Focus ST reliability?

[underscore]

I know a few people on here have/had them, are there any common issues or "must do" reliability mods? Any years to avoid? Do they handle going to higher mileage well or do they become time bombs over 100k? Do they handle stuff like cruising the Coq at a spirited pace or track days well, or not so much?

[320icar]

1. Avoid 2013 as they had the smallest brakes
2. 2014+ had upgraded motor mounts. The oem ones are shit. Cheap $40 upgrade is to use the focus electric motor mounts (which the 2014+ used)
3. I had mine fully bolted on and tuned. Loved it, never skipped a beat. Not one hiccup
4. These cars run better track and autox times than any GTI or mspd3 (stock to stock) and are torque monsters down low. Run out of puff over 5k
5. I can’t even tell you my average speeds on the coquihala. Not on such a public forum
6. The eco boost motors inherently don’t sound that great. Whether it’s the twin turbo 3.5L or the fiesta’s 1.6. Something about the design doesn’t sound as good as an old srt4 or a mazdaspeed
7. One local guy had his motor blow. Heavily tuned and ford said it was an oil starvation issue. I assume due to autocross. Only time I’ve heard of it happening and they replaced it under warranty
8. Shifter bushings are meh. $40 bushings and $40 rear motor mount really he‘Lo shifter
9. Stock BOV is good for the stock 15psi. When tuned up to 23psi it can’t hold it and flutters on WOT. Needs upgrading
10. The “upgraded” Sony stereo really sounds meh for a new car. Pretty bad subwoofer
11. 2015+ facelift has things like a back up camera, new HVAC controls, more powerful USB and a flat bottom steering wheel. But I so much prefer the look of the 2013-2014 focus that I’d just get that. Personal preference

I dunno. I loved the car and even now am thinking about keeping an eye out for another 2014 ST to replace my fiancé’s old ass focus wagon. Or maybe a fiesta ST if I can find one in white. Would never hesitate to get back into one

[GabAlmighty]

Had one, didn't do or put as many km's as 320i did but for the 30k km's I put on it was a blast to drive.

-I have heard that on really hot/hard track days you will boil the brake fluid in it, whereas the Fiesta is more forgiving
-I had my sunroof blow out on me on the highway, nobody around just went poof. They didn't cover it under warranty
-It dies above 150'ish km/h and like 320i said it loses a lot in the top end, but super torquey
-Fuel tank is small
-Turning radius is junk (they put limiters in to keep from rubbing the 18's)
-Interior is wicked, loved it, no complaints
-Don't get a white one, hatch gets dirty just looking at it
-It'll go like stink when you want it to
-It's setup to oversteer which is nice

Wicked car would definitely recommend it. As to long term reliability I can't speak. Check the forums as i'm sure there's some high mileage ones out there, especially in the states.

[underscore]

Thanks for all the info guys, it sounds like there's nothing too scary to worry about and that most of the flaws are fairly minor and easy enough weekend projects to address.

Originally Posted by 320icar

1. Avoid 2013 as they had the smallest brakes

Are just the front smaller or are the rears as well? Can 14+ brakes bolt on or is it more than just bigger rotors and calipers?

Originally Posted by 320icar

11. 2015+ facelift has things like a back up camera, new HVAC controls, more powerful USB and a flat bottom steering wheel. But I so much prefer the look of the 2013-2014 focus that I’d just get that. Personal preference

I like the look of the pre-facelift better, especially the rear bumper. And the earlier blue looks a bit brighter to me, but maybe that's just the pictures I'm seeing.

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

-I had my sunroof blow out on me on the highway, nobody around just went poof. They didn't cover it under warranty.

Blow out as in shatter, or come flying off the car? I'm not sure which is the preferable option tbh. Does it at least have one of those sliding covers you can pull out if you don't want light coming in?

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

Wicked car would definitely recommend it. As to long term reliability I can't speak. Check the forums as i'm sure there's some high mileage ones out there, especially in the states.

Is there a forum that's better than the others/more popular with ST owners?

[underscore]

One other thing I thought of, what octane do they need with the stock tune? Is it happy with 91 or do they really need 94?

[GabAlmighty]

I always just put 89 i think. Hell a couple times I put 87 in it. If I was feeling generous I would put 91. It was under warranty and I knew I wasn't keeping it forever so I didn't care too much.. Never noticed an detonation or anything bad because of it.

Originally Posted by underscore

Blow out as in shatter, or come flying off the car? I'm not sure which is the preferable option tbh. Does it at least have one of those sliding covers you can pull out if you don't want light coming in?



Is there a forum that's better than the others/more popular with ST owners?

Umm, shatter. There was a hole in the middle of my sunroof and all the glass was "pointed" up like a volcano all around the hole. It was weird.

Can't remember which forum I was on.. There is decent info on it though.

[320icar]

- 91oct recommended but it has an octane sensor so you can run 87 but you won’t get as much power. I always ran 94oct tunes
- the 13-14 was performance blue. The 15-17 was both performance blue or kona blue
- I believe just rotor was different for the ‘13. If you wanted to upgrade brakes the focus RS Brembo BBK swap can be done for about 1000cad. Don’t go through ford performance catalogue, they charge you about 2000cad for no difference lol, just order the parts separately.
- brake dust is INSANE!!! I forgot about that. 20km of driving after a detail they will be covered
- never had a sunroof, never heard of them popping out.
- the steering wheel is way nicer in the 15-17, but Is a direct swap for 13-14 and all buttons work
- turning radius is appalling. Standard though for a big power fwd car.
- you can run 16” wheels for snowies. Way cheaper than running 18” winters

[J-Chow]

Sorry to tag this along to the thread, but I was pondering through the mustang ecoboost

forums and users kept ragging about installing an oil separator for the ecoboost engines.

Is that necessary for our engines?

and I actually find it surprising that the ST is recommended 91oct, but in my manual for my stang, it says 87oct recommended unless I plan on towing, it'll say use higher octane ...

[UnknownJinX]

Originally Posted by J-Chow

Sorry to tag this along to the thread, but I was pondering through the mustang ecoboost

forums and users kept ragging about installing an oil separator for the ecoboost engines.

Is that necessary for our engines?

and I actually find it surprising that the ST is recommended 91oct, but in my manual for my stang, it says 87oct recommended unless I plan on towing, it'll say use higher octane ...

Ecoboost 'stang loses 60 BHP on regular fuel. 320 BHP on premium, 260 BHP on regular.

I know someone who had an Ecoboost. Should I know of this back then, I would have challenged him to a drag strip in my V6 Accord(268 BHP).

[320icar]

A catch can isn’t a bad idea. I ran a catlees downpipe and you could smell oil and stuff sometimes. I did synthetic oil changes every 8000km And in the 40k km i had it, it never burned a drop of oil. It would never move from the full line. So really I think most the smell was from the catless DP

[AzNightmare]

In my honest opinion, I don't see the point of skimping out on the fuel. If you can't afford the fuel, then you can't afford the car.
If you have a performance car, why would you put fuel in that wouldn't give it it's full potential. It's like driving a fast car but on limp mode cause you prefer to save a bit of money.

That's my point of view on this matter anyway. Trying to cheap out on gas but driving a performance car seems counter intuitive to me. Just put in 94 and enjoy life.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

In my honest opinion, I don't see the point of skimping out on the fuel.

Availability. In larger cities it's easy enough to find 94, but if I want to go to somewhere like Kaslo I can't take my Celica because the nearest 94 is 300km away from there, meaning I'd have to squeak 600km out of a tank while zipping down back roads which isn't even remotely possible. If it can handle 91 or even 89 with a gentler right foot then it makes the car much more usable.

[AzNightmare]

Originally Posted by underscore

Availability. In larger cities it's easy enough to find 94, but if I want to go to somewhere like Kaslo I can't take my Celica because the nearest 94 is 300km away from there, meaning I'd have to squeak 600km out of a tank while zipping down back roads which isn't even remotely possible. If it can handle 91 or even 89 with a gentler right foot then it makes the car much more usable.

Gotcha'. Thought this was in the context of being a cheapo. lol
I just took my car on a road trip to Alberta last May and I fully understand your concern cause I was tuned on 94. I had to change it back to 91 just so I didn't have to worry about finding stations with 94.

OEM tune can handle it all.

[320icar]

94 is a waste on an oem tune. 91 is correct and anything lower is a waste. I was specifically tuned for 94 so I had to run it

[stanton]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

-Don't get a white one, hatch gets dirty just looking at it

This.

Love white but cannot keep it clean.

Have 85k km on my stock 2016 and so far have only had to replace a bad coil under warranty. My only gripe is more rattles in the headliner and dash then any import I have owned previously.

[320icar]

^^ I’ve heard this too from my friend who’s a ford tech. He describes his job as “spending 8 hours a day finding raffles and squeaks in cars”. Though funny enough neither focus of mine has done it. Pretty common though and an easy fix by just popping them off and placing the foam tape or whatever in strategic places

[NOSty]

I have a 2017 with a GTX2867r and wmi and it's my daily and have had 0 issues.

[320icar]

You didn’t waste any time going big turbo eh.