never fails to impress in any reviews, top car, I would imagine going down from a Focus ST to a Fiesta ST would be dissapointing, it is very poor on fuel, fiesta isn't great neither, perhaps you should figure into your budget not only fuel, but higher car insurance AND higher Tax bracket (all going up too over next few years) that might answer your question.
Certainly a very fast car (with extra room to), particulary mid range onwards so do you need that level of performance, what I can say is my mountune Stage 1 lived easily with a focus ST recently and he was trying !
Anyway, I think the Focus is a great looking car and I would have one, but can't afford it and too big for me.

i have catered for everything in my budget even down to the tyres on the focus which i gather it eats also!!

the other option in my mind is to buy the st and use the money i would have done on the focus, to upgrade the fiesta maybe? The mountune option looks great, has your economy improved due to this? do you regret not goin for the stage 2?

by the way how long do your tyres generally last on the st? i know this may vary from tyre to tyre. thanks

the Foci is nice and its quick but round the twisty stuff many will tell you the Fez has the edge. tyres on my Fez lasted 18k and now I have Goodyear F1's on in 8K they still look like new but then a lot of my miles are Mway so would depend on the roads you drive and your style etc. I think in the current cliamate I would go for the Fez a power upgrade.....how easy have those with Monotunes found the insurance to get? and how much did it go up?

I'd go for the Focus, it's just a properly engineered/put together package.

My wife keeps pestering me for a Focus ST and with the deals going at the moment it is very tempting.

economy is slightly better with stage 1 mountune, my work drive is only 6 miles so hard to notice (30-33mph), but others who drive further say it is definitely better.
My PZero now 7500 miles and no significant signs of wear, it's all about your driving style, I don't go hard around bends or roundabouts so I don't wear tyres out. Very happy with stage 1 and the lower down bhp and torque it has over stage 2. Would be only worth getting stage 2 if you like to rev it everywhere and await the big surge of power it has up the rev band then the stage 2 really takes off. Below that both cars are pretty well matched.
Insurance, Adrian Flux, no probs, just added £36ish.

this is the thing dave the deals seem really great and i know they aren't going to stay that way forever...see..there is some good to the recession...at least for me anyway.

iv got a test drive booked in one next tuesday the only problem is iv got it straight after the fiesta and i think i may go power mad and loose sight of sensibility!

pistonheads has some great ones at the mo..
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/827439.htm

lmao women are the best at pestering unfortunatley!!!!

get the focus ST and then get the Mountune Stage 1 for that = 280bhp !

i could definatley live with an extra £36 on my insurance for what you get....from what you've said stage 1 sounds like the better option for me personally.

so it really sounds like when it somes to fuel bills, tyres, maintenance its dpartially down to how you drive it.

pardon my ignorance but for the focus st the stage 1 will still be the same price??

NO Focus Stage one is a lot cheaper than Fiesta ! £400 cheaper in fact, Focus Stage One is only a £1000, it doesn't get any exhaust mods unlike Fiesta:-

http://www.mountuneperformance.co.uk/Focus-ST

b3n, I'll leave you to study the mountune site while I nip out for an hour on my bike, back later if you have any more questions.

WOW! thanks for the link...so there is only a stage one for the focus it seems, still an insane amount of power to have...well it would be for me coming from a *coughs* corsa..sorry i shouldnt swear like that!!

i cant wait to get out and try it just worried that i will just WANT the extra power!!

definitely drive both and if you can afford the Focus then go for it. They seem to hld their value a lot better and are certainly more unique than the Fiesta.

My tyres on the fiesta have lasted about 8k miles on the p zeros and about 9k miles on Avon ZZ3s

am back

So, we are saying that £1,096 gets you to 60mph in 5.9 secs, verrry impresive agreed.

But for £1,096 to achieve a gain of 0.6 secs over the standard Focus , mmm thats a lot of pennies for little return.
I know that the torque will also be improved, but still.

Plus, if you look at the second hand reports in mags like 'Fast Ford' at the Focus , there is a definite demand for models in original condition and not moded up, and so the unmoded 's are holding their value a lot better.

I think the focus is equiped to handle most situations as standard.

Open to debate i know, but just my two pence worth.