That size doesn’t sound too bad in 17”, should be able to get a decent ride if the suspension is compliant enough
That’s the issue, it’s not compliant in the slightest (unless “making progress”)
Jeez! 19's? My '72 mini had 10's 🤣🤣🤣
But I get the point being made. My Dc2 had 15's... Great ride quality and very little tram lining.
@mashr I wonder if some decent adjustable Bilstein shocks would sort the ride out.
@pandhandj 15s do look a bit small though! Myself and my dad used to have E30s M3s and we ran those on 15s at standard ride height as they drove better on the road, but I was always jealous of people with 17s and low suspension with the touring car look!
I broke my Dc2, for the engine/gearbox, to go into my mini. Any more than 13's on a mini look weird! But the b18c6 from my Dc2 was geared for 15's. Don't ask me how much I paid for a nw final drive to replace the standard one in the itr gearbox...
If I remember correctly, the Dc2 ran on potenza re10's? Maybe 55 walls? Honestly can't remember!
"If I remember correctly, the Dc2 ran on potenza re10’s? Maybe 55 walls?"
Well remembered, 195/55 15's, the Bridgestone's did have a stiff sidewall, lovely tyres whilst you could get them.
Why mention it’s a 3rd car, no need to show off.
I'd search for the Vic and Bob handbags gif if I could be arsed but I wouldn't want to hurt your feelings anymore than I already have.
Oh, and the stereo layout looks like it was designed when someone sneezed on the dashboard and went “that’ll do it”
That was true of all Fords about five years ago, Vauxhalls were similar, but not quite so bad, and Volvo stuck a bloody phone-style qwerty keypad on the dash! Not distracting in any way whatsoever! We had a Focus ST in work a while back for an insurance repair, a 17-plate IIRC, and that type of dash looked so cheap considering what the car was about - my EcoSport is much better in that regard, but then all Fords now have a much simpler and clearer dash setup, with the floating display and knobs for controlling environment and radio volume, much, much better and safer than touch controls when actually driving.
Harshness of ride, as has been pointed out, is often as much due to large diameter wheels and low-profile tyres, and run-flat tyres are even worse, as fitted to BMW and Minis; I had to pick up a 4 Series BMW from a bloke in Bristol once, and he said it was his first opportunity to get rid of it, and he hated it! I asked why, and he said the ride was noisy and harsh, and very tiring to drive, he was swapping to a Mercedes.
It didn’t take much more than half a mile on regular Bristol roads to see exactly what he meant, it was horrible! It crashed and banged over every little road imperfection, and road noise meant the radio had to be turned up to an uncomfortable level to be able to hear anything.
Heading north into Melksham on the A350 the road surface is really badly broken up, it’s uncomfortable even with the larger volume tyres on my car, I can imagine what it must be like with low-profile run-flats on a Mini or BMW, having driven them before; I couldn’t live with it everyday.
It also results in trashed alloys as well, there’s virtually no sidewall protection from the tyre, and the rims get wrecked the first time the car gets parked next to a kerb. Ridiculous things to put on big SUV’s like Range Rovers, but hey, it’s cool, innit!
This is the EcoSport dash from 2014, same as most other Fords, just a mess:
This is the current Fiesta/Focus/Puma/EcoSport layout, just so much easier to use when driving - difficult to understand how designers could get things so wrong previously.
I drive over 20k miles a year so these sorts of small fun hatchbacks don't fit my criteria one bit but interesting to read other peoples comments on tyres.
My past two cars have been a 330d and a 640D but both are non M Sport models so thankfully only have 18" wheels and not 19" or 20" which some of the 6 series are on.
The big wheels do look nice but are just so unnecessary.
I've always been impressed with the way any fast Ford drives but feel the build quality is still not there with VW.The Polo GTi or Fiesta ST are both seriously rapid with a few tweeks.
christ id prefer that first image rarther than the floating screen any day.
christ id prefer that first image rarther than the floating screen any day.
I have a fiesta with the second pic dash right now, and had a Ford with the first pic dash before. It’s miles better now and works really well and is pretty intuitive too.
I don’t know why anyone would ask about cars on here, most people seem to have whatever boring Audi is on trend right now (and an S3/4 etc are still boring) or a knackered old Skoda cos they are too cool to have better cars.
If the OP likes the ST3 I say go for it. Don’t listen to anyone else, if you like it go for it. I have a Fiesta Titanium X right now and it’s brilliant to drive, would love the same thing but with more power, would be amazing.
Hard suspension? Badge kudos? Only a problem if you’re a middle aged IT salesman.
I’ve always been impressed with the way any fast Ford drives but feel the build quality is still not there with VW.
The Ford will be more reliable.
https://www.carwow.co.uk/blog/most-and-least-reliable-car-brands-revealed
Hard suspension?
Don’t be an arse. The old STs suspension is stiff enough that when driving over a slightly rippled patch of motorway near me it would take my breath away if I was mid-sentence. My (still stiff) old Clio was far more pleasant to live with despite also being the better handling car. Sporty does not necessarily mean overly stiff
I don’t know why anyone would ask about cars on here, most people seem to have whatever boring Audi is on trend right now (and an S3/4 etc are still boring) or a knackered old Skoda cos they are too cool to have better cars.
If the OP likes the ST3 I say go for it. Don’t listen to anyone else, if you like it go for it. I have a Fiesta Titanium X right now and it’s brilliant to drive, would love the same thing but with more power, would be amazing.
Hard suspension? Badge kudos? Only a problem if you’re a middle aged IT salesman.
You have read the rest of the thread, right? No boring Skodas or Audis mentioned..but rather people that have owned the car in question and other hot hatches offering reviewes.
Middle aged IT salesman? Not even close.
The ST is nothing like a regular cooking Titanium X... so what's your experience of the car in question? Bizare comment.
Re tyres and ride comfort I swap low profile summers to smaller wheels with higher profile winters (softer rubber) in Nov and the change in ride quality across our broken roads is appreciable. Worth considering.
I don't find the suspension hard on my Mk8 and that's despite driving some of the crappiest roads in Scotland and running 18s. Used to commute a 70 mile round trip in it too and I never considered comfort an issue.
and that type of dash looked so cheap considering what the car was about
I’m afraid that the dash and interior of the ST made me not even bother going to look at one, I agree they were horrendous. We bought a Polo GTI instead. It was my wife’s car anyway and I think the Polo was easier to live with day to day, but not as fun to drive, which suited her better.
(It’s been replaced with an i3s which is a whole different thing).
Re tyres and ride comfort I swap low profile summers to smaller wheels with higher profile winters (softer rubber) in Nov
But only if you have front discs small enough to allow that - certainly not an option on my car.
christ id prefer that first image rarther than the floating screen any day
You wouldn’t if you’d ever tried to set a destination in the sat nav, change the radio station or use your phone for music in an ST3. Intuitive it is not.
Cant comment on the Fiesta ST3 but i do have a 2016 Focus ST3
Had fast Fords since i passed my test at 19 and im now 43 (ive had xr3, xr3i, RS16i, RS Turbo S1 and S2)
Last car was a fast'ish Audi A4 Avant (estate) 2.0T Special Edition with 220bhp
Go for a proper test drive down the bumpiest road you know and see how you feel about the suspension and wheels, My Focus ST3 has 19in wheels and is 280bhp (Revo remap) and its fine on some of the roughest roads i know
I would have liked a Fiesta ST3 with a Montune 230bhp kit but i need to fit the wife, boy and my MTB in the car so the Focus made more sense
The Fiesta's stereo/sat nav does look a lot more awkward/hard to use compared to the Focus ST3 sync2 and sync 3 stereo/sat nav systems
UPDATE -
my birthday has been and i i found a nice wee fiesta st.
Then i remembered that my 17 year old daughter is learning to drive...
Once she passes her test, the best i can find without a black box is £3,500 per year for insurance!
looks like I'll have to wait a few years till i get my mid life crisis car 🙁
Once she passes her test, the best i can find without a black box is £3,500 per year for insurance!
How does this affect your finances?
Sorry, I know this isn't how it works now but I never had a car until I could buy and run one myself. When my insurance quotes were in 4 figures I had a buss pass.
Take 2k off your budget, 1k each for her car and her insurance?
It may not be cool but at the end of the day it's transport.
You wouldn’t if you’d ever tried to set a destination in the sat nav, change the radio station or use your phone for music in an ST3. Intuitive it is not.
Just trying to search for a station is ridiculously tedious, and there’s no satnav anyway. The floating screen is much neater than anything Mercedes came up with, and it’s bigger than pretty much any screen that’s actually set into the dash. I think Ford have about the best infotainment setup in any cars at the moment, with the possible exception of Tesla, but theirs are ludicrously big! Having the option of the screen divided into three, or having the navigation screen full-size is excellent, using TomTom in my EcoSport is fantastic, so much easier than peering at my phone screen stuck to the screen about six inches further away, and a third the size.
Just trying to search for a station is ridiculously tedious, and there’s no satnav anyway.
There was on the old ST3, it took me down some very ropey routes
