Madder

Hi all,

Decided to throw this one to the FF Grand Jury.

SP23 5-door Hatch - $29,990 plus onroads, waiting lists and little discounting.

OR

ST170 3-door Hatch - $31,800 on the road, 2003 plated new stock.


If you know these cars then you know how hard a call it is.

BTW: not in the Focus forum to reduce bias. Those guys will defend Focii to the death.

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FoMoCo4eva

hmm i saw a gunmetal grey SP23 the other day and it looked hot I must say. I haven't driven either but from what ive read the focus is still the one to beat in handling.

I take it that the SP23 would out run a ST170 in a straight line, but you'd think the focus would be a better over all package.

LOL..come to think of it, most fords have a good package but dont pack enough heat where it counts.

Either way you cant go wrong IMO.

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Advertised as $4000ono. Price is negiotable for a quick sale.

Night_Lurker

SP23 is great looking, girl at work has one and she got hers 35k on road with pretty bad customer service. She loves the car though and I can see why, it has style. From what I have heard the current mazda3 is going to be the platform for the next focus. I have driven a focus and never have driven a car that handles so well, but damn i hate the interior, too many odd shapes. I would get the ST170.

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Perana XR8

I like the look of the ST170 better than the Mazda, mmm imperial blue, but i havent driven either so i cant comment there. The Interior of the 3 looks a lot better than any of the Focii though.

Im driving a 1999 323 at the moment, its a 1.8 soft-o-matic has no power but i was very surprised with how it handles, so Mazda do know how to make a car go round corners fairly well.

IMO you couldnt go wrong with either fo them.

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Ben

RICHO

Have driven both and the it's not that big a diff between the 2 cars in the handling stakes.

Not surprising when the 3 is built in the new generation Focus Platform same as will be under the new focus in 2005.

The ST170 looks great a little better than the 3 IMO, but the 3 offers 4 doors, more space a much better looking interior and dash and will go 95+% as hard as the ST170.

I think you'd have a ball in either, but the Mazda will be kinder to you come resale / trade in.

Fireman Sam

I've been considering this myself for some time, & still cant decide

Focus ST170 (3dr Hatch)

Specs
Engine 2.0 L / 4 Cylinder
Power 127 kW @ 7000 rpm
Torque 196 Nm @ 5500 rpm
Weight 1283 kg
Pwr - Wgt 10.10 kg per kW
Trans 6spd man Getrag



Mazda 3 SP23 (5dr Hatch)

Specs
Engine 2.3 L / 4 Cylinder
Power 115 kW @ 6500 rpm
Torque 203 Nm @ 4500 rpm
Weight 1232kg (Man)
Pwr - Wgt 10.71 kg per kW
Trans 5 spd man


The ST170 gets Traction Control, & the SP23 gets an extra 2 airbags.

I'm just favouring the ST170 at the moment

FPV TURBO

SP23 pisses all over the ST170...
Looks better and is just a better finished off car. Plus its cheaper...

loxxr6

Its def a looks and handling (ST170) vs performance (sp23).

As someone said before the mazda would give a better resale value for sure.

I'd prefer the ford but the merits in the mazda are there too.

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Dyno

Timeslip

pauljh74

I heard somewhere that the Mazda 3 motors will be going under the hood of the next model Focus. Which will help fix one of the Focus' shortcomings - grunt. So the 2.0 litre and the 2.3 litre will be used in the Focus

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fordel

mate us foci ppl will still defend them to the death even if its not in the focus forums

i doubt the 115kw 323 owuld be able to outrun the ST either .

the only bad thing about the focus is the dated styling of the cockpit.. other then that its very nippy round town, few minor mods can hit 190HP with no worries at all, and i do mean minor... handling is to die for

and the ST is a pretty limited run, unlike the 323, i just say take them both for a good spin and decide which you like better after all the car is for you and not anyone else.

the decision i made to get the focus was the best one for me, as it was the best out of the considerable cars that i drove before i got it

does the sp have 6 airbags does it ????

chris

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