Focus ST alternatives?

[sloth]

I'm going to be changing car in a few months time, so the hunt has begun for a new car. I'm 22, with 2 years no claims, and 1 driving offence - 4 point CD30 back in 2002. I currently drive a 2005 Focus 1.8, which after a year of owning I find underpowered and not very exciting - so the next car needs to change that.

Max budget is around 18k, and I'd prefer a new car. I'd like a medium sized car (Focus, Astra size), with good performance, but still affordable to service, fuel and insure. Fuel economy isn't a huge issue, as long as I can get 25mpg on average I'll be happy. 3 doors is preferable for looks, although I'm not ruling out 5 door cars. For power delivery, I think I'd find an engine like that in the Civic Type R tiring after a few weeks, so I'd prefer a turbocharged/supercharged car.

So far my shortlist stands at:

• Ford Focus ST-2/ST-3 (220bhp, 18.5/19.5k list)
• Skoda Octavia vRS (200bhp, 17.5k list)

The Focus appeals to me more for some reason, the Octavia seems very understated, but it's well specced for the money. The Focus is 2 groups higher for insurance (17 vs 15), and will have worse fuel economy. Otherwise, running costs won't be much different. I've got test drives booked in both on Saturday, so I'll have a better idea then.

I've ran through an insurance quote for the Focus ST, and comes back at £850 for 12 months (Admiral). So insurance seems very reasonable, pretty good considering my situation.

So my question - what other alternatives would you suggest I consider? Or any opinions to try and sway me between the ST and the vRS?

 

[sloth]

A3 3.2 Quattro
Golf GTi mk5
Golf R32 mk4
Leon Cupra / Cupra R

For some reason, the Golf (mk4 + 5) just doesn't excite me. I don't fancy a A3 either. But I shall visit Seat to check out the Leon Cupra if they have any.

ASTRA VXR

I'll book a test drive in it tomorrow.

you can get the st2-3 for about £16k if you no where to look

It seems that these online brokers can't actually get the cars. Ford seem to be only allocating build slots to main dealers just now.

Thanks for the suggestions so far though. Any more?

 

[sloth]

how on earth can you get that kind of money at that age?

Anyone working full time and living at home can finance this sort of money and pay it back over 3-5 years without issue.

Pretty much correct there, except the living at home part. I've finished uni and have been working full time for a year, the same with my girlfriend. Anyway, car dealers/banks/credit card companies will lend money to almost anyone.

As for the Astra VXR, the reason I never considered it to start with is that it's a little more expensive than the ST and the vRS, but mainly because of reports of how the car gets the power on the road - it struggles. Similarly, the ST and vRS only have electronic traction control, but most reviews suggest that they can both get the power on the road without too much of a problem. I also think the looks of the VXR are a little iffy (especially the back), and the centre console reminds me of an old friends 1.2 Corsa.... *shudder*. The power output is very impressive, but if it can't get the power down, or is really twitchy, I'd rather go for one of it's rivals.

 

[sloth]

I'd love to know where has the ST-3 avaiable for 16k. By available, I mean realistically available at some point in the next few months.

 

[sloth]

Just back from test driving the Octavia VRS and the Focus ST. I also had a look at the Astra VXR, Golf GTI and the Renaultsport Megane F1.

The Octavia VRS was great. So much car for the money, comfortable, very quick, handled nicely and my girlfriend could drive it - great. However, no discount offered on the list prices due to high demand. The boot could consume small countries, seriously.

The Focus ST felt so much quicker compared to the VRS. Felt a lot smaller inside, much firmer ride, so much louder, seats gripped more... and oh god, the noise of the turbo, engine and exhaust were awesome. So addictive. No discount offered on the car directly, but was offered 1k above book value for my current car. Worry for me would be residuals in a few years time, and the worry that *everyone* might have one a few years down the line. Our test drive was quite short as someone else was booked after us and we arrived 30 mins late, but we're going back tomorrow to have a good look around the car and perhaps have another test drive.

Astra VXR - Test drive on Monday, I was fobbed off by the sales man that they were too busy. Interior seemed quite cramped and I didn't like the dash at all. Boot space is smaller than the others, and not as wide opening. I'll reserve full judgement till the test drive. Reverse gear is strange - it's so far over to the left you're hand is basically touching the passengers leg. (A good thing? )

Golf GTI - Test drive on Wednesday. I thought it's overpriced and rather dull. Extras are expensive. Probably out of our budget to be honest. Seems like a very grown up car, probably not suited to me really.

Megane F1 - no demo cars available until 2 weeks time. Very impressive car to look at, great seats and alloys. 0% finance offered on it, with free servicing for life. Didn't discuss trade in, but was advised they would match Ford's offer. Girlfriend isn't too keen on it because of its big arse. I liked it a lot, but with no possbility of a test drive for a couple of weeks and other models seem to have dodgy reliability... I might just forget about it.

Spend a good 6 hours looking at cars, what a great day out.