When it comes to high performance cars, Ford have always been the working-class heroes. From the GT40 upsetting the Ferrari-Jaguar applecart at Le Mans in the 60s to the Sierra Cosworth dominating touring car fields in the 80s, their performance divisions have always been about taking on the big boys with nothing more than a little ingenuity and a lot of muscle. So, when the Focus took over from the venerable Escort in 1997, there was the expectation that it’s ST170 badge would pick up where the RS2000 left off. It did, and the first iteration of the Focus ST sold like crazy to posturing Essex boys and bonnet-tinkering car enthusiasts alike.
Coming up on twenty years on, the Focus has spent nearly two decades consistently topping the family hatchback charts. The looks have improved, too, from the ugly duckling of the first models through the chunky good looks of the second generation and on to the pleasantly aggressive styling of the new facelift. As the Focus has grown, the ST has grown with it, culminating in the new, facelifted 2015 Focus ST, which Ford promise us has eliminated all the negatives of the previous model as well as improving on the positives.
It certainly looks the part. Rather than just aggressive, this new facelifted model, with it’s scowling headlights and heavy, frowning bonnet line, looks positively furious. This new look has come in for some criticism from some quarters but really, what do people expect? It’s a hot hatch, it’s supposed to look like a man-eater.
It promises to behave like a man-eater too; Ford’s new combined performance division continue to squeeze nearly 250 horsepower out of a turbocharged 2 litre Ecoboost four pot, the already-impressive handling promises to have gone from just very impressive to what Ford confidently claims to be best in class, and 0 – 60 happens in a very respectably 6.5 seconds. It’s not bad inside either – some people have called the interior of the new Focus ‘cluttered’, but given the amount of kit you get, it’s no more cluttered than neccessary. Better a few extra buttons having every option buried ten menus deep in an iDrive, especially as you’ll probably be using them while you’re blasting down a B-road. Computers might make for prettier dashboards, but when you’re blasting down B-roads like this car wants you to, buttons mean you can use muscle memory to turn your air conditioning on without having to take your eyes off the road. It also comes with a chunky six-speed gearbox, which in typical Ford six-speed fashion means five gears for fun and a sixth gear for motorway cruising.
It’s a decent level of kit, too. Being a derivative of the best-in-class Focus family hatchback, pretty much everything you want comes as standard. In fact, the only thing you might really need that isn’t – Ford’s quick-clear heated windscreen party piece – comes in with the mid-level ST-2, with the biggest reasons to step up to the ST-3 coming in the form of cosmetic changes like different alloys and red brake calipers, which to me looks a little cheap and, with the gorgeously aggressive styling of the bodywork, look like they’re trying to make a point that didn’t need making. That means that the best bang for your buck can be had for just north of £23,500 and, if you’ve got any sort of competition between your local Ford dealers, that price comes with plenty of flex.
With this much kit married to this much performance and sold for this little money, Ford look like they’re continuing their working class legacy, successfully translating the gangbuster sales of the regular Focus into something for entry-level petrolheads to really get their teeth into. It gives more power for less money than the equivalent Volkswagen Golf, and is less likely to bite your face off than the Renaultsport Megane. The near-ubiquity of it’s base model and the sheer number of Ford dealerships give it an advantage, too, as parts and servicing will likely be cheaper than both.
There’s no question that the 2015 Focus is an excellent base to build from, and no doubt that the ST line has never disappointed budget horsepower fans in the past. The only doubt that really remains is whether or not Ford have addressed the lingering questions posed by the pre-facelift model – has the awkward torque-steer, a side-effect of trying to push this much power through just the front wheels, survived the update? And, for the more discerning buyer, do the ST changes, particularly the big Recaro racing seats, take anything away from the base model’s class-leading practicality as a daily driver?
I’ll be looking into that, and giving the new Focus ST a proper hooning, next week.
