Does anyone on here own one? Are they a good car to have as a daily family driver??? I wouldnt be looking at modding one, it would be left standard.

Also, do they have isofix?

 

I have an ST170 3 door - its a fine car, perfect as daily driver, if not a little thirsty.

Worth noting the 5 door only has a small boot compared to the 3 door.

J

 

Im only looking for a 5 door as we have a 2 year old daughter. Cant imagine it will be more thirsty than our BMW.

 

The boots are the same sizes?


I recently sold my st170, it was a good car, but I wouldnt own another, not particularly quick. I would have a TDCi sport, looks the same, but does twice the mileage to a tank of fuel!

 

The chap I got mine off told me that they're not as his sister had a 5 door one.

 

Having had both a 3dr & 5dr Focus, the boot were the same size. I wouldnt bother with an ST170 personally. Only a few good one actually are 170bhp. Would rather a 1.8TDCi with bluefin.

 

Yeah I have had a 5dr and a 3dr focus, deffo the same sizes!

 

Oh god, not another ST170 thread...

I have one and I like it. It's very thirsty though... for the performance you (don't)get.

 

Oh, and no they dont have isofix fixings!

 

Gotta be honest I think mine is fine and does everything I expected it do - which was nothing particularly exciting apart from being reliable and cheap to put right if it isn't.

 

if your getting a focus as a daily it would make sense to get a tdci

 

as said. no isofix fittings and crap on fuel. was looking into these but there worse on fuel than my m3!

 

My mrs has one as the families main car. Personally for the money they are now i'd look at a Mondeo St220 or ST tdci both far better cars and brilliant value for money.
We do like our focus but its just about at the limits for a family of four. We took it camping and we had every space imaginable filled. We went to it from a very tired 2.0l mk2 mondy so after that it felt brilliant but over time i've been disappointed with it to be honest. Lovely car in the main and does what it does but its no hot hatch. Kept standard and looked after it should do you well but as others have said its thirsty for the performance and i wouldn't have another.

 

I would love to have one.My mrs loves them more and me.I just wish i had a bit more money and i would get one.

 

I wouldnt have one, neighbour had a mint grey one and although a nice looking car etc etc just far too juicy for the lack of performance

God my 1.8 zetec runabout is gutsy enough at 75mph+

TDCI Sport is deffo teh answer with a tuning box/remap

 

I test drove it this morning. I didnt rev it to the red line as we were in built up areas but am i right in asuming they drive more like a vtech? It didnt seem very quick of the mark at low revs.

Loverly car though. Not sure though, its high milage but on the other side its a one owner car. registered jan 2005 so it will be one of the last i think.

here is the link CLICKY

 

I need a 5 door though. If I could get away with 3 doors i would have a civic type r sitting outside my house allready

 

The gearing ruins them off the mark, they've got quite tall gearing. Once you've got it on the go through 2nd,3rd,4th it will wake up and good for just over 120 in 4th (on the clocks). Don't assume they drive like a vtech though, yes they have a similiar system but its not quite there IMHO. That one looks good and i think the grey or blue are the nicest ones. I would maybe look about though as there are a few about with less miles. While thats not really high going by the sort of mileage i've seen on forums you could be in for the clutch at around that mileage - not a cheap job by all accounts.
Ours is a 54 from late december 2004 and done 41k and i would say the one thing that i'm most disappointed with is that the car hasn't "worn" very well. It gets a relatively easy life and yet things like the steering wheel and handles have gone really shiny already, the glovebox has slightly twisted as the catch is on one side and its also the side you would shut it on from the drivers seat. Other cars in this sort of bracket i have seen tend to wear better even on higher mileage cars, little things i know but at the mileage it just lets it down.

Same here. In an instant.

 

Thanks for a decent reply. people either love them or hate them from the comments ive read. Im not looking for a rocket ship nor a super econemy car, just nice practicle performance. The E46 BMW 316SE I currently drive only has 115BHP so you can imagine how that performs! plus i only get 30-32 MPG drivin it like an old man. Its just rolled over 160,000 miles to!

Doing a clutch wouldnt bother me as im a mechanic. I have trawled the net and i think that its priced fairly. It has stacks of history which is good,tyres on it are the correct ones as fitted at factory which show the previous owner was fussy. Someone has fitted an aftermarket sterio for some odd reason so the stalk control isnt working. It has a mark on the fron and back bumper which are getting sorted.

 

Seems ok, its just a basic ST170 tho. Only half leather, no xenons, no spoiler, only 6006 HU and no sub / amp.

What the budget? You could get an Mk2 Focus 2.0 TDCi, 136bhp stock + bluefin

 

5K budget

 

For 5k id really be looking at an ST220 especially at that mileage. Once you've driven one you'll see what good value they are in comparison to the focus. The mrs had only just passed her test when we looked to change and really didn't want something the size of the mondy unfortunately. Now she says she'd like something bigger(car) i really like the titanium estate in the current shape but i doubt when i'm in a position to change it will be into another Ford.
On the strength of the running costs of the Focus we could run a full size diesel 4x4 - my neighbour can get 30+ mpg out of his 3.0l Landcruiser. I have to drive like its made of glass to get anywhere near that!! I could then have a dedicated track car to tow behind the 4x4.

 

I like the look of the ST220 but they are too big. were looking for something smaller than our current car.

 

Just watch the VVT It will catch you out if youre not used to powerful cars!

 

But even the IMRC can't help you see off Ssangyongs!

 

If thats a dig at my comment about it driving like a vtech then very funny. What I meant is, is all the power higher up in the rev range? not, does it come in with a kick like a vtech engine.

 

He's just jealous. Think he's got an old volvo barge or something...

The kick isn't anything like a Vtec, it's quite smooth. I really think you'll be disappointed with the performance if you're expecting something quite sporty. They are great cars to drive, but not quick. I went from my Impreza to one, and the Focus felt like my first 1.2 clio again on the way home.

Brilliant handling and decent brakes standard though.

 

im not expecting it to be a sporty drive. all i wondered was if the power was higher up the rev range?

 

It is a sporty drive though, just not in terms of speed. Focus chassis was years ahead of its time when it came out, and it's till competitive against the newest hatches!

But yeah, the power is obviously at the top end of the rev range. You really need to wring its neck to get the best out of it, and it likes it. All cars with some kind of VVT could be compared to a Vtec, but there isn't a noticable power change like an old Civic Vti, for e.g. Quite smooth in comparison.

 

my st170 felt very slow when the imrc wasnt working made it much better after i repaired it

one thing i would double check is make sure the warning lights are working on the clocks when you turn the ignition on as the lambda sensors and imrc are common faults and both cost £££ from dealers to put right i get around 25 mpg out of mine thats mixed driveing day to day so a bit more than most in its class to run but they are a nice all round drive tbh quick enough not to be board great handleing sound fairly good cant fault mine hope this helps mate

 

Pretty much above 5k is where it starts to happen. I find it can be tiring on some journeys, let the revs drop too far and it feels like you've left the handbrake on. If it had about another 30bhp and produced the power lower down it would have made for a belting car in 5door.

For the times when you can really wind it up and enjoy the chassis it is a fun car. Not like proper hot hatch fun but enjoyable all the same.

I'm sure you would be happy with one, we are, just the points i made earlier are the only things i have against it. I never bought it under any illusion that it was some sort of rs wannabe and enjoy it for what it is.

 

from what people have said you will be lucky if you ever get 32mpg out of an st170 no matter how you drive.

 

Yeah, not much chance of that. I used to get better fuel economy from an Impreza.

 

In all honesty i get a combined cycle of around 34mpg from my st170!

 

Just had the light come on in my ST170, from Full to light on i got 219miles, that £50 of fuel. They are rubbish on economy. Im lucky and have a good one that is plenty quick enough. The VVT is constant, the valve timing on the inlet cam is constantly adjusted so you dont get the "switch over" of a V-tec its progressive. Its not the clutch that goes its the Dual Mass fly so the lot need swapping, i just did mine at 60K stuck at 12lb aluminium fly in and stage 3 kevlar clutch, expect to pay £500-600 for parts alone. The lightened fly has transformed the car. I know your not looking at modding it but mine has a filter, exhaust and re-map plus ported TB and lightened fly and it pulls hard right through the rev range. My brother in law has a new clio 197 and he can only pass me very slowly top end, i rape him in acceleration.

 

21.5mpg then assuming fuel was 1.06 for normal unleaded. or 23.2mpg if on v-power at 1.14 a litre.

 

you had a good one then. a friend of mine has a standard uk 2000 turbo and he very rarely gets into the 20's with his.

 

Mine was a mapped MY98 UK Turbo, I guess running around 270bhp. Obviously I was talking about when driven in the same way, i.e, sensibly. I usually got 200 miles to a tank of V-Power if I was lucky, when using it 'properly'.

 

I'm not dismissing what you say and i don't want to hijack the thread but factory figures i've seen for both cars are 134mph. I had a play with one and we were pulling 120 and climbing (on this particular private track i've seen 135 on the clocks.) and he couldn't pass, he pulled alongside but needed a bit more than he had. Not sure how it would pan out on a longer straight.

Just surprised with the mods you've got, have you rr'd it and out of curiosity what exhaust are you running?

 

I have done an indicated 130mph (on a private test track of course) and always find my ST170 just seems to run out of Puff at high speed which is a shame because allot of high powered cars that i can pass in accenleration eventually catch up with me im thinking maybe its a fuel delivery problem at high load. Maybe a problem with the map, maybe the dreaded fuel pump on its way?
Not had it RR'd but compared to other ST170's its very strong and its performance on the road suggests its putting out at least factory figures, unlike many of the 155bhp ST's kicking around. I have a Cat back Mongoose