The Psychedelic Socialist
ClioSport Club Member
After doing sterling duty ferrying myself and the family around, I decided it was finally time to chop the FIesta in and get something a bit bigger and more practical. As I'm clearly a latent England-flag-sporting, pops-and-bangs-map dribbler, it had to be another hot-hatch, and I figured with so many being discontinued for good this was probably my last chance to get into a relatively new, run-out flagship model. I shopped around the usual suspects ; CTR (too expensive and too big), GR Yaris (too small), Golf GTI / R (already done it), and Megane (bit too old now / automatic only) before deciding on the Focus ST. Thankfully the options list is quite short so it wasn't too difficult to find the ideal spec, and I managed to get a Mean Green ST with the optional Track Pack, as well as the Driver's Assistance Pack (adaptive cruise etc.), on a '22 plate with just under 5,000 miles on the clock:
Not sure how much 'track' work it's going to get, but the brakes are upgraded to 365mm Brembos which really fill out the wheels, and you get a nice set of 19" flow formed alloys. The big upgrade though is the Ford Performance adjustable coilovers which are (AIUI) basically just a set of KW Variant 3s with a handy manual full of suggested damper settings (not that I own a jack to be able to change anything yet).
First impressions are that it's a much more serious car than the old Fiesta even if it's not as fast in a straight line. The engine response is much better and there's more torque down low, but it does run out of puff much earlier at 6k where the Fiesta still had its strongest 1,000rpm still to come. That said, with the suspension and the electromechanical front diff, it's so much faster out of corners and doesn't seem to get unsettled over rough ground to anything like the same extent.
I've decided to keep it standard for the time being at least, with a view to maybe have the Mountune M330 map and intercooler fitted next year which would take it to (funnily enough) 330bhp and 515nm of torque, both comfortably more than the old Fiesta. Given how sorted the brakes and suspension already are, I think that'd probably do me for the medium to long-term, but I've said that before...
Only niggle today is that it appears the battery is fucked so I'm going to have to try and get that sorted. One panel of buttons simply doesn't work and the battery SoC on Forscan is showing 63% even after 3.5hrs of driving in the last three days. Quite a common fault though so I'm hoping the dealership will just point me to Halfords and ask for a receipt so I can get a larger capacity battery fitted. There's also a tweak in Forscan to set the charge target to 90% from 80% which should give me 40% more usable charge compared to the OE unit's normal setting (80% of 60Ah vs. 90% of 75Ah).
Other than that it's been a treat to get into something more modern for a long journey with all the Android Auto integration, adaptive cruise, rev-matching etc. Really gelling with it already and given I typically only do 4,000 miles a year, should be something I can keep pretty fresh for a long time.
(and i know I said I'd wash it first but I ran out of time f**king about with Forscan, so decent pictures will have to wait...)
Not sure how much 'track' work it's going to get, but the brakes are upgraded to 365mm Brembos which really fill out the wheels, and you get a nice set of 19" flow formed alloys. The big upgrade though is the Ford Performance adjustable coilovers which are (AIUI) basically just a set of KW Variant 3s with a handy manual full of suggested damper settings (not that I own a jack to be able to change anything yet).
First impressions are that it's a much more serious car than the old Fiesta even if it's not as fast in a straight line. The engine response is much better and there's more torque down low, but it does run out of puff much earlier at 6k where the Fiesta still had its strongest 1,000rpm still to come. That said, with the suspension and the electromechanical front diff, it's so much faster out of corners and doesn't seem to get unsettled over rough ground to anything like the same extent.
I've decided to keep it standard for the time being at least, with a view to maybe have the Mountune M330 map and intercooler fitted next year which would take it to (funnily enough) 330bhp and 515nm of torque, both comfortably more than the old Fiesta. Given how sorted the brakes and suspension already are, I think that'd probably do me for the medium to long-term, but I've said that before...
Only niggle today is that it appears the battery is fucked so I'm going to have to try and get that sorted. One panel of buttons simply doesn't work and the battery SoC on Forscan is showing 63% even after 3.5hrs of driving in the last three days. Quite a common fault though so I'm hoping the dealership will just point me to Halfords and ask for a receipt so I can get a larger capacity battery fitted. There's also a tweak in Forscan to set the charge target to 90% from 80% which should give me 40% more usable charge compared to the OE unit's normal setting (80% of 60Ah vs. 90% of 75Ah).
Other than that it's been a treat to get into something more modern for a long journey with all the Android Auto integration, adaptive cruise, rev-matching etc. Really gelling with it already and given I typically only do 4,000 miles a year, should be something I can keep pretty fresh for a long time.
(and i know I said I'd wash it first but I ran out of time f**king about with Forscan, so decent pictures will have to wait...)
