I am currently shopping for a new Focus ST. It seems to fit what I want in a vehicle at this point in my life. Do you like the car? Any advice you would like to pass on?
I am currently shopping for a new Focus ST. It seems to fit what I want in a vehicle at this point in my life. Do you like the car? Any advice you would like to pass on?
+1 for the RS. I've already converted one FoST owner 
The only real complaints I've heard about the ST is the lack of traction due to the open diff and typical FWD shenanigans, the stock ABS-based traction control stuff hammers the front brakes.
Most of the FoRS have an open front diff as well, but larger brakes that can take the abuse of the quasi-e-diff solution, plus driving the rear wheels really helps with traction issues.
It's a lot like the Fiesta ST, only larger and faster. It's just one of the best cars in the price range, bar none. Get one. Do it now.
The RS would be nice but this will be mostly for DD duties and the RS is almost twice as much as the ST. It may see some light autocross duties occasionally but no real track time.
Have had my '17 ST2 for about 3/4 year now for a daily. Still like it a lot.
Check out the very last post in that thread for my collected ownership thoughts so far.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/focus-st-as-a-daily/126286/page2/
You can grab Base FoST for under $20K now. Just on that alone may make it worth it.
gen2 Mazdaspeed3's have love it or hate it looks, but stock for stock I usually out-run them on track and have no brake issues. The MS3 came with a real diff - it's actually why I got it.
Same chassis I believe?
The more important question would be, what is it you are looking for in a car?
I guess I'll be the dissenting opinion so far. I bought a 2013 ST2 when they first came out - my first, and to date only, new car. Ordered it how I wanted and all that jazz. I put 15k miles on it in 11 months, so I definitely drove it. It saw track time on VIR and Summit Point, lots of highway time, and was my commuter in Northern Virginia traffic.
It made plenty of power and the clutch was easy to modulate, light enough for traffic but not so light as to be annoying. I had the MyFord Touch system which I thought was pretty good, not sure why so many people rag on it. Sync 3 should be even better to use. The car looked pretty good in Tangerine Scream (mac-n-cheese metallic) and I had the Recaro cloth seats. Gas mileage was generally pretty good and I saw 30+ highway fairly often.
That all said, I should have bought a GTI.
The blind spots in the FoST are huge as rear visibility is not great. Those sweet Recaro seats are less sweet once they break in (at least, in my case) and were not the most comfy things to sit in. The upgraded Sony sound system was junk above 50% volume, with muddy bass all through the range - even with the popular Poly-Fil modification. It's impossible to make a U-turn in a reasonable amount of space - I heard that Ford didn't modify much when throwing wider wheels on the ST, compared to the "regular" Focii trims, and then had to limit the range of the steering rack so nothing would rub. Just an anecdote but I believe it, or at least the theory.
I found the suspension to ride far too firm and the ride on the highway was very "busy." On track, even with nannies all disabled, the "e-diff" remains active and uses the brakes to help avoid torque steer. At VIR, that resulted in four laps before the brakes were out of juice and overheated. Torque steer remains, even with the e-diff magic trying so hard. Mine stopped torque-steering at 100 mph in 4th gear.
I traded the car for a used 128i 6-speed that was much more to my taste. I bought the FoST in part because, at the time, it was The New Hotness and the Mk6 GTI was old news. I think the Mk7 GTIs drive better, deliver power better, have better visibility, have better sound systems, nicer seats, and either a better e-diff type of arrangement or the offering of a true LSD. One of my good friends has an open-diff Mk7 GTI and it's better on track than the FoST.
Younger, more impulsive 22-year-old me ordered the FoST after two brief test drives and very mild comparison shopping efforts. All these years later, I'd recommend you reeeeally look at the other options and give them all some serious seat time before pulling the trigger. I regretted the FoST purchase about six months in but didn't make moves on it for a while after.
z31maniac said:The more important question would be, what is it you are looking for in a car?
I didn't really want to create another "what car" thread so I intentionally left that criteria out. However, since you asked...
-Sporty, small, but with some utility value
-Less than 25k
-Manual transmission
FiST is too small, FRS/BRZ lack utility (no passenger space, small trunk), BMWs that I found were too expensive. There are almost 100 new FoSTs within 50 miles of my house, several of them are leftover 2017s at less than 20k. They seem like good value and tick all my boxes.
In reply to Brake_L8 :
Always good to have a dissenting opinion, thank you!
Entropyman said:In reply to Brake_L8 :
Always good to have a dissenting opinion, thank you!
Sure thing! They're not bad cars, especially if you want one car to do it all. But I was starting to build my 97 M3 into a track car, and ended up not as jazzed about the ST as I thought due to what I had lurking in the garage. "If that would do track stuff better, why not have something more civilized for the street?" was my eventual realization.
Entropyman read my mind. I logged in to ask some FOST questions. Please forgive the intrusion.
How many miles are "too many for a FOST"? I have a budget of $14k. There is a 2013 ST3 package with sunroof locally with 108,000 miles. The dealership is asking $11,100. I've driven it, I liked it, no evidence of mods, just lots of miles.
Thanks for letting me piggyback on your thread.
jstein77 said:
The special blue color was an $850 option, so that's an absolute steal!
Also, it should be noted: No torque steer on the RS ;)
We get any more RS's here in CFR, B Street will turn into a Focus parade. It's very diverse right now, but most often ends up with an RS on top, sometimes two.
A friend has a 2013 ST3 (fully loaded with leather Recaros, HID's, etc.). I test drove it with him last summer on a parts run at a Lemons race. My quick review:
PROS:
-His has the Ford Racing "Stage 2" tune and exhaust. Highly recommended, and doesn't void the warranty. The thing pulls like a freight train and makes power everywhere in the power band, and is giggle inducingly fast for a car like this. Feels more like a torquey, modded V8 than a 2.0L turbo four!
-Interior is nice, although busy; lots of bells and whistles
CONS:
-Didn't like the shifter, felt impercise compared to my Mazda 3
-Door openings are smaller than they appear, making ingress/egress weird
-A pillars are ginormous, even for a contemporary car
-Recaros are tight. I felt like I was sitting on them rather than in them, but YMMV because I am a lard
VERDICT: For the money, they are a really good deal. You can score a ST3 for $20k and under slightly used. That is the way to go.
jstein77 said:We get any more RS's here in CFR, B Street will turn into a Focus parade. It's very diverse right now, but most often ends up with an RS on top, sometimes two.
Good to see Glenn Forester back in the mix.
In reply to jstein77 :
BS is no fun in an S2000 anymore becuase of the FoRS.
Also OP have you looked into a Honda Civic Hatch Sport? Not as much HP as the FoST; but, it's got a way better interior, a $21k price tag, Honda reliability, and if you want more juice the Hondata tune puts like 220hp to the wheels.
The deals on leftover 17's are pretty crazy right now, that's a hell of a lot of car for under $20k and just about ideal for a sporty DD or dual purpose car. My experience is limited to a couple miles on a test drive, but I really liked the FoST - actually strongly preferred it to the WRX I drove. Felt similarly quick, though traction control was obviously working hard in the first few gears, but it was a lot sharper handling and felt livelier than the Subaru. Ultimately I ended up in an FRS instead, because it was even more fun yet and also right wheel drive with a real LSD, but it is about the bare minimum of practicality I can deal with, so I get that it's just not going to work for everyone.
I owned a '13 ST3, and had the Ford Racing tune done. I loved and hated the car simultaneously.
Loved the razor sharp steering, the Recaros are absolutely awesome, the torque was silly levels of fun, just an incredibly fun car to drive spiritedly.
Hated the small fuel tank, Suburban size turning radius, engine was dead flat if it fell off boost, "squirrel on caffeine" personality sucked in traffic, Ford TouchMySelf system is glitchy
In reply to DirtyBird222 :
There are a couple in my area, I'll check them out.
In reply to Entropyman :
Isnt GTI the answer here?
dxman92 said:In reply to Entropyman :
Isnt GTI the answer here?
It can be, but driven back to back the GTI doesn't feel as eager and fun whereas the Focus has it in spades. They're both good tools for the job, but have a different feel. I was fast in my MK6 GTI but it was boring to drive and felt like a computer was in control. The focus didn't have those downsides.
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