I am already planning ahead to getting a lightly used one of these when my trusty Honda finally expires (assuming they prove reliable)…

True, but this is no mad sports car, it’ll still deliver 40mpg

That bad? Dear me!

I drive a 2008 Focus ST-3 (albeit with a few performance tweaks taking it to circa 320bhp & lsd, uprated shocks/springs) but having just had a baby in July I could do with 5 doors and the extra boot space.

I’d have been looking at the new ST, possibly the estate but £25k+ with no options ticked… cmon!

Maybe in a year or two for £15k, the prices of new “regular” cars is just silly.

It looks like a great car for the twisty and interesting roads. Sadly this probably only makes up less than 1% of my driving and hence it’s the diesel auto estate for me still.

I really don’t get people who buy cars like this. If you need a pratical estate, buy a cheaper pratical estate, and then buy yourself an Elise/Westfield etc with the change which would leave something like a Focus ST standing in the fun stakes.

Possibly because those people don’t leave in some magical world where whenever you’re going somewhere and find a fun empty road your boring diesel estate transforms into a sportscar… Mind you, I don’t get people who buy new cars but I’m glad they exist!

I really like it. Always liked quick estates, possibly due to groing up watching these beasts:

Cos the required car costs more to buy, service, tax, fuel and insure, wastes precious fuel that we all need and fks the environment up that little bit more.

The Alfa Giulietta I had as a hire car when back in Blighty did 50 mpg whilst having 170 bhp, which solves the fuel and environment bit of your rant. And frankly, it’s none of your business how much it costs the driver to tax, insure, service and buy. HTH.

EDIT: For reference, I briefly also had a Corsa SRI as a hire car whilst back too. That struggled to do 35 mpg whilst also struggling to move faster than the lorries in the inside lane.

I really don’t get people who buy cars like this. If you need a pratical estate, buy a cheaper pratical estate, and then buy yourself an Elise/Westfield etc with the change which would leave something like a Focus ST standing in the fun stakes

I had both Elises and a Westfield. Now have a 300 bhp ST. Difference? Actually the ST is quicker than the wheezy Elise midrange and also I have 3 people in the family so the westie and Lotus were no use. The Focus is a jack of all trades. Goes to the tip, bikes go on the roof and upsets many german wagons. Everyone has a choice. if we didnt, we’d all be in the same boring bland cars. Insurance cost me sub £300 because its a ford, all mods declared. Road tax is the same as our mini cooper s. Service cost me £120 last year all stamped up. new discs and pads are under £200. All not exactly expensive. The only pain is fuel economy, but have seen 32 mpg on a run, but the rest is cheap to run, so fuel costs are its only blight. In fact its really cheap to run, as most of the time I go riding out the back of my mates vans !!

Owning a (semi) powerful estate, my next car will be a slightly less powerful but hugely more economical one. I admit myself, I tend to drive more like a dickhead in my Octy than I did in my old Mondeo ST. Much nicer to drive with the cruise on in my Mondeo seeing the MPG at 55mpg+…

Without a doubt in the next few months I’m getting one of these:

Anyone want an 06 plate Octy vRS wagon with 75kish on the clock?

That bad? Dear me!

You know when you realise that there’s some people you’re just never going to agree with….

Here’s some maths for you. Based on diesel being 1.42 a litre and petrol being 1.39 a litre and the Focus doing 40mpg and a generic diesel doing 60mpg the total additional cost of running the ST Focus over a Diesel Mondonkey over 10k miles would be just £503.

So £503 for a car that goes faster, looks better, sounds better and doesn’t stink. I know what I’d rather have….

And I know what I’d rather you had 🙂

I went to swap my rs4 for something cheaper and more efficient. I came back with another rs4. 😯

You bought the new one Col?

Lol, this entire thread reminds me of why I’m indecisive about trading my 330i Saloon, when what I really want is a fun estate (read RS4)

I only do 2500pa so Petrol/diesel economy is neither here nor there. The Beemer (its an ’52 plate) has had all the wear & tear bits done. But most poignently:

a)Its the semi auto, and on the odd work journey is excelently comfortable, smooth and acceptably economical on m/way with cruise (32mpg)

b)Thats ^^ with a bike carrier on the roof. A recent journey to Afan with all my gear and 1 bike on the roof averaged 28.5 from start to finish (M25 / A40 / M52 / twisty roads to Cwn Carn then to Cymmer)

c)I can get all the camping / bike gear for two bikes on the roof and still have room for 2 passengers – I’ve done that to CYB.

d) It can be a hoot in sports mode with the T/C off if you want it to be.

As much as I’d like an RS4 or acceptably performing diesel, in my circumstances the minute I have to borrow more than £100 to get a similar car in estate form it just isn’t economically viable.

i love the look of them and in 3 years when all the out of warranty ones appear in my price bracket i think i’d get one.

better MPG than the old ST engine and high kit levels cant go wrong really, not one for the badge snobs i guess though 😉

Everyone has a choice. if we didnt, we’d all be in the same boring bland cars.

Some people want everyone to have bland, boring cars. Stops them getting jealous… 😈

molgrips – Member

And I know what I’d rather you had

One that chucks out cancer causing particulates and has injectors/dmf/dpf so expensive that you may as well scrap the car when they fail? Not to mention having an engine that sounds like a skeleton having a Thomas the Tank in a biscuit tin. Or is it the kind which use rare-earth metals and require the owner to be smugger than Alan Partridge?

sounds like a skeleton having a Thomas the Tank in a biscuit tin.

Have you been in the new focus yet? Its a crap place to be in compared to the old one its replaced. ( I spend hours in various fords including the new focus through my work )

The dash might look all fancy and swooshy, but its quite impractical. The old dash has spaces to put things in front of the gear lever etc, the new one just has this slope sided pocket thing which isn’t big enough or the right shape to even hold a small phone.

The dash also swoops towards you just at the side of the doors. Making the knee space greatly reduced when getting in and out … I’ve hit my knees off those sharp edges countless times.

the front doors are smaller … making it harder to get in and out if you 6ft or taller.

the interior space feels much smaller than before in general. Its like theve narrowed the whole cabin and the roof lines feel much closer in on you.

All round, cant really stand it. Despite being the newest cars, they are the last set of keys to be picked by folk. The older design was much better.

One that chucks out cancer causing particulates and has injectors/dmf/dpf so expensive that you may as well scrap the car when they fail? Not to mention having an engine that sounds like a skeleton having a Thomas the Tank in a biscuit tin. Or is it the kind which use rare-earth metals and require the owner to be smugger than Alan Partridge?

As opposed to one that forces the owner to resort to knackered old cliched nonsense to justify it? 🙂

Shame it looks like a Peugeot.

That dash is an abomination. It looks like an 80s Alba Midi Hi-fi system

Flange – no, not here until feb next year. Someone wanted my Avus silver wagon so I swapped it plus a few grand for a black one with half the mileage and under warranty as mine was about to go out of silver service. Basically for the warranty price difference 😀 would like a new one but will wait for them to get 6 myths old and pick one up then.