Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 46 total)
  • Focus ST owner question
  • mbr30
    Free Member

    Anyone own or of these please? What kind of fuel consumption do you get during normal driving?

    Can’t decide if a 2.5 litre petrol is a bit excessive in the current economic climate

    wisepranker
    Free Member

    When I was looking into getting one I was told by a couple of owners to not expect anything over 30mpg and that’s taking it extremely easily.
    Normal use I was told 20-25mpg!

    Needless to say, I never got one.

    steveh
    Full Member

    Yup as above it’s very poor on these, much worse than it should be! 25mpg should be what you budget on.

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    Taff
    Free Member

    A mate has one, doesn’t do massive mileage hence the purchse. He’s getting 20-25mpg but that’s a bit of city driving too. No idae about consumption on the motorway but you may get 30 out of it

    singletrackfred
    Full Member

    I have done 10,000 miles in mine in the last 5 months. 60 mile commute (round trip) B roads, A roads and some dual carriageway gets me 30-31mpg. Motorway miles typically 29-30.
    However recent weather has dropped it to 28.5
    Shell V-Power helps, BP Ultimate is about the same, Tesco Premium stuff is quite good too

    When having a spirited drive does it drop it to 20ish

    The engine is superb, the sound it lovely, the popping exhaust is fantasitc. Handling is great, good practicality (2 bikes in the boot no problems), 2 kids in the back (not with the bikes!)

    You don’t buy an ST for the fuel economy…

    Pigface
    Free Member

    Great cars but thirsty.

    porter_jamie
    Full Member

    loads and loads of people had them at work when they were still current. 25mpg sounds correct.

    they arn’t that fast really, i drove one or two, and was a little bit disappointed tbh. not slow, but certainly not rip your face off quick.

    if you are going to suffer the poor economy, get a properly quick car (impreza with 300bhp or something), or just get a diesel instead.

    br
    Free Member

    Shell V-Power helps,

    So 25mpg really means 22mpg if comparing premium petrol vs the normal stuff. Worse than my 535i, and that’s auto too.

    timc
    Free Member

    Sisters Boyfriend / Riding buddy has one, low 20’s for his mpg.

    porter_jamie – Member
    they arn’t that fast really, i drove one or two, and was a little bit disappointed tbh. not slow, but certainly not rip your face off quick.

    if you are going to suffer the poor economy, get a properly quick car (impreza with 300bhp or something), or just get a diesel instead.

    Surely an Impreza is going to be more expensive?

    mbr30
    Free Member

    They seem quite reasonably priced however. My short list includes the st, Leon fr or a type r. Can see me ending up with an fr diesel 170.

    djglover
    Free Member

    Does premium really make a difference to mpg. I’ve been running the last 2 tanks on Tesco 99 RON. Certainly my car is more responsive on it, but I still can’t get the dial over 25mpg.

    As for the focus, there are lots of cheap fast petrol cars around at the moment with poor economy, a front wheel drive ford would be near the bottom of my list when there are 4X4 Audis, Subarus and rear drive BMWs to be had for silly money

    thekingisdead
    Free Member

    Does premium really make a difference to mpg. I’ve been running the last 2 tanks on Tesco 99 RON. Certainly my car is more responsive on it, but I still can’t get the dial over 25mpg.

    It should do for performance cars with high compression ratio’s. Should reduce pinking.

    I’ve never had a performance car tho, so I may well be speaking b0ll0cks 🙂

    forge197
    Free Member

    We had one and 20 – 25mpg was the norm, if Mrs F drove it would get nearer 25 and if I did nearer 20, either way we averaged little more than 22 – 23 overall.

    mbr30
    Free Member

    22-23. Nuts to that!

    emac65
    Free Member

    Few lads at work have had them,expect mid to low 20’s or worse if booting it……

    metamuppet
    Free Member

    Mental, I get 48 to a gallon during spirited driving and over 55 cruising…

    A good chipped/mapped diesel can annoy many quick petrol cars.

    If you can bear the smell/noise that is…

    wrightyson
    Free Member

    My preza has been around 15 mpg on certain occasions , but has also been above 30 on any longer motorway drives. However get some toe rag behind in a vectra etc and kiss goodbye to that pootling figure within 5 mins! V power in that does give about 25 more miles to the tank and feels slightly crisper when booting it! That may well be in my mind tho!

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Premium petrol – your car has to be set up for it to get any benefit. Which means a performance engine. The benefits in economy and performance and are quite real though.

    Premium diesel – anyone gets benefits, you might not see MPG gain (although I do) but you will see smoother running and better starting.

    retro83
    Free Member

    metamuppet – Member
    Mental, I get 48 to a gallon during spirited driving and over 55 cruising…

    A good chipped/mapped diesel can annoy many quick petrol cars.

    If you can bear the smell/noise that is…

    …and changing up at 5,000 RPM 🙁

    br
    Free Member

    Premium petrol – your car has to be set up for it to get any benefit. Which means a performance engine.

    No, it means an engine that has been setup to need it, for example pretty much all superbikes run on standard petrol – they’re running towards 200bhp/ltr.

    Also I understand the ride in the ST is rather ‘harsh’, based upon an ex-collegue who had one. When he was leaving I looked at taking on his company ST – first thing he did was ask how far my commute was (50 miles), as he felt 30 miles was enough in that car…

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Top tip for diesel haters – put stickers over the numbers from 1-5 and write on them numbers from 1-6. No difference!

    No, it means an engine that has been setup to need it,

    Well, an engine that has been set up to benefit from it. What I meant was, that usually means a performance car of some sort – or one with a turbo actually.

    for example pretty much all superbikes run on standard petrol – they’re running towards 200bhp/ltr

    That’s cos they rev much higher isn’t it?

    metamuppet
    Free Member

    4500rpm for me, 5000 and its run out of go go!

    metamuppet
    Free Member

    Top tip for diesel haters – put stickers over the numbers from 1-5 and write on them numbers from 1-6. No difference!

    I like this.

    thomthumb
    Free Member

    20.4 avg over last 6 months according to my little brother. makes my van seem good at 37!

    MS
    Free Member

    Some folk must just horse it everywhere! I get about 28-29 with mixed town and dual carrigeway driving.

    Excellent car imo. Much better than the astra VXR. Don’t really know what people mean when it’s not fast, compared to it’s close competitors there all much the same, but the ST is fun to drive, and the noise is noice!

    If you want to be economical then not really for you but if its a bit of fun for an afordable price then the ST is the way to go!

    santacruzsi
    Free Member

    We have an ST in work, cracking car but mpg as is described, 25 mpg or approx 230 miles per tank. I had an Astra vxr myself which I preferred for power delivery but again mpg was poor , maybe 28mpg. Great car but as someone said you don’t buy it for fuel economy…. Enjoy!

    therag
    Free Member

    None of these cars are really economical but I can highly recommend the type r. Driving 1 will make you smile every journey fact.

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    Should reduce pinking.

    Never heard a modern car pink.

    And as the owner of a 175bhp diesel and a 150bhp petrol the difference is hugely different than just changing up at 5k. A petrol engine just feels more responsive and flexible across the power range, not just the sweet spot around 1.5k and 4k

    fd3chris
    Free Member

    Any engine will pink if tuned high enough, unless you throw serious money at it in the fueling department . Which of course you should if you’ve bothered to build it correctly. I’ve never owned one but from general reading the ST does seem to be an informed choice in that segment of the market .

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    That’s cos they rev much higher isn’t it?

    In a way, yes. Basically they are built for high revs, not tourque, because they don’t need the tourque to haul a heavy body around. Revs = Power. But the engines themselves are far higher specced than most car engines in regard to the quality of the components etc

    ivantate
    Free Member

    The ST is definately the choice of the traffic police at my brothers station and that’s over imprezas, golf r32 etc…. .
    I think you can also get a 5 door which is handy, pity they didn’t do an estate like the old st170.

    If you want a cheaper front drive hatch with more than 4 cylinders then look at the MG ZS, there are some really genuine ones around for very little. Then you have more in the bank for the fuel. Might not have quite the horse power but is lighter and the handling is easily on a par.

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    Any engine will pink if tuned high enough,

    Perhaps but what I meant is that I have never heard an unmodified modern engine pink. Electronic ignition must surely stop it from happening in all but rare cases?

    wrightyson
    Free Member

    Very surprised regarding the cops using st’s don’t think ive ever seen one being used by the law. You think they’d plump for the 4wd option everytime??

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    I guess it comes down to cost (and not talking RRP here).

    retro83
    Free Member

    mastiles_fanylion – Member
    Perhaps but what I meant is that I have never heard an unmodified modern engine pink. Electronic ignition must surely stop it from happening in all but rare cases?

    Why do modern cars have knock sensors then?

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    Why do modern cars have knock sensors then?

    To make them not pink I guess which is possibly also why I have never heard a modern engine pink…

    OmarLittle
    Free Member

    i tended to get about 25-26, i didnt drive it like a hooligan either

    Its a nice engine though so much torque and pulls so well from low revs particularly in 4,5 and 6 th gears

    gee68
    Free Member

    I’ve owned an ST for the past two years,it’s an O.K car but i find the driving position a tad uncomfortable.I had the engine re-mapped and it makes a hell of a difference,gives new meaning to the words torque steer.This has obviously affected my fuel consumption and I only get betwween 19-22 mpg,:o sounds bad i know but my commute to work is short.

    First time poster(long time lurker)so hi all. 😀

    retro83
    Free Member

    mastiles_fanylion – Member
    To make them not pink I guess which is possibly also why I have never heard a modern engine pink…

    😆

    flange
    Free Member

    My mate has one, its horrendous on fuel. Another mate had an RS and that was even worse, but chuffin quick. They do sound nice and easy to get more power via a remap.

    As mentioned though if you’re getting only 20-25 mpg, for the money you could have something properly quick. I had a 350Z and whilst fast, it wasn’t nearly as sharp as the RS4 I had afterwards and running costs were pretty similar (tyres, brakes, Tax and fuel costs). I’ve seen ST’s going for around the 5-6k mark. You could buy an E39 M5 for that (if you could stomach the costs when it breaks), a Boxster S(more fun to drive), Mk5 Golf GTI (better on fuel), Audi TT (Mk1), 350Z(faster), VXR Astra (better on fuel)…

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 46 total)

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