I had one. Focussing is slow. Reasonably sharp once down to f/11 or so.
I traded mine in against a 150-500 OS version. Focussing is a bit faster (still not rapid but faster) and it's sharper at f/8 than the 170-500 is at f/11. Mainly did the trade to get the OS since I handhold most of the time and at f/6.3 at the widest, getting shutter speeds below 1/500th isn't that easy most of the year!
Both are considerably sharper than my old 500mm f/8 mirror lens but that did only cost me £45!
In conclusion to this in depth review of the lens (170-500), not perfect but a reasonable performer at the price.