Ford Focus ST | Test Drive | Auto Class Magazine

Ford Focus ST | Test Drive

27 December 2020 Redazione News, Tested

The Focus ST latest incarnation has the daunting task of filling the void left by the RS, relying on 280 horsepower and front-wheel drive only. Mission Impossible?

Words by Marco Mancino / Photos by Bruno Serra

In a world where everything has a price, the question is “How much does fun cost?”. The most hasty answer involves a simple action such as identifying your object of pleasure and immediately finding out how much money you will have to part with and this applies to a latest generation videogame, as well as to a trip to the Caribbean and obviously a sports car. In this same world mentioned above, the coming of electrification is getting stronger, resting on the shoulders of the inflated politically correct and winking at all those who have always identified cars as one of the major causes of global warming and pollution. In a very fictional way, that’s a bit of what Ford must have thought when cutting the legs of the extraordinary Focus RS and letting the unfairly snubbed Focus ST find itself at the helm in the middle of a furious storm, with all the eyes of petrolheads on it. In these case, we know that most will immediately be ready to point their finger and accuse, rather than having to change their minds and turn their thumbs up.

The fourth generation Focus, available in a thousand versions, is one of the family cars par excellence and this not so much for the fact that it represents the ultimate image of the most typical car ready to load luggage and children – you still have exhumed minivans or the most modern crossovers – but because it is a hatchback suitable for everything, practical, reliable, not too expensive and that goes straight to the point. We do not care, at least for the moment, because we are still mourning the premature farewell to the RS version and since most likely the typical Focus customer does not consider buying a Ford GT, the closest point to which you are aiming your look is called Focus ST.

The ST is now available both as 5-door hatchback and wagon, but only the first of the two is coming to Italy, with the possibility of being able to choose it also powered by the 190 horsepower 2.0 EcoBlue, a diesel engine that gives it a certain attitude, thanks to a torque of 400 Nm, but which also guarantees the ability to move at speed, despite we cannot consider it as a hot-hatch in the most traditional sense of the term. The Focus ST we are interested in has a 2.3-liter in-line 4-cylinder, an EcoBoost that delivers 280 horsepower (+30 compared to the previous model) and 420 Nm of torque, communicating with the front-wheel drive only through an automatic 7 speed, or a 6-speed manual. This in simple words and numbers, but for the real test we know too well that there is nothing better than throwing it through some bends, a battlefield in which hot-hatches stand out from normal ones.

Being a car that can be used peacefully from January 1^st to December 31^st, the Focus ST appropriately maintains a look suitable to be left in any parking lot of your city, without necessarily screaming its sporty nature from the rooftops, always provided you don’t buy it in the wonderful Orange Fury color, a real kick of life in city traffic. The one being tested here is going to allow me to understand if the new Focus ST will be able to fill the void left by the RS, regardless of the horsepower deficit, after all we are still dealing with such power that for exploiting it properly you would need a racing track and not just a mountain road. Of course, there are more muscles, the front on the new model is sharper and the tail more harmonious, with the spoiler that accentuates the desire to be caressed by the air, once on the move. There is also a nice pair of tailpipes – one on each side – to grumble as soon as you start the 2.3, an engine that won’t let you spend too much time at the petrol pump, despite a volume that seems to go in the opposite direction of downsizing.

The cockpit is also finally in step with the times, with connectivity that is among the best in its category, a nice touch display in the center, one in front of the driver in the middle of the analog dials and even a head-up display that summarizes the desired information. Another bit introduced with this model is the Sport button on the right spoke of the steering wheel, a shortcut to transform a soft and sly 5 doors into the brawler you were hoping to find by awakening its deepest soul. Switching from Normal to Sport gives greater precision while cornering, resulting in stiffening the steering and suspension, the exhaust emits crackles when accelerating, decelerating and shifting, there is everything you need to get going until the end of the road.

While I appreciate how the electronic power steering reads the asphalt below us in the best possible way, I notice that the Torque Vectoring Control and the electronic self-locking differential try in every way not to disperse the power grounded on the front axle only, perfectly successful when cornering, where the Focus ST always remains very stable, while at least when moving from standing still or in first gear it will be better to keep your hands firmly on the wheel and try to keep the nose pointed in the desired direction. Frantic, the driving becomes really intense and you immediately forget about the RS factor, with 280 pounding horses that are just enough, but close to being too many. In reality, it is a question of refining the aim a little more and gaining the right confidence with a set-up that is not extreme at all and that once has demonstrated how much the body keeps itself pressed to the ground at speeds that an hour before you would not have deemed feasible, gives a very, very rewarding drive.

Fun and also very fast, not so much for a 5.7 seconds sprint on the 0-100, but for the progression of the torque curve – 420 Nm – which rises steadily from 3,000 rpm, leaving the red line at 6,500 as the conductor who implies an increasingly rare movement on modern sports cars. The right hand releases the steering wheel for a moment, the feet dance in the release of the pedal clutch and down again with another kick in the back. Like the smaller but equally effective Fiesta ST, the Focus ST rewards the driver in proportion to the effort made behind the wheel and this is not only due to the existence of a manual transmission, although it still makes a distinctly sporty driving more engaging, as for the many feedbacks that are transmitted from the chassis to the driver’s spine.

The new Focus ST is an authentic sports car and even if it lacks a few horsepower compared to its direct competitors, it does not seem to notice and indeed underlines its strengths, which are a great drivability, vivid performance offered by the engine/chassis marriage and the fact of not having forgotten the identity of the car that gave it birth, the Focus. It should certainly not be seen as a stopgap, much less as a replacement for the RS, but rather taken for what it really represents, namely an excellent sports car. The fact that it finds its place – who knows, maybe for a little while longer – on the top step of the family podium, is more a fortuitous situation, but also a fully deserved honor. Just not take this off too!