I took my car for it's first proper run up the motorway last night, and I was surprised (and a bit disappointed?) by how much engine noise there is, and I wasn't even going that fast. Even my Ka was quiet @ 80 on the motorway. My husband was in the car with me and was saying the stereo was much better than the one in his car - then said 'but its a pity you can't hear it over the engine '

I guess the car is great for whizzing round twisty roads etc, but not so good on long motorway journeys?

Yep people have always said the ST needs a 6th gear for motorway driving. Did you not have a test drive?

I remember taking my ST for a test drive. The salesman was deliberately trying to stop me going above 50 mph. I wanted to go on the A1 just so i could get the speed up. The salesmans comments were: "well once you have it iup to 50 you pretty much know what it can do"!!! Ford salesmen are cr@p!

I took it up the A1 regardless and the engine noise does make you think it needs a 6th gear.

Still bought the ST and i love it!

Yeah I had a test drive but not on the motorway, so didn't really notice the engine noise. Ah well, I don't have to do long journeys that often, although I was planning to try to visit my mother more often, who lives 120 miles away. I thought having a new car with lots of toys would make the journey more bearable than in the Ka - but I might have been wrong there!

The noise isnt that bad, its partly the exhaust which makes it. At 70 its not that bad, it gets bad at 80 but beyond that it quietens.

Its alot better than the wooring sewing machine sound of a KA.

I think the sounds great, thats b4 i have put an exhaust and induction kit on her!!!

I find if you drive at 70mph its fine!?!

Yeh you lot wanna try my car at 70 THEN you'll know what a loud exhaust is

wot system u got Pink? was it fitted locally?

Simpson Race Exhausts ( www.simpsonraceexhausts.com ) did a one off custom system for me. They are junction 5 of the M4 so not exactly local and not cheap! Its got a nice deep note to it and when she's warmed up she pops and bangs nicely. At full chat she sounds a bit like a rally car.

do you know how many decibel you got from ur exhaust?? did you gain any extra BHP

My exhaust is supposed to be 96db (I specified it was to be within track day limits). I'm reliably informed they test it at a certain distance from the tailpipe at a certain rev amount (hold it at 4,00rpm for example) and at an angle of 45 degrees. Did I gain any bhp? I should hope so after the amount I spent!! *lol* I have 170bhp rolling road tested.

How long did they keep the car for? How much did u pay? if u don't mine asking.

I dropped it off on a Saturday so they could start work on Monday morning. I wasn't expecting to get it til the following Saturday (the day I was driving up for FITP) but they called and said it was done by Thursday. I spent £1,175. This was considerably less than the initial estimated £1,400+! They gave me money off for finishing early and the fact I put their logo on my car etc. I'd already been to see them and discussed what they could do vs what I wanted. They are the suppliers of exhaust system to Lola who do the A1 GP cars. The owner/main guy also does drag car racing.