Focus st query

mambo69

Hi all

Looking at buying a 2013 focus st but a colleague posed an interesting query. My daily commute is about 3 miles max along 40 limit roads. Based on this i will never get car up operating temperature days i use

Based on this would that make the st a bad choice and in fact rule out cars of this ilk?

Interested in any feedback and always thanks

BeenThroughItAll

mambo69 wrote: »

Hi all

Looking at buying a 2013 focus st but a colleague posed an interesting query. My daily commute is about 3 miles max along 40 limit roads. Based on this i will never get car up operating temperature days i use

Based on this would that make the st a bad choice and in fact rule out cars of this ilk?

Interested in any feedback and always thanks

For a 3 mile commute I wouldn't want anything other than a tiny-engined petrol car. Anything else will give dire fuel consumption and be quickly ruined by those kinds of runs.

I certainly wouldn't want anything with a turbo. In that amount of time the poor thing would almost never see clean, warm oil.

For that kind of driving, I'd recommend a bicycle. Or if you absolutely MUST shirk any exercise, maybe a 50cc moped.

AdrianC

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

For a 3 mile commute I wouldn't want anything other than a tiny-engined petrol car. Anything else will give dire fuel consumption and be quickly ruined by those kinds of runs.

I certainly wouldn't want anything with a turbo. In that amount of time the poor thing would almost never see clean, warm oil.

For that kind of driving, I'd recommend a bicycle. Or if you absolutely MUST shirk any exercise, maybe a 50cc moped.

This, with bells on.

A three mile urban commute is ridiculously bad for any car.

caprikid1

Yep


TVR + Bicycle
Sierra Cosworth + Toyota Aygo

wymondham

Depends on your route ...

forgotmyname

I used to have to jump on the motorway and take the very long way home because my sub 6 mile commute didnt get the oil warm and if not given a run the tappets used to get a little noisy towards the end of the week.

Touch under 70mph in 2nd (auto), couple of junctions up the motorway and then back again. Not good for a car at all. I was changing the oil 4 times a year and barely covering 6000 miles all in.

parking_question_chap

If its just for your commute then it seems like a waste of money. If you do a fair amount of miles at evening and weekends and you would get sufficient enjoyment and can justify the price, then go for it.

Regardless of what car you get, I would cycle as much as you can. Short journeys are not good for anything with an engine.

I dont agree that fuel consumption is an issue, yes it will be low. But if they can afford to buy and run an ST, I dont think op is going to be bothered that it costs them £8 (20mpg) a week in petrol rather than £4 (40mpg).

tim9966

It should be ok. I also have a 2013 ST although my commute is 10 miles at the moment, but when I move house next week will also be 3 miles each way.


You will get mid to high 20's MPG. I get 28.8 average.


I will still be doing a 70 mile trip 2-5 times a month, plus the odd long distance trip as well.

BeenThroughItAll

tim9966 wrote: »

It should be ok. I also have a 2013 ST although my commute is 10 miles at the moment, but when I move house next week will also be 3 miles each way.


You will get mid to high 20's MPG. I get 28.8 average.


I will still be doing a 70 mile trip 2-5 times a month, plus the odd long distance trip as well.

Can you just post the VRM so we all know to avoid it if we ever see it up for sale?

Ectophile

If all you'll be doing is a short commute, then what's the point of buying an ST?

If you'll be using it for longer drives at the weekend, then don't worry about it. the doomsayers on this forum will always tell you that the car will be wrecked within months unless you do a 50 mile blast down the motorway every day.

If it takes 3 miles for clean oil to reach the turbo, then there's something desperately wrong with the oil system. It should be fine by the time the car gets out of its parking place. Just don't rev the engine immediately after starting it.

BeenThroughItAll

Ectophile wrote: »

If all you'll be doing is a short commute, then what's the point of buying an ST?

If you'll be using it for longer drives at the weekend, then don't worry about it. the doomsayers on this forum will always tell you that the car will be wrecked within months unless you do a 50 mile blast down the motorway every day.

If it takes 3 miles for clean oil to reach the turbo, then there's something desperately wrong with the oil system. It should be fine by the time the car gets out of its parking place. Just don't rev the engine immediately after starting it.

A mate of mine used to work on the environmental test chamber for Ford. One of the tests was to chill a Mondeo to zero degrees (so a fair few cold days in the winter) then 'drive' it away on the rolling road and monitor oil flow. It would take over a minute for fresh oil at full pressure to reach the turbo bearings. On the OP's trip to work, that could be 25% of the time in the car with no lubrication in the turbo.

Personally, I'd rather not risk it, because not revving immediately after starting isn't the same as what's typically recommended for a turbo, i.e. not using high revs and avoiding coming on-boost until the oil is at operating temperature - in the OP's case, that'd be never.