Hi all i need some advise basically after nearly 3 years of ownership ive been looking into selling the zetec s and getting another car. If i could keep the zetec s aswell as another car i would as i will be pretty sad to see it go as ive loved every minute of owning it.
but i just fancy abit of a change so the past few months have been filled with test driving loads of cars, trawling through the internet every night on ebay, pistonheads, autotrader etc and generally making myself more comfused by the day lol

im on my ninth test drive so far ive driven

honda civic type r ep3
racing puma
clio 197 f1 team r27
normal clio 197
fiesta st prefacelift
fiesta st facelift
mk2 focus st225
mk1 focus rs
mk5 golf gti

there are good and bad points to them all and things i will miss that the zs did so well so im abit stumped really. I really like the clio 197's as there fun like the zs but i want to stay in the ford scene really so im getting rather tempted by the focus st but abit concened about the fuel they drink, but then i think i only do like 10k a year and live with my parents still so what does it matter?

has anyone got any suggestions to make my mind up lol i would be really gratefull

What your budget? here is my opinion!

Well I can say from experience (coming from the clio scene etc) I would stay ford, the clios are really fun but there is no point tuning them as it costs mega money and they never hit book power... along with them ebing a high insurance group etc etc...

The Ford racing pumas are great if you can afford to refurb brakes yearly and shocks every few years! parts are hard to find for them! personally unless you can afford to have two cars I wouldn't bother! I test drove one a few eeeks back and loved it but it I couldnt see past all the s**t to go with it.

The ST is very easily tuned as they are restricted from new and they are only insurance group 13, you are more than welcome to come out in mine for a spin and even have ago mate! I may sound abit bias because I own one, but I test drove alot of cars before I bought it! I.e. mini cooper S, 172's 182's 197's etc etc and it came up trumps! Its cheap to mod its a great car to drive!

The Mk1 Foucs RS is a good choice and Cawsey (jamie) off here will back it up but it depends on budget cracking car but i wouldn't spend less than 10K on one and they also drink the fuel and have high running costs etc.

Ep3's are dull to drive i.e. steering is like a wet fish IMO they are expensive to insure but I have only driven one for a short while, overall a nice car but i would stay ford

I the focus ST 225 would bea good choice and its down to how you will drive the car which will use your fuel up.

Personally I would recommend looking for a focus ST225 or a facelift Fiesta ST

yeah i was turning a few of those points in my head i did love the puma to bits but im basicaly paying 3x what my cars worth only to have to exact same problems if not more and its getting on to the roughly the same problems if i brought an rs aswell.

so its got to be a newer car even tho ive always loved older cars, i was wondering towards the two st's i must admit and my budget is around 11k sorry never thought lol

the focus was awsome i must admit and it sounded like gods plumbing lol its quite abit heavyer tho so its not as chuckable as a smaller lighter car.

i will make my mind up aventually lol

thanks for the offer about your st the first one i drove the sales guy didnt come with me for some reason lol its so much better testing a car on your own as you can think about it more.

make that 10 cars now i drove another focus st thismorning the guy let me drive it out on my own too so that was a bonus.

i would agree with matt but i am biased too, i agree defo on the ins groups and modability of the fords, ie focus st being more expensive and heavy on fuel but easily modded and spares becoming ready available, the fiesta st reacts well to sensible mods and produces good power for a small car to start with, can i have a go in yours matt, you can drive mine mate

yes im sort of conserned about the extra weight the focus st has as i will most probably lose the fun and chuckability that my zs has

i dont know mate the st handles very well indeed and is comfortable too

yes they do handle well can certianly feel all that extra weight though most of it is the volvo lump up front lol

never driven a fiesta zetec s but i find it hard to believe it would be better than an st i wll have to try one??

its mainly down to the drive of the 2 as theyre two completly different cars

mine is allot lighter, more simplistic so it gives you a sort of go cart feel and i think that gives you the illousion that im your faster if you know what i mean.

with the st its more of a allrounder its got the comfort, quietness and kit for long journeys but when you need it power and handling there too. the st is sort of the opposite because its heavyer you get less of a sense of how fast your going even if you are going faster.

im going to look at another focus st tommorrow in red

just tested the red focus st and really liked it, im gonna get my dad to have a look at it at some point.

red

what lol i like red ither that or orange but there are loads around in that colour

Obviously im going to say RS lol,, They are awsum motor's but as everyone has said, Its all about budget ! .. You wont get a decent mk1 for less than 10k i was lucky finding mine but it was near enough 10 lol..

It is alot of money to spend on an 02/03 car but you dont see any about ..

St would be a good choice there deffonatly highly tunable but again its all down to personal opinion really , Quite happy to take you for a spin at some stage

Reading back, I was stuck between the ST and the RS .
I went for the RS in the end simply because of the weight .. The St's are lovely cars but just soo common , Very comfy and spacious and yer they drive nicely . But the feel and the preciseness of the RS is just way better !
Once you get past it's mad torquesteer lol.