project"pepe"

hi guys, can anyone give me some pointers on buying an st220, i´m gonna be ready for 1 in about 3 weeks and would like to be clued up on what to look out for, i have a fair machanical understanding, just need to know any special areas to give extra attention.

obviously feel free to give me a shout if anyone hears of a "good un" up for grabs.
as much as i prefur the saloon, its gonna need to be hatch or estate due to family needs, also blue unless its just to good to miss and in silver/black.

cheers guys

richard caine

iTrader: (8)

drop steve st220 a p.m. mate he has a good knowledge on the st220's and his brother is selling one at the moment.

he's a top class bloke

morrismuscle

Try http://www.stdrivers.co.uk/forum/rec...p?type/topics/ im a member and there are loads of st220 / st tdci owners on there

percybigun

if you arent fully aware of them, test drive one thoroughly before committing to buying one - the reason i say is alot of people buy them thinking that a 3.0 v6 is going to be very fast and then realise they arent, and then realise the tuning potential is very limited.

check for saggy rear bumpers, the alloys usually need refurbing if not done already, look for rust on the door bottoms, check for noises from the rear subframe bushes, check handbrake (the rear calipers on them are shite), and make sure the engine has no ticking or rattling or overheating (it was more the old 2.5's which had the internal issues, but some 3.0's are starting to have these probs now)

service history is very important, dont buy the cheapest one thinking you can do it up.

project"pepe"

thanks alot for the advise guys, ye i´ve never been in one so i´m just hoping its what i have in mind. i´m not looking for crazy power figures but its certainly nice to have something fairly decent.

i had heard about the bush and break issues, luckily my best mate works for one of the bigger drive in repair centres and we plan to upgrade a few parts from the off (bushes/breaks/shocks)

i will get over to that st owners site too and see what i can dig up over there.

cheers

rsturbo27

i,v got a nice low mile;r1 that i need to change for a smaller dieasel e,mail me and i,ll give details and pictures cheers

steve st220

Hi mate, good choice of car.

percybigun is spot on with what to look out for mate, theres a few problems with
breather pipes splitting aswel causing rough tickover, the early ones are quicker than
the later ones and have more top end than the later 6 speeders (silly but true), i think
its 05 plate and newer are in the highest tax band.

i've had mine 4yrs now and it still puts a smile on my face, they aint the quickest car off
the mark but are no slouch, what they lack in acceleration they make up for in top end power.

CLICK LINK FOR MY BRO'S ST220 ADVERT:

MY BRO'S ST220 ADVERT

Theres a few sites for good information on the ST220.

Network-220
ST Drivers
Mondeo Enthusiasts Group (MEG)
Ford ST Owners Club

let us know how you get on mate.

project"pepe"

really greatful to everyone for the advise, ive had 20-30 cars over the years but this will be my most expensive purchace ( i know its not much to some ppl) so i really do want to get it right.
i really am taking on board everyones advise and hopefully it will pay off.
ive joined all the sites recommended to me and seen some nice cars.

with regard to the one mentioned above, its simply stunning, never seen in grey/red leather combo before and its now a firm fav. however its a touch out my price range i´m sorry to say.
4.5k would be much more comfortable for me, so will need to look maybe more 02 plate cars i think.

will keep updated as to how my search goes.

many, many thanks again for sharing your thoughts with me.

steve st220

theres also infra red with red leather available up to 53 plate

richard caine

iTrader: (8)

i've seen that car in the flesh mate, it's a stunning motor

Brasso

I'm gutted I've gotta sell mine mate just cant afford the fuel bills now I'm doin more work miles i've bought a little pug hdi that does 55mpg and lookin to get a st tdci as a family car.

There a great car in my opinion. Some people say there not fast but trust me when you wind em up they go really well and handle great with all the comforts inside.

150mph is fast enough for most, obviously there a big heavy car so not lightning of the mark but they aint really a car for racing johnny boys at the lights!

I see your in Derby. I'm only in burton on trent and mines on ebay at the mo. 52 plate blue, 54,000 miles re-conditioned wheels mint interior. 4750 quid. Give us a shout if you want to have a look. You wont be dissapointed.

Cheers Jim.

Jimboxr4x4

I've got a 56 plate estate as a work car. Quite quick but a lot slower than even my stage 1 saph. Be warned though they are very thirsty. I have never seen more than 17 mpg around London. Even on a run they aren't great.

Even so they are nice cars, leather electric heated recaros and a lot more practical that a cossie.

steve st220

a standard ST220 produces between 220-240bhp with the earlier cars producing the
higher figures, mine made 242bhp & 219ft/lb at TOTD and run a 15.3sec 1/4 mile at
shakespeare raceway, i get 24mpg around town and 32mpg motorway driving but have
seen as low as 22mpg at 150+mph.

project"pepe"

cheers "brasso", i´ll keep you in mind for sure, like i said, i am in finland for another 3 weeks so i´m not in a possition to come view anything yet.
i´m also sitting here at 7am having just woken up from a wet dream over steve´s bro´s car
unless the gods smile on me and i can get it down a touch in price then my search will continue.
sorry rich, were you saying you´ve seen steve´s bro´s car or the infra red one shown above? would like to hear from anyone who has seen the graphite grey one thats for sale.

fingers crossed for the reply i´m hoping to get later today

richard caine

iTrader: (8)

i've seen them both mate, steve's car and his brothers car.

percybigun

interesting to hear the info about the mpg, a st220 owner on a mondeo site i go on claimed to be getting 34mpg at 150mph on the autobahns

steve st220

pmsl, he must be getting about 50mpg when driving tidy then

percybigun

on the power-band thing, i used to have a few larger CC 6-pot cars and whilst it is nice having the power at higher speeds, i found it pretty useless after the speed camera revolution and fuel prices rocketed - i much prefer to have plenty of power at low-mid revs where its useable every day.

i'm not dissing the st220 or its engine, it is a vast improvement over the old 2.5, i'm just saying that this is where most people get disappointed with them and it doesnt take long to get used to the power.

since i switched to 4-pots with forced induction, not only did i get the power in the range i wanted, better economy and tuneability, but i also found them to be much quicker at high revs/speeds than N/A 6-pots anyway

project"pepe"

it seems there are many different views on both the power and the mpg the 220 gives.
luckily i´ve never really been to focused on the mpg, sure its good to get a good return but i rate other things much higher, after all, you can´t expect to always have best of both worlds, if you want a certain car then you just have to deal with any down sides, although i am greatful for everyones view and its nice to see people are quite passionate about the 220, i´ve always heard people saying it´s a very under rated car.
i´m under no illutions that its gonna be a cossie killer and i´m not expecting an easy time at the petrol pumps, but i know all this going into it and hope i can just enjoy my new car.

does anyone have an opinion on the best chip/ecu upgrade, i´m meaning things such as bluefin or dream science .... i notice the dream science hand held device is almost 2x price of the bluefin!!
also read alot of mixed advise on induction, some suggesting 10-20hp from the viper system (seems well over the top) and some saying its crap, at 300 quid its quite a risk! is the k&n the best option cash=bhp ?

MGTurbo

What was you power @ the wheels please?

I did a quicker time than that at Pod, which is slightly uphill in comparison to Shakespeare, and mine was only 7bhp more than standard..

steve st220

think it was about 212bhp at the wheels, that time was set with my large ice system
still fitted, boot full of camping gear and a full tank of fuel so it will defo do it quicker.

what time have you set?

MGTurbo

Out of curiosity, what dyno was it? Time in sig. Couldn't get a proper launch without bogging down, best i did was a 2.5 60 ft, i can usually get a 2.1-2.2 in the Maestro, with practice and on that old spec it would of been possible to get it into a 14.8-9, its running 13bhp more @ the wheels now and another 15lb ft across the whole rev range.

BLACKCOS

lloyd on here has a one for sale in blue

steve st220

it was @ TOTD mate, that time was set 2yrs ago and it was my first ever try at 1/4 mile.
couldnt get traction with mine until 3rd gear due to cheap budget tyres so launches were
pretty shit plus i'm running 19" rims lol.

1/4 mile times mean nothing to me as i got mates whos cars run quicker than mine on the
1/4 mile but cant catch me on the open road lol.

just noticed that your time was 15.1 @ 94 mph, mine was 15.3 @ 97 mph.

retro d

iTrader: (15)

My old man has a 2005 ST220 in blue very nice motors, never had any problems with it and its a great motorway cruiser.
They still hold a good price dont they.

MGTurbo

I disagree, a 1/4 mile is a true measure of performance, unlike rolling road figures which are calculated and manipulated, and have huge variations.

Do you have a time slip you can scan? Will get my scanned shortly.