Focus ST170

[thfc]

Has anyone had/been in one? What are they like?

 

[Scotty1.7]

Been in one- had a few extras on it, nice and comfy and seemed fairly quick as well.

They do have quite a few niggles I belive.

 

[spike.]

I like the look of them!

Never been in one though!

 

[puma black ;)]

my brother had one for a few years, there good cars he never had any problems i found it slightly sluggish, and a bit of a bull going into corners, always felt like it was going to jump in a hedge the body roll is pretty bad, his was on standard shocks and springs tho

 

[Voa]

I owned one many moons ago from new , and tried to tune it as well piper used my car to develop the exhaust and got one for free :lol: also had a bluefin on it.

I was ok handling was quite good but it did roll , suspension was like a typical focus but a bit harder but took corners ok. I found the 6th gear a joke in the car as even with an aftermarket exhaust and bluefin it was over geared. Acceleration was ok but gearing and the VVT in the car wasn't that noticeable. I think the bluefin was supposed to bring it in earlier but it didn't seem to make much difference. At the time I sorely regretted not getting the honda civic lol.

It just didn't feel very fast mainly because of the gearing

Believe they are more tunable know but never missed my st170 I guess that is why they went with the volvo engine and the turbo for the next shape ST.....

 

[spike.]

perhaps a MK1 focus RS would be a better drive!

 

[Voa]

Agree much better car if you can find a nice one......

 

[thfc]

I read somewhere that they have a short-shift gearbox. Don't know if they mean like the short-shift thats in the Puma though :s

 

[Voa]

I think it was the ratio's on the gear box I wanted to like the car but the car never felt quick ......

 

[Burn8]

dad owned one for about 2/3 years

i loved it, got the looks, very quick off lights as expected, was a bitch on fuel (reason why dadda sold it)
very comfy, groovy random features like cup holders and arm chair flap things in random places.

tbh he had a 5 door black one and it was mint

 

[oilburner]

I had one from brand new on an 02 plate and it was a complete nightmare!In the 3 monthe I owned it it spend 2 in the workshop as the last time I drove it it backfired through the inlet manifold and melted it!Even Ford couldn't work out why it had done it and bought the car back off me so I replaced it with a nice Civic Type R and enjoyed 3 years of problem free motoring!

 

[Voa]

Yeah I remember the 02 ST170's were regularly complained about on the Focus owners.com forum a lot my 03 wasn't that bad but still had it's problems. I sold my one back to ford 6 months later. Really put me off getting the new ST with the volvo engine when it first come because of my problems with the car with ford even though the new ST is a totally different car.

 

[ScubaSteve]

people say focuses handle well but if its anything like the regular focus its absolutely dire

 

[ElDude at Allison Automotive]

dad owned one for about 2/3 years

i loved it, got the looks, very quick off lights as expected, was a bitch on fuel (reason why dadda sold it)

this is the biggest problem now i think with these...for an old car thats going to need a few quid on upkeep... it is one thirsty bugger...they were even from new, so imagine how much fuel they drink 8 years on..

 

[melinamotor]

Dont bother with the 170, I owned one and was dissappointed by the lack of power (although the power improved after changing the fuel filter) the fuel consumption and the gearbox was awful. Unless new the shocks were also pretty bad and the steering heavy compared to a standard focus. I spent loads of money on mine which was a later 2003 model and got it pretty close to mint. get a CTR instead.