Hey all, i'm new to join this site but have been reading a lot of the post for the past couple of weeks...i'm not currently an owner but im hoping to be in the new year sometime!!!

I drive a 1.2 corsa, 97, i'll be 21 next year and just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation to me with a change of performance and how did they find it? Im not buying with economy at the top of my list by any means just wondering what's the highest amount of miles you've had out of a tank??

Sorry for all the q's Thanks

Well I have gone from a 1.3 fiesta to a 1.6 astra to fiesta ST in a year only passing my test at the beginning of that year... and I have coped ok
Miles per gallon around about 32-34mpg...a mate got 47mpg average but that was coasting every where and wheres the fun in that
Just take it easy for a while to get use to it...like every car really

thanks, thats quite a leap in the first year of passing your test!! who did you find best for insurance personally, i know there are other post about it on here just wondering for you personally?

Also between fill ups how many miles are you managing?

I'm with admiral but under my dads name....
i get probably 300-320 per tank

ahhh thats how you've managed it, well im going to be 21 when i get one, with 2 years ncb and getting quotes around 1200 mark so seems reasonable to me. Thnaks

can anyone else shed any light on how they managed to reduce their insurance prices?? ie extra named drivers?....

When you guys made the decision for the st, what was the "other option"?...like a clio sport or whatever, and what swung it for you all??

Thanks again.

Well when I was looking I had a nose at the following:

C2 VTR/VTs - Too small but good fun to drive and cheaper insurance

Fabia vRS - Better economy but didn't like the seats and handling wasn;t there (power certainly was and torque steared something cronic)

Swift Sport - Fun car to drive, but small boot, only 4 seats and more expensive that the ST

Clio 197 - Too expensive and everything is an optional extra. (didn't get to drive this - was put off by the cost)

Honestly I bought with my heart and not my head and I fell in love with the handling of the ST along with the useable size/space. The Fabia was arguably a better car with better economy and faster in staright line than the ST if you re-map it but it just didn't look as nice and felt cheaper inside. The C2 was awesome fun to drive and has 20,000 mile service intervals but felt cheap and wasn't big enough to fit the weekly shop in, let alone a bike! The Swift was just overpriced and frankly it underperformed.

If I was to buy again now it would still be the fiesta, but I'd go for the diesel zetec S as the majority of the time I'm trying to be economical in the ST whereas on the same journey I could have fun in the ZS and return better mpg! In fact you could probably remap this to be faster than the ST but I think you'd never match the balance on the B Roads..... this is where the ST really shows itself off!

Oh and for reducing your insurance price.....

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Age!

cheers for that, yeh i was looking into the swift sport but it just doesn'r seem to maych up to the st on any level really. What car did you have before your st and how was the changeover in power etc..apart from great!?? Yeah from what i've read everyone seems in agreement that the st comes alive on the b roads.

And if you were to buy again would you get the oil burner over the st?

Ha HA!! yeh something I cant speed up unfortunatley will have to wait and see what they say...as i said above, 21, 2 years NCB, im expecting it to be around the 1000 pound mark.

The Diesel ZS is a real quick car through the gears...more torque than the ST but when I was looking to buy it was too much money to pay out extra....and working it out would of taken me 3 or 4 years to reclaim it back so went for the ST

The astra (2005) I had was more comfortable than the ST but was more of a long distance car

Yeah this to crossed my mind as an option but theres something about the st (apologies for sounding strange) that does it for me more than the rivals if you know what i mean...

also am i right in thinking that further down the line when the diesel were to be serviced that parts are a lot more for them as apposed to petrols??

How do you lot rate the seats in the ST, leather/half leather whats pros cons??

I have half leather with red inserts really comfortable but freezing in the mornings!
With the ST on the seats...touches like that make it miles better than the ZS for me

I've got full leather - chilly on the frosty mornings, but soon heat up

Servicing costs are low compared to the ongoing running costs of the cars. Where you're talking about a few hundred quid difference you're talking about a few tanks of fuel or a set of tyres?!

What does the ST have that the ZS doesn't.....

17" wheels to make the ride more uncomfortable
half leather seats (full leater is an option on the ZS and ST)
Discs on the back (arguably these reduce feel as master cylinder cant cope)
colour coded wing mirrors and rubbing stripes
Tacky ST inserts

Otherwise its the same car

I knew this when I bought my car but there is something about the ST that is fun, more childish than the ZS..... maybe its the stripes?