Interesting comparison. I've actually owned both, and I agree with a lot of what you said. In my experience, the ST was a bit more "raw" and wild while driving. The GTI is much more composed, and there's not much drama even when modded. Very planted and smooth. Looks are definitely subjective. I had a 2013 ST, then moved to a Charger, then missed having a hatch so I got my 2017 MK7. I just felt I had outgrown the ST styling and wanted something a little more low-key. I will say though, I appreciate having a GTI that feels like an A3 inside. Interior and overall build quality is top notch for the money. GTI is definitely more expensive at MSRP, but VW runs great specials. I got almost 5k knocked off my 2017. So my SE w/ DSG was about 28k after discounts, vs the 33k sticker price. I do also like the GTI engine more. Bigger turbo, more power potential with less mods. I also thought it was kind of funny when you said the GTI felt like a lateral move from the Si, whereas the ST felt more like an upgrade. Nevermind the DSG GTI is actually faster than the ST stock to stock. You really can't go wrong either way, they both have a lot in common and offer a lot of fun and practicality over other cars in their price range. But based on looks alone, they definitely appeal to different people.
@@22chachalaca My GTI would have been 4 years old this December. I actually traded it in last month, funny enough. Decided to get something a little bigger, and with AWD for all-season daily driving. It had almost 50k miles on it, and I had been tuned with Unitronic since less than 5k miles. Zero issues. Still had the factory brakes on it, with 30-40% life left. I only ever had to do oil changes, brake fluid flush after 3 years, and a DSG fluid/filter service at 40k miles. My brother did my DSG service for me, and the kit was about $130 online. Overall the car never failed me or gave me any problems. Interior and exterior held up great as well, minus typical rock chips here and there from highway driving. I did mention in my previous post that I did own a 2013 ST, and even after driving the GTI for almost 4 years, I still liked the GTI better overall. I could argue the exterior styling on the ST was sportier and "better," but I liked driving the GTI a lot more. To be fair I never had any problems with my ST either, and both cars were equally reliable for me, the GTI just had a more refined interior and driving experience. As I got older, I grew to prefer the refinement and build quality of the VW, but neither car gave me any issues while I owned them.
@@22chachalaca I would say they are similar. With both cars being smaller, shorter wheelbase, relatively light weight, with low profile tires, both cars are similar. I would say the GTI has a slightly softer suspension, but it's still sporty and you feel bumps and imperfections in the road. Neither car has the suspension travel of a midsize sedan or a crossover SUV to soak up road bumps, but I would say the GTI is slightly more comfortable. Though you probably wouldn't notice much of a difference unless you drove them back to back. I live in a far north chicago suburb, so we definitely get winter, potholes, etc. Just make sure you're paying attention to any large potholes and being careful, and both cars will hold up fine. I actually replaced my GTI with a Kia Stinger since I wanted something more mid-size with a longer wheelbase to help with overall comfort, plus awd.
@@22chachalaca The GTI is built a lot more solid and feels more compliant on the road, but neither car has large suspension travel or high sidewall tires to soak up bumps really well. I mean it's fine, neither car is uncomfortable or anything, but the GTI is a bit smoother and quieter. Neither car will float over bumps like a Cadillac or SUV, but that's to be expected with sport compacts. And thank you! I'm definitely loving the Stinger so far.
I've been a Ford man for many years. What I don't like about Focus (whether ST or the n/a base models): Thin paint, panel gap misalignment, cheapness where there shouldn't be cheapness, smaller than needed brake rotor diameters, fussy engine running quirks (lack of consistency), slow between-gauge screen display responses to steering wheel button presses, slow infotainment responses, cheapness in interior materials, too-narrow Recaro seats, lack of LSD in drive train. I do like the Focus, I do. I do like the price point. I do like the way the stick and clutch feels. I do like the way it handles and the way it looks (exterior). But VW just does a better job everywhere in paint quality, finish quality, material usage, panel gaps and alignment outside and inside. They use more upscale touches to lights, lenses, lighting technology. Their information screens respond instantly to button presses. The menus don't require 6 button pushes and 15 seconds to shut off traction control. Power? Doesn't matter really. Both the Ecoboost and the EA888 have loads of aftermarket power upgrades to make either engine extremely potent. Both can put down 400 whp with a good amount of modifications. Both handle well. I'd have to give the durability nod to VW with their iron engine block and generally overbuilt drivetrain stuff, where Ford always seems to be in the "cheap out wherever possible, even if durability is reduced" philosophy as a company. And I've driven Fords for 20 years. Since Ford has decided to toss aside all car drivers in the USA, I'm perfectly fine moving on to other brands.
Pretty much all of those issues were addressed with the facelift model. Panel gaps especially at the front smartened up, bigger brakes revised suspension to lower tourque steer, better sync3 nav and uprated dash display.
Paint orange peel and thinness, plastics and fasteners around the body are cheap and don't last, undercarriage panels and fasteners don't last, salt in the winter time is especially problematic after a half decade, squeaks and rattles are abundant after only a couple years.
@@exothermal.sprocket how odd. I've been driving Ford's since the Sierra and have never had any serious issues like you mentioned, not until 100k miles at least. Maybe it's the climate where you are? I've also heard the cars manufactured in the German pants are generally put together better than the cars from Mexico or Detroit and obviously our UK cars come from Germany. My money would probably be on very sunny climates. As you know our weather in UK is generally meh so unless you live within a few yards of the coast you're ok.
This guy gets it! I love my ST, I love the GTI, but in the end the ST won out. Mean looks, a great engine with awesome modding/tuning potential, and a much lower price got me.
@jose with a shit ton more problems, a shit ton more money in maintence long term , parts, finance . Every end i dont find it worth it the two extra seconds for dsg
your not replacing a blown gti motor for 800 like you can a 2.0 ecoboost .long term ownership goes to the focus In my opinion. with fueling and a proper sized turbo alot is to be gained. the stock block can take over 400hp reliably. stock clutch also has 0 problems. the main btch imo is the lack of LsD. if we had an lsd from the factory our traction issues wouldnt be near as bad
Just bought a 17 Focus ST after owning a GTI.... I like the car mostly because it is 100 / month cheaper than the Vdub. I don't like the reflection of the window vents that reflect off the dashboard and distract from time to time. I like the shifter, I don't like that there is no torque below 3000 rpms. Ah well. a fun car for the money.
I went from a 2014 BRZ to a 2017 WRX, two totally different cars that I appreciate for different reasons, but of course I was looking at a GTI and Focus ST as well. The WRX offered the AWD and some of the newer tech I wanted and being in Canada winter driving a RWD go cart until now was getting a bit dicey so AWD was the selling point. However it was the most expensive as well, the ST is a car I've still had my eye on, most definitely over the GTI. And being the cheapest of the three while still giving you everything minus the AWD was a very strong asset. I definitely think it looks more aggressive than the WRX and at least stock sounds like it too.
Baldy Grey I’m in Canada as well and recently bought a used ST. I was looking at WRXs initially but it’s not worth buying a used WRX because of such a high resale value you might as well buy new, and that was out of my price range. WRX with 90-100k still go for $20k+ Still wish I had the WRX for winter though
Not a bad choice it’s your preference but for an all around daily, gti beats most cars in almost every category. I was looking a wrx, st,. Gti comes out on top on everything besides the sportier look. Don’t get me wrong the gti looks sporty but it’s more Lowkey.
Focus ST more sporty looking then a GTI!!! Hmmmm.... subjective yes. Drive for drive, interior vs interior GTI wins hands down. But preference like you said. I enjoy how power comes on in the ST vs gti. I like ST seats better then GTI seats.
Have you driven a mk7 GTI yet?? You seem fixated about the numbers the cars make on paper. The ST makes more power on paper; however if you did research the GTI is highly underrated from the factory. The performance pack GTI is actually faster than the ST. Also, the modding potential for the GTI is much greater than the ST. I was between the ST and GTI when I was car shopping. While I enjoyed the driving dynamics of the ST, I HATED the horrid torque-steer. I'm also not a fan of the ST's boy racer looks. A bit too high school'ish for me.
I hate the ST recaro seats. I had the dealer call Ford to see if I could get an st2 or 3 with anything but the recaro seats...nope. I drive 35-40k annually and I'm glad I'm rolling in my mk7 GTI.
I’ve driven 6 hour road trips and I found the seats very comfortable. Depends on your size too. I’d imagine they wouldn’t be too comfortable for larger people. I came from a 06 civic and on long drives my ass would go numb (insert joke here) and in the Recaros I’m generally fine as long as I take my wallet out of my back pocket.
Vw quality and refinement blows fords out of the water specially if your looking at the 4 door vw se to the st1 or 2. St1 and 2 refinement is shit compared to the st3 but you can get that same nice refinement in the vw for cheap but the added on price for only a + 10 hp gain is quite lame yes it has this and that added but power is what you want out of a hatch
I bought 2008 vw R 32 after driving the focus ST 'Mind Blown' some people talk shit about the ST screw them those are the people that never drove one.... I was really surprised how this car handles and has so much power on every gear handling and steering is freaking amazing Im def gonna get a Focus ST as a next car maybe in a year or two would love the RS but thats out of my price range.... great review
VW steering wheel is leaps and bounds above ST. Infotainment system is much better in VW. They are very compatible and it's personal preference. Just I prefer a VW after owning a few fords in the past.
i am on my 2nd VW. man its gonna be hard to leave VW an go to ford. 200k on both my VWs. damn im not crazy about the new VWs an the ford is cheaper an quicker..idk
Personally, I like the interior of ST a tad better as well. Ask me why and can't quite pinpoint, but maybe a bit more driver engaged although less "refined" than GTI.
Comparing a Ford ST to a VW GTI is like comparing a 350z to a 911. Not fair to the ford. This is all you need to know GTI's are about to launch their 8th generation. The ST has been discontinued.
The focus screen is better? hahah dude, that screen is small, laggy sometimes and the colors and functions looks like a 2010 screen. Golf is far better in terms of quality, looks, etc and Focus its only an engine which looks like the typical Ricer car.
A non car enthusiast wouldn’t really notice a difference between a regular focus hatch and an ST. The ST is sporty yet subtle. GTI is too subtle. You want boy racer look at the civic hatch, 170hp and looks ridiculous from the back. And yes the screen in the ST is 8” standard, that’s quite large for a car this size.
The mk7 gti with pp(220hp) is a little faster than a ST stock actually. The ST on 91 octane dyno about 215-225 whp on average and the mk7 gti dyno at 220 - 230 average. As far as exterior looks and interior is subjective but on performance potential its no contest, GTI's IS20 turbo makes over 300whp with a stage 2 tune fairly consistently and the ST's K03 turbo peaks around 250ish on most dynos similar to the mk6 GTI. Plus the mk7 GTI's engine block is the exact same as the golf R so it can handle well over 300 hp where as the ST's engine block is not nearly as strong internally.
1gsrtom The engine block not sure if is the same between the GTI and R. But the internals, such as pistons and rods, are not the same. GTI has weaker internals than R.
pokest225 I heard that from Paul from Shop Dap on his vlog he has on RU-vid. He said the block including internals is the same because someone asked him about upgrading to an IS38 turbo and wanted to know if the block would hold up. He said the main different is the R has a better flowing head and has more aggressive cams.
1gsrtom in reality not. Different internals, but same block probably. You can fit the IS 38 because it's plug & Play. But the engine won't hold up as good as the r engine in the long run.
vr6gls Neither of these cars are fast. They are both very similarly quick. And to say one is fast and the other is not makes no sense when they have such similar numbers lol.
