Living with my modified MK2 Focus ST

I bought this car back in December, so I’ve had it for around 6 months now. It is a late 2007 Focus ST-2. As a short summary of the spec, it has a Dreamscience ModX remap, Mongoose turbo back exhaust with decat, airtec intercooler, RS crossover pipe with RS airbox and K&N air filter, turbosmart recirc valve and actuator, RS clutch and flywheel, AS torque mount, Bryshifter short shifter, Eibach lowering springs, Japan Racing JR11 18x8.5 wheels with Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 3 tyres.

How is it to live with every day?

I have used this car as an everyday driver for the last 6 months, I have used it to get to work in the week which is around a 4 mile drive.
The car is very comfortable even with the lowering springs. The seats are fantastic and are both comfortable and supporting, a very good blend of the two, they don’t look as good as the RS seats though! The wheel has a good feel and has reach and height adjustment. The shift is great and it made even better on mine with the short shifter and gearbox mount, the change it short and snappy and makes for excellent changes when driving quickly. The RS clutch is a quite heavy and is not very nice in traffic

Practicality is great, it can fit 5 normal size people in, as well as a decent amount of space in the boot, the rear seats can also fold down for more boot capacity. It is very thursty, however, and the 55 litre tank means, depending on your right foot, you will fill up very often. I seem to average anywhere between 18-21mpg.

Performance

Performance wise the car is great, the car should have around 300bhp and about 360lb ft torque, this can make it quite a handful with it being FWD and not having a LSD unlike its bigger RS brother. The remap means the power is delivered quite smoothly with minimal lag, obviously there is no disguising that it is a 9 year old, turbocharged car, but there is none of the lag that some of the big turbo Escort/Sierra Cosworths of old used to suffer!

Performance in the wet is interesting. ESP on and it will cut in every time you even slightly flex your right foot. ESP off and you wont have a foot to flex as you’ll be spread across the road within minutes. Unlike RWD car guys, the rain makes me stay at home!

Handling is good, but no where near as good as the Megane R26 230 which was one of the cars on my shortlist before buying this. The ST is far softer and sloppier than the Megane, but you do get lots of lovely lift of over-steer, which is sometimes scary but mostly fun!

Summary

I have never regretted buying this car at any point in the last 6 months. The noise and looks alone will keep me entertained for a very long time. A Megane 230 is a far better drivers car if you compare the two cars standard, however the Megane is no where near as tuneable.

When driven normally, the car feels, well, normal. After all, it is just a Focus underneath!