 

i have none of them anyway

 

Nath - I know what you mean mate, but there is logic in it! I remember driving down the motorway in my cossie just after it had had the rebuild, solid strong engine running 350-400bhp and it was an RS COSSIE ...... but then I was poodling along at 80mph sitting in cold leather, with no air con, constantly worried about what was gonna break next, and concerned at where I would have to dump it when meeting up with a colleague for the last leg of the meeting journey, so although it was an "RS" in reality, apart from the 0-60 slip on to the motorway slip road fun, it was just a Sierra being driven at 80mph which the Focus RS would become too, only I fear I would be sitting there saying "ok its a Focus RS and looks good from the outside, but I'm inside now, and compared to the ST170 I have just traded in against this and had to shell out 8k, I've lost full leather seats, I've lost heated seats for those early morning starts, I've lost digital climate control, I've lost a decent sound system which helped on those long 3 hour one way runs, I've lost 10mpg average consumption, I've lost cheap 17" tyres and gained expensive 18" tyres, my insurance premium has doubled especially with business use, servicing will no doubt be more costly and needed sooner, and I'm more paranoid about where I leave it and the depreciation due to business miles being added.... but at the start of the 3 hour run I gained 1-2 seconds on the 0-60! ...... hmmm think this time I'm gonna stick with me ST170! I can totally appreciate the RS for what it is, but its not a sensible option for business use (and running a cossie for business for 5 years I can safely say that with experience!

 

Andy, that's fair enough mate, mine's my toy and occasionally see's the track, hence I wanted the balls out fun version. TBH all the above mentioned feature's really wouldn't bother me in the slightest but things like fuel consumption (160miles to £45 before I chipped it, now 250 if I'm good), worrying like fuck where you leave it etc, I completely agree with, nightmare! As for reliabilty, no worries there, thats why I got the Focus and not the Escort Cossie I've wanted for years!

 

it obviously suits you andy LOL

anyway motorways are for safe 100+ mph sideways fun - nothing else LOL

 

BOOOOO!!!!! Boring!!

You're deciding with your head, decide with your heart, it's much more fun/painful!

 

lol I used to get 150miles out a full tank in the cossie when poodling around town yeah agree on the reliability issue, forgot it was still under warranty, just after 11+ RS's got used to that feeling of doubt lol

lol says he who has been longing without a cossie than with one

christ if that was my attitude on the motorway I would be without licence which = without job and dont want that at the mo!

naa defo thinking with my head at the mo, and of course the other thing im thinking is, if after only being there a few months I have jumped 2 insurance groups, another few months may do the same, and another few after that may = grp20, which means EVO!

 

I have a Imp Blue ST170 and love it but if i could have a RS i would trade mine in now..


Dave


Merry Xmas & New Year everyone!!!!

 

I'm the opposite to you guys - haven't got the stereo pack mind - but have got the xenons and climate control, and HFS. Reasons:

1. I hardly (even in the summer) use the climate control cos of mpg/power losses , anyway FRS has got the AC button for those hot days and the heater will work i'm sure.

2. HFS - can do without it really, anyway it messes up the radar dectector


3. Xenons - are nice but again can do without them - also seen an FRS with them fitted (modification but defo ford ones). Also I hate it when people flash me cos my dipped lights are too bright, or slow down in front cos they think your a pig

I had my sensible trousers on when I brought my ST and I still can't fault the decision but I really should have got the RS.

 

there great cars, we get a few coming back to the ford garage i work at, little shity problems but the coolant pipes are shit. ive changed a few full coolant pipe set on them rs focus, they all seem to leak.

top cars, i still want one

 

is that what you get on a tank full of fuel ?

 

Spanner in the works.....get a Boxster instead.











I'll get me coat...

 

Andy, in a word, yes!

 

You've got something wrong there then.
Either the car or your right foot
I get between 250-280 under normal driving.
Obviously goes down if i'm "playing" but got 300 sitting at 75 on the motorway down to Ford Fair.
I've got a dyno proven 200bhp @ the wheels as well.

 

I think there seems to be some confusion.

"but if I could have a RS I would trade mine in now" - well you can have one, there are plenty for sale

"I would jump at the chance" - what chance? its not a once in a lifetime chance, there are loads for sale

Its easy to say the above, but both you pair are in the same position as me, ie if you want one, go and get one if this "chance" I have was the only ever chance of getting one then I would be considering it more carefully, but to realistically say "jump at the chance to go and get a bank loan of another £8,000 for it" - well you both could do that, but you havent and no doubt wont for the same reasons as me, prob cos you dont want to so that "chance" and "if I could" are actually just figures of speech, cos you both "could" and both have the "chance" to if wanted

Merry Xmas!

 

What? Confusing!!!!

 

Is that right?

Fuel comsumption improved after chipping?