It’s a damn good car. My Focus ST has proved to be good at a little bit of everything over the past 75k miles. Track days, taking me to work, trips to the lake, winter storms, handbrake turns, everything a hot hatch should be capable of it’s done it. I’ve enjoyed it so much for the past 3 years and 75k miles that I ordered a very blue Focus RS, and have no doubt that it’ll be exactly the car everyone anticipates and that Ford claims it to be. 3-4 years ago it was a similar story with the ST. No drift mode, but the Ford engineers enjoyed showing how it was capable of controlled skids during development. And as an owner, I can confirm that yes it is exceptionally good at doing just that....as seen below.



The ST is a HOONIGAN. Enter a corner a little hot with a light or heavy flick, back off the throttle, and let the fun begin. You can really hang the tail out if you carry enough momentum into the corner. When you’re not hooning it around the track, it’s super balanced. Turn-in is sharp and if the front end starts to push you can quickly tuck it back in by backing off the throttle. The engine is a gem, so much power on tap from as low as 2500rpm and doesn’t stop pulling until around 6. You can easily and reliably make the engine even better with Cobb tune (Currently I’m running the stage 1 tune). Intake noise is piped into the cabin and really does sound fantastic. The combination of the intake noise and my MBRP exhaust makes a nice aggressive noise. With all that power it does ask a lot of the front wheels and suffers from torque steer, but honestly it’s not that bad and adds to the savage character of the car. I would say my biggest gripe is not having a limited-slip, it’s way too much power for an open diff.


Cooling is probably the car’s biggest issue for track use. After a few laps you really do need to watch your temps, and the brakes tend to catch on fire. But if you do have to replace a front caliper it’s a Miata - like $40.


When it’s not at the track it’s a practical, more fun Ford Focus. It may be a tight squeeze for 4 and their bags, but hey - hot hatches are suppose to do everything well and score big on more important things like fun factor. Whether you’re zipping around town or hustling it down a back road it’s just fun. All that torque means you can quickly pass the Prius holding you up on your morning commute. Speaking of Priuses, it’s no Prius when it come to fuel economy. Drive it like hooligan and expect 18-23mpg (8-9 on track). Long journeys it’ll muster 28-32mpg depending on your right foot. Still that’s not too bad for a 252hp car that’s capable of doing many many fun things.



Over bumps it’s a little firm, but that’s partly because I swapped out the FoMoCo springs and dampers for Steeda springs and Bilstein B8 dampers. They were totally worth it. Not saying that the OEM setup was bad, it really is great out of the box. But the Steedas give it such a great look, minimizing wheel gaps without being all ‘stance nation.’ The Bilsteins just add that extra bit of refinement through the corners while retaining a stock like ride.


Most people gripe about Ford SYNC, but after the update 6 months or so after ownership, it has been flawless. The interior is nicely laid out and straight forward. My favorite part besides for the seats are the auxiliary gauges! I mean, who doesn’t like aux gauges?? It really is a nice touch, and what would a turbo car be without a proper boost gauge up on the dash for all the passengers to see? Everyone who sits in the Recaro seats love them. They look great, are supportive, but for long journeys they can wear on you.


The car has been extremely reliable. I’ve kept up with all the scheduled maintenance and religiously change the oil with full synthetic every 5k miles. It really has paid off. The car also has never used any oil, even at a track day! Pretty surprising for a turbo car. It’s only let me down once, the high pressure fuel pump gave out at 30k miles. After a day at the dealer it was fixed under warranty. That has literally been the only time it’s giving me any trouble.

So the guys at Ford really did a great job with the Focus ST. It’s a fast, fun, practical and affordable car that’s geared towards enthusiast. I can’t wait to get my hands on the RS, and I have no doubt it will be absolutely fantastic.


Likes



Great chassis

Practical hot hatch

Plenty of power

Reliable

Lift-off oversteer nature

Dislikes

Seats can be a bit tight and uncomfortable on long journeys

Not much leg room in the rear

Open diff

No cooling for the front brakes (they tend to catch on fire)

Bottom Line:

It’s the very definition of a ‘Hot Hatch’

Photos by ABI Photography

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