Should I get one

[127bull]

I drive about 140 miles a day all interstate or 4 lane and my truck only gets about 15-17 mpg and I need an economy car but don't want a boring slow something. How good is the SVTF in the winter, would I have to get winter tires and would they last all winter putting that kind of mileage on them? I am looking at either a new SVTF or the ZTS with the new 2.3 engine. Need some in put from people who have experienced something similar. Thanks

 

[DaveSVT03]

If you're looking for a fun car with incredible handling from the factory, get the SVT. I don't regret mine one bit. I don't have much experience driving this car in the snow, but I have many years of experience driving in snow and ice. This car should be very good in the snow with good tires. Of course, I learned to drive in the snow/ice in various rear wheel vehicles (Torinos, Mustangs, etc), so from that standpoint most modern cars seem good in bad weather to me.

I would get the 2.3 if you're going for straight economy. With the 2.3 you could save a bunch more money and it should still be a good commuter car. Conversely, if you are going to spend a lot of money modifying the car the 2.3 could be a great platform to build on.

In any event for practicality and convenience I really like my SVT ZX5. I ran it at an SVTOA autoX and set the best time of the day bone stock. Outran supercharged miatas, cobras (some heavily modified for handling) and various others.

http://www.svtoa.com/news/index.asp#{A326400A-04D1-4AF0-99AA-96192A42BF83} Page down about half way to see a photo of the mighty SVT Focus in action.
:bowdown:

Dave

 

[AZ SVT]

Originally posted by 127bull
I drive about 140 miles a day all interstate or 4 lane and my truck only gets about 15-17 mpg and I need an economy car but don't want a boring slow something. How good is the SVTF in the winter, would I have to get winter tires and would they last all winter putting that kind of mileage on them? I am looking at either a new SVTF or the ZTS with the new 2.3 engine. Need some in put from people who have experienced something similar. Thanks

The factory tires are about as bad as you can get for snow. I don't see why the tires shouldn't last a lot longer than one winter. Highway miles and low traction roads do not wear tires very fast.

If you don't care about handling that's better than a Ferrari or Z06 get the ZTS.

 

[JoeJoe]

I don't know about the ZTS on the highway, but the SVTF is lots of fun as far as acceleration on the highway.

I have the same comment as davesvf03 about winter driving. Anything fwd to me is hands above anything rwd in the winter. How much snow does missouri get anyways?

Joe