Cliff notes?

How you guys liking this car?

 

It's fantastic. I'm at nearly 22k miles and I haven't had a single problem.

Instant torque, tons of power, and great interior and features with the ST3 package. Good amount of cargo space with it being a hatchback as well.

It handled the past two winters with ease on snow tires.

Looking to possibly mod? Tons of options, and not too expensive. A simple tune brings a great bump of power.

Dealerships are also giving great deals on them. Shop around and you can find invoice pricing, and I've even heard some get a bit below invoice as well. Plus Ford has incentives out there.

Have you driven one yet?

 

Anytime I see a Focus ST on the road, it reminds me of this thread .

I have nothing against Ford and their reputation has improved quite a bit over the coming years, they have 3 vehicles in their lineup that I wouldn't mind taking ownership of.

F150 Ecoboost, Focus ST & 5.0 Mustang.

 

My problem with my car is assembly/fit and finish.

Engineering-wise, the car is great. It's well sorted and it's pretty good on gas if you're not on the boost all the time. The shifter is precise and the handling is far better than my Mazdaspeed3 was ... And with the tune it's very quick.

However, as much as I love MyFord Touch, it's gotten a little worse since I got it. There are days where I cannot connect via bluetooth to stream music (phone always works). Theoretically, this could be my phone's stack.

But my biggest beef is the stuff I've complained about.

Honestly, I think I got a bad car. But, if I was buying something now, I would definitely go drive the Mk7 GTI and the Focus ST before making a decision.

 

MK7 cost much more though and highly doubt deals will be had once they release them.

Ford is offering some nice incentives. Was offered 23,700 for a ST2 without even trying.

Havent driven one yet but going tonight. A bit excited after reading all the reviews.

 

I would get the ST3 because of the better seats, xenons, etc. Though I can understand not paying for MFT. The navigation and Sirius integration is great. I love it. The media player is bollocks.

Let us know what you think

 

Dang that's cheap. haha

I would personally get the new WRX over it though. :P

Good luck with car shopping!

 

Everything is installed! Here's a quick shot of how she sits on the coilovers compared to stock. I have it set on 30mm so ~1.18" lower.



Stock suspension:



Will update with more this weekend or so.

 

You lowered it????? #fail

























Love it man. Good stuff.

 

Looks sharp! Can I drive it?

Ford dealer pulled a shady move, told me they had plenty and when i got there they had none. Said they are in transit.

Needless to say, I did not drive one.

 

I went to a Ford dealer recently to try and test drive a Fiesta ST. But they wouldn't let me because I wasn't planning on selling my BRZ any time soon.

 

Found a used one so I will just take that for a spin tomorrow. At least I will know how it feels after some miles on it.

 

I always call/e-mail ahead and try to schedule an appointment for even a test drive. Unfortunately, dealers will take you more seriously when you have the apparent intent to buy.

And to be fair, I'm sure they have their share of tire kickers and people looking to test drive just for the hell of it.

 

I did call before I got there.

Drove one today and really liked it. Love the handling, gearbox and steering. Did not even feel torque steer, very impressive.

I just could not get comfortable in it. I may be too wide for this car.

They did offer me a ST3 for $24,800 on the spot. That was damn tempting!! Have it in writing currently but will pass.

Sat in a BRZ and liked the seating position much more. They had no manuals in stock so did not drive it. Ugh, going way over my budget already.

 

That ST3 offer was quite a deal!

A little different, but I test drove the Fiesta ST. I felt the same way, except the interior is a little low rent in comparison to the Focus. Recaros were awesome to me, though my elbow kept hitting the bolster when I shifted to 2nd & 4th.

The seating position is very upright compared to the BRZ. Much more room in even the Fiesta. Extra torque in the ST is nice for a daily as well...

 

Nice job on the changes RPhilMan1! One of my favorite smallish cars for sure.

 

That's one hell of a deal! Was that before TTL?

The Recaro seats do break in a bit, too.

Happy hunting.

 

Shit 24.8k?

I may be if the Auto group my buddy works at can hook it up, but he works on the Toyota side.

 

They do? Damn, now it may be back on the list. The price is before TTL.

Realized its a lot of car for the price and I cant think of another car to get thats small, sporty and under $25k with a warranty.

Ugh I may go look at it again tomorrow.

 

That sounds impressive...

 

A few more photos.

 

Great shots!
You must be very happy...even just a subtle lowering vastly improves the aesthetics.

I mean, I'd be another 2" lower...
but I'm also part Mexican.

 

The definitely do. Great seats.

 

What's next for it?

 

Tune!

 

great shots Phil...

 

I could probably go down another 10-15mm (coils have room for 20mm more) but I'm happy with where it is now. The front is about 2 fingers width and the rear about 2.5 fingers width. The rear could probably go down a bit more but I don't want to lose the functionality of the hatchback.

And the roads suck here too much.

I don't really know... I think this is close to being it. The only things left to do are major, such as a bigger turbo or LSD. But I'm not going to consider that any time soon.

Oh, what I do know is that I want to get it on the Dynojet. Back on Thursday I called around, and I found a shop close to home that has one. I just need to schedule an appointment.

Already tuned!

Thank you!

I need to get some shots of the short throw shifter and a video of the blow off valve.

 

I purchased an official certification from Ford Performance Group.

My ST is one of the first 5,000 built, and one of the first 500 in Ingot Silver.



And 2013 production numbers. Ingot Silver is the rarest color, and only 550 were built in my trim, ST3 (202A).

 

Cool!

 

Playing with the GoPro. More to come!



A bit of liftoff oversteer in the first turn. When I push it hard through the corner it can really rotate. Trying to safely do it in a controlled manner and get it in video.

 

You got some big bawls...man...going that fast on a 2 lane with zero side visibility due to the shrubbery

Fantastic though...clear vid, nice smooth ride. Sounds fantastic.

I need to dust the Contour off...or make a mound for the D7000 with my Tokino Lens
Wind noise in teh S2000 top down will be soooo awesome

 

Thanks.

It's a long straight road back by farmland. There's pretty much no connecting side roads (just farmland access), and I can see cars in front or behind me a good half-mile away.

It's not the smoothest of roads, so I'm looking for some more good spots.

And dooooo it!

 

Raj Nair eh....some desi is doing well for himself....I wanna sign certificates


Effin SICK Phil...sounds awesome and the video captures everything very very nicely...were you on E Higgins Road/side roads while taking the video, looked like I have driven on a similar road back in Chicago Burbs....

 

I probably will...

about the shrubs...I guess i'd be worried about animals darting out...my heart can't take roadkilling

 

Wow dude that sounds awesome! And it seems to pull really well. That vid is making me want a GoPro so damn bad!

 

Really cool!

Also neat about the color production numbers. Wish Ford released that info for all their cars.

 

Needs LED fogs. Hint hint.

 

B&W Edit:

 

Still a great looking car, man.

 

Your ST reminds me of my 88 CRX Si I had. It was silver with dark metallic gray almost black wheels, nearly the same spoke design, too. It was definitely the most fun car handling-wise I ever had. I'm sure the ST is even more fun. Nothing beats a small hatchback for that. Damn the road barge I have now lol.