ST170 - Not another just washed thread...mods done so far

[Russ.]

Hi,

Just spent the afternoon washing the car, pleased with the result compared to how she looked before, no pre wash photos though im afraid.

Freshly cleaned and conditioned leather...looks much better...

My Mintex disks have been bugging me for weeks, the hubs rusted like mad so i decided to put an end to it and painted them black. While at it i also painted the callipers silver. I used Hammerite Smooth paints for future reference.

Photos don’t really do them justice, but looks so much better than rusty hubs and faded black callipers. Also seems to make the disk/calliper look much larger than before:

Rear Wheel -

Front Wheel -

Changed the standard ST170 gear knob to one from a ST220 pretty much as soon as i got the car, as the standard knob was badly scratched and the paint chipping away. ST170 gear knobs are around £100 to replace though so i was going to buy an ST220 knob for £30 from Ford, until ppcall of Ford ST Owners Club kindly sent me brand new one he had lying around for FREE! Bargain or what? I also think the 220 knob looks a lot more modern than the one which came on the ST170 out of the factory.

The ST170 came as standard with a 6disk ford cd player, unfortunately some kind sole had swapped it for a single disk player somewhere along the way. I bought a replacement 6 disk player off eBay which was faulty on arrival...paypal sided with the seller so I was left £90 out of pocket

Eventually I ordered an Alpine 9856R from Car Audio Security which is still only single disk but does have mp3 support. Pleased with how this looks and blended in very well with the dash with illuminating green.

Finally...she’s tucked up inside the garage for the night now on the freshly painted garage floor lol.

That’s it for now, i have some goodridge braided brake lines waiting to go on soon, if anyone around Staffordshire way has fitted these to an ST170 before and fancies earning a few ££ fitting mine please feel free to get intouch.

Last but not least...its not all good news she’s off to the garage on Monday due to the fact she cant hold the tracking, suspected ball joint failure. One side of the handbrake cable has also snapped so that’s being replaced at the same time. Hopefully then well have a few trouble free miles, if we do i might treat her to a couple of engine mods. Not sure what yet though be one of the following more than likely -
Remap (claimed 10bhp, 14 torque)
Under drive Pulleys replaced (claimed 4-6bhp)
Bigger throttle body (claimed 4-6bhp)

Enough chat anyway, thanks for looking and please post your opinions

 

[Andy1.2]

Lovely car mate!

 

[Rudi]

Tidy looking motor :approve:

 

[theduck]

looking good mate!

 

[AlexS]

Very nice, i ve always wondered whether I should have got one of these, very jealous of the garage too, wish I had use of the garage all the time.

 

[Ian_182]

Lovely looking cars but the wheels suffer badly from a wee bit of flaking

 

[philmots]

Nice cars these.

 

[Ali]

how do they go? In comparsion to obvious competitors?

 

[cat171]

0-60 is 7.9 (book fig) Not overly bad, but more of a 'warm hatch' as oppossed to a hot hatch imo.

I quite like them.

 

[theduck]

ST170 is underpowered adn as said is more of a warm hatch, but they are great fun to drive.

 

[Alan]

Always liked this, looks top matey..

 

[Josh@Renparts]

don't like this shape focus but this one looks the dogs, especially like the digital climate.

 

[Russ.]

I would personally describe them as -

Power of a warm hatch
Handling of a hot hatch

Round corners they go like stink and just keep on gripping, theyre also good for long runs with having the 6th gear. 70mph is done at just under 3000rpm. The ST170 really isnt a 0-60 car, it bogs down below 2k due to the torque limiter iirc, once above 70 is were the ST170 starts to hold its own, ive not yet come across any 172/182s although ive played with a ctr a couple of times and he pulls from me before 70, once im into 3rd/4th i start to pull distance back till about 120 were generally theres a bend approaching.

There is however alot of tuning companies around for the ST170 although quite a few are in america due to the ST170 being known as the SVT over there. Several bolt on mods available which improve power through the range as well as top end. Without going down the forced induction root 185bhp can generally be squeezed out of the ST170 for not that much money.

Forced induction wise -

For £3000 you can supercharge the car and see 250-260bhp.
for £5000 you can turbo the car and see well over 300bhp.

Personally i wont be going down the forced induction root as i cant justify the cost, but i may look into a few bolt on's and a live map in the near future.

 

[Jones]

I would personally describe them as -

Power of a warm hatch
Handling of a hot hatch

Round corners they go like stink and just keep on gripping, theyre also good for long runs with having the 6th gear. 70mph is done at just under 3000rpm. The ST170 really isnt a 0-60 car, it bogs down below 2k due to the torque limiter iirc, once above 70 is were the ST170 starts to hold its own, ive not yet come across any 172/182s although ive played with a ctr a couple of times and he pulls from me before 70, once im into 3rd/4th i start to pull distance back till about 120 were generally theres a bend approaching.

There is however alot of tuning companies around for the ST170 although quite a few are in america due to the ST170 being known as the SVT over there. Several bolt on mods available which improve power through the range as well as top end. Without going down the forced induction root 185bhp can generally be squeezed out of the ST170 for not that much money.

Forced induction wise -

For £3000 you can supercharge the car and see 250-260bhp.
for £5000 you can turbo the car and see well over 300bhp.

Personally i wont be going down the forced induction root as i cant justify the cost, but i may look into a few bolt on's and a live map in the near future.

I know of a zetec engine thats being built and a st 170 head is being used and apparently they have the potential to flow enough for 700bhp!!

 

[Giles]

tidy

 

[Ian_182]

On the motorway from 90mph they are just as quick as a 1*2

 

[JoelDee]

V Nice a bloke I used to work with had one of these

 

[SOHROB]

Nice cars and very good build quality, really good levels of and good handling but a bit slow. Compared with a CTR/cup they are no match though.

 

[MarkCup]

I'd love one of those. Enough power to make it interesting, and if our 1.6 Zetec is anything to go buy, a chassis to die for.

 

[Ian_182]

The handling is so good on the focus,with the right power it would be right up there and maybe better than the clio

 

[theduck]

The handling is so good on the focus,with the right power it would be right up there and maybe better than the clio

Definately! Shame it was built during Fords era of forgetting about power

 

[Timmay]

very nice cars the st170

 

[Russ.]

got the car back from the garage.

good news, the tracking had held on the car was my paranoia that was a fault. (a few weeks ago national tyres were struggling to get the car to hold its tracking) apparently if i feel the wheel pulling to the left slightly its just camber in the road. Handbrake cable also replaced My wallets £100 lighter now but im happy at least

 

[Ian_182]

At least you now know its right

 

[FlameR]

really like ST170s!! Best colour as well, the on purpley/blue focus I'd get is the RS!