Anyone out there had an Focus ST170 and are they any good?

Paul Ulyatt

Paul Ulyatt

Well-known user
Nov 14, 2011
125
18
Kent
Thinking of what to get when the Cougar goes in May/June. Anyone had one of these and if so are they better overall than the standard 2 ltr?
Gonna be that or a 2 ltr Mondeo as the mind is made up and the Cougar will not be with me for another winter. Had enough of of driving around freezing and then wiping the inside of the front screen, along other things. Wife's paying and I want to stick to Fords, had 3 Mondeos and a couple of Focus's already so that's how I'll be going. Keen on staying with 2 doors so the Focus may win.
 
Got a feeling Neil (Casscougar) had a ST170 Mondeo which i assume is the same engine - bottom end went within a month and cost him about 1500 quid to get sorted. Not the strongest Ford engine apparently.
 
you have to screw the arse out it to get anywhere uses variable cam timing similar to the honda vtec.
 
ggsumo said:
Got a feeling Neil (Casscougar) had a ST170 Mondeo which i assume is the same engine - bottom end went within a month and cost him about 1500 quid to get sorted. Not the strongest Ford engine apparently.
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No such thing Geoff it was the ST200 or ST220 - if I remember correctly he had a 220 Estate.

As Mark said the ST170 is a modified 2 litre Zetec with variable cam timing. They do need the nuts revving off them to get maximum power but from what I have heard they are a great drive. Test drive one to find out for yourself (y)
 
170 is a Duratec from what I've looked up. It's the 6 speed gearbox that worries me, I've heard the problems are mainly there.
 
You've got to love Ford's engine naming conventions! At first, Zetec was the name of a family of engines, but later came to be used as a trim level. The Cougar's V6 is a Duratec, but some 4 cylinder engines were also called this. Our Fiesta has a 1.4 TDCi, badged Duratorq..... and it's actually a rebadged Peugeot/Citroen engine!
 
Relliott6879 said:
You've got to love Ford's engine naming conventions! At first, Zetec was the name of a family of engines, but later came to be used as a trim level. The Cougar's V6 is a Duratec, but some 4 cylinder engines were also called this. Our Fiesta has a 1.4 TDCi, badged Duratorq..... and it's actually a rebadged Peugeot/Citroen engine!
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The 1.3 four pot they put in Ka's between 2004 and 2009 is also a Duratec and the 1.6i petrol in our Shemax is sourced from Peugeot too.
 
St170 is a fantastic drive as long as you don't mind pushing along as its pretty revvy. Gearbox is pretty tough and nice to use, like any car if its abused it will go wrong.


I'd have one without a doubt as a daily car if funds allowed.


JJ
 
The 6 speed box in the ST170 is a Getrag so no worries there (y)

They do have a dual mass flywheel I think but they aren't as hard on them as the diesels due to the higher torque output of the diesels.
 
The appeal is the fact that everything you would improve is already done for you but I've got a few months to weigh it all up. Love the Cougar but don't want to blow a grand or so finishing it off. Now if a low mileage green C1 V6 with all the right bits already replaced came along, who knows.........
 
They're fine. It's nothing scary. Just variable valve timing added to a common engine, plus a gearbox Ford bought in as it's better than their own. It's the same gearbox in the ST220 Mondeo plus all the 6 speed diesel Mondeos and X-Types. It's fine in those so you'd need to be dicking about pulling wheelspins all the time to wreck it. Same goes for the rest of the drivetrain. Thirsty will be relative to walking. It's entirely ordinary for a car that size/weight/era.
 
jamie_duff said:
They're fine. It's nothing scary. Just variable valve timing added to a common engine, plus a gearbox Ford bought in as it's better than their own. It's the same gearbox in the ST220 Mondeo plus all the 6 speed diesel Mondeos and X-Types. It's fine in those so you'd need to be dicking about pulling wheelspins all the time to wreck it. Same goes for the rest of the drivetrain. Thirsty will be relative to walking. It's entirely ordinary for a car that size/weight/era.
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And guess who's got a load of green X-Types on watch,,,,,,,,,,,,just research of course.
 
The 6 speed is a Getrag MMT6 box and very precise when used correctly. Not that in biased :LOL:
 
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