I have had a 2006 performance blue ST for a year and half or so...
Plus points, looks, handling, running costs (cheap to service/maintain compared to a Clio 182...no expensive cam belt replacement as the Duratec engine is chain driven), interior is better built and of a nicer design than the Clio equivalent though everyone will be along to say 'who cars how crap the interior is in a hot hatch' as though they spend every minute of driving on the nordschleife
Its a pretty poor car on the motorway to be honest, its plenty fast enough for easy driving but it gets tiring due to wind and tyre noise, and the low gearing (about 3800rpm in top at 70). Around town though its good fun, very chuckable.
If you can try and find one with the Mountune power upgrade, this was a Ford approved upgrade which could be specified from new or added later, which comes in two stages:
Stage 1 added a full exhaust system and a remap, taking it to 165bhp.
Stage 2 was the same but with cams and a more aggressive map, making 185bhp so appreciably quicker and faster revving. It sounds fairly epic for a four pot hot hatch too, lots of pops and bangs on the overrun...see this video, this is a car with the stage 2 package...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GegjyIwIPQ
The Mountune cars got some very favourable reviews and are much better to drive than standard...if I was buying now I'd wait for a car that already had the upgrades. Heres what Drivers Republic thought of the ST185...
http://viewer.zmags.com/showmag.php?mid=gwhpg&preview=1&_x=1#/page2/
Some insurers (Greenlight for example) do not necessarily charge extra for the Mountune upgrade either in the same way that aftermarket mods would be treated, dependent on the model year of the car, as it was 'factory approved' by Ford.
Check with your insurer beforehand though...a 2007 car could be Mountune'd from the factory and can be insured as such for no extra cost. A 2005 car that had the upgrade when it was 2 yeards old when the packages became available cannot...the ABI codes for the 165/185 upgrades only cover 2007 onwards vehicles.
As standard the engine is somewhat strangled - the standard airbox sits on top of the engine and is thus prone to heatsoak as well as having two 180 degree bends in it. The standard exhaust is about 57mm diameter apart from the flexi pipe just after the manifold which has a 42mm section...change the flexi pipe and the engine is much keener to rev and dyno graphs typically show a 5-10bhp increase for just these two mods.
Many cars will be lowered, as stock the ride heigh is laughable, one could source 35mm Eibach springs through Ford which were manufacturer approved and did not effect the warranty. Best suspension setup for the car is Bilstein B12s, expensive but the ride is actually better than standard!
Reliability -
Some will say the gearboxes break often but its an IB5+ gearbox as fitted to countless other cars. More a reflection on how the car is used I feel!
Common failures include the water pump and aux belt tensioner/idler pulley, these tend to give a little rattle by way of warning first though. Quite hard to diagnose the fault though due to all parts running off the same belt.
Engine mounts have a fairly hard time as well given the way the engine is shoehorned in...replacement is pretty easy though.
Gearbox mounts take a hammering and most cars will clonk slightly on the second to third gearchange.
Electric mirrors tend not to be too reliable but not many cars have these anyway.
Mountune tuned cars may have a ride height adjustable coilover setup made by KW whic improves the handling no end but the dampers are prone to leakage
Handbrake cable can rattle on the exhaust heatshield under the car, this can be heard as an annoying tapping from behind the drivers seat, easy fix with some lubrication and minor adjustment (bending of heatshield!)
No synchro in reverse so popping it into reverse can sometimes be a struggle, this is normal and to be expected...change to third first or dip the clutch twice before selection reverse and you'll be fine.
The engine is essentially the same as a 2.0 Mondeo (Duratec) so is pretty reliable if cared for
. It does sound very tappety though and has pretty noisy injectors. Quite a coarse engine note and not particularly sweet sound especially as standard!
Overall though I like mine - looks smart and modern, a bit more special than the Clio 182 inside and out, and is good fun to drive. Wouldn't want to take it on the motorway every day but on a good road its proper fun! Mine is soon to get lightweight 16 inch wheels, upgraded brakes, a Quaife diff and a Mountune upgrade
Any more opinions gratefully taken on board.
