We handed back the ST with just a touch sadness. She had become a close and trusted friend over a week spent exploring her subtle nuances, but “subtle” isn’t a word usually seen in the same sentence as Focus ST. I want to say from the outset that the pretty seats are as uncomfortable as hell but it in no way obscures the awesomeness of this PHABulous car.
OUTSIDE:-
You either like Focus’s face or you don’t, the shape is not that of a simpering wallflower. The ST has the top spec HID headlights topped off with a smart set of daytime LEDs. The grill has an aggressive look with a vast black lattice front sucking in vast amounts of air, and the flow is controlled by shutters just behind it. I couldn’t help but think the bonnet always looked as though the first catch had been popped and spent much time giving it a gentle press down to make sure it doesn’t come adrift at 100. There is a strangely wide gap between the nose and the bonnet’s leading edge. Aside from the ST badge, there is a slightly lowered stance and body kit to separate the top Focus from her more delicately dressed sisters. She also sports a set of fat 235/40 R18 tyres on18”X8“alloys. Wheels this size on a small car look fabulously like the drawings we did of cars as kids.
The side view emphasises the simple wedge shape which culminates in tails lights that look like the rear end is being gently hugged by one of the Big Cats. Her paws can be seen from the side too where lights look to have melted into the bodywork. The ST scored LEDs in that rear cluster too which I always thinks adds a touch of class. The rump looks busy because there are lines of metal, tail lights, vents and joints all over it, but it somehow manages to work, as do the huge double centre pipes. The ST looks angry and fast and that’s just the way I like my daily transport to be.
You can see from the pics why we nicknamed her “Bumble Bee”.
INSIDE:-
We’ve said in the past that the interior of the Focus is classy. Of course those models did not have the in-your-face black and yellow Bumble Bee colour scheme that our ST has. There is even a little peep-toe of external colour at the interior trailing edge of the front door where the door panel doesn’t quite cover the metal, and I like it. As we said of the Titanium last year, the dash is very well laid out with the obligatory Piano Black and metalised plastic highlights and the Recaro front seats have deep body hugging contours. Perhaps they hug a little too enthusiastically.
On the subject of the seating: The front buckets have the typical uncompromising Hot Hatch look to them, and an even harder feel. It’s intended to hold you steady during hard cornering, and it does that in spades. For the rest of the time it can be the teensiest bit uncomfortable but it serves to remind you that you are driving no ordinary Focus. Apart from the seats, the rest of the car is standard with only the gauges mounted on top of the instrument cluster giving a clue as to what’s under the bonnet. The handy turbo-boost gauge tells you when the turbo is giving you a helping hand, but the engine is so smooth and torquey that it can manage on its own for much of the time; but more of that later. The add-on cluster looks a little cheap despite the handy nature of that contained within.
The sports steering wheel, adjustable for rake and reach, is simply littered with controls. The only ones I found hard to use were the odd shaped ones mounted within the spokes. They have geometric facets meant to give each function a separate feel. With practice, it might get easier to use, but I found it a bit busy. The rear seats are mounted high to give those sitting in the back a better view.
There is surprisingly good head room all round. In fact the cabin has a feeling of spaciousness throughout which ads to a sense of being in a place that is both well designed and well executed. I like the solid feel of the plastic components. We’ve all experienced those flimsy thin bits of trim which come away in your hands with almost no use. I feel confident that this won’t be the case in the Focus. For the record, close friends bought a Titanium last year and it has performed to expectation, however they seem peeved that Ford has slipped in a model above theirs. Theirs was the last of the German-made cars with Focus sold in Australia now being made in Thailand. This isn’t significant in any way unless you jump from one car into the other where you find the blinkers on the wrong wide, or the right side depending on what you’re used to driving.
Ford have made much of “sync” which adds function to your normal ipod/iphone connection. Apart from playlist enhancements you can also get texts read out to you. This very handy if you’re on the move. It’s also possible to use Siri but this requires touching your phone while driving which is now illegal in this country. You can view the full explanation of sync here.
There is an attention to detail that you wouldn’t normally expect in what is essentially a family hatch. Sure there are a few added extras but aside from the seats, the interior has the same quality as the base model from which the ST sprung. Why is this significant? It’s simple: my biggest problem with Hot Hatches has always been that they reek of the cheap entry level DNA. The plastic looks nasty and the switchgear is the same flimsy, nasty switchgear you find in the K-Mart model. Because the base model looks brilliant inside too, the ST only needed the Boy-Racer flourishes to give it that bit of extra flash. After all you want to feel that you have had a good reason for forking out the 40k. You want to be reassured that Ford have made more than a passing attempt at making the car pretty as well as fast.
The pictures tell the real story but if that’s not enough, the drive will cement the Focus into your consciousness forever.
THE DIRVE:-
What a peach!
You approach your ST with a certain amount of exaptation. She is a plump little wedge sitting on huge 18” wheels with great fat tyres on them, and it as the tiniest bit of WRC about it. You can just imagine the plucky little hatch bumping over those back lanes partially airborne and covered in filth. The rear end sits cheekily as if waiting for a playful slap as you walk past, so you do. Only then do you arrive at the first door handle. All door handles will unlock the ST if you have the key secreted about your , but you resist the urge to caress the back doorhandle. Then you arrive at the front door. You slip a couple of fingers behind the door handle which elicits the familiar clunk as the locks magically disengage to grant access to the goodies beyond. As you swing yourself into the driver’s seat and pull the door shut you can’t help but make a mental note of the solid feel of the door and the comforting “chunk” as it shuts.
The first thing to strike you is just how huggy the seats are, maybe a little too huggy. A skinny person will fit perferctly but the rest of the population will find themselves feeling very snuggly indeed. I wonder how that would be on a long trip, but that’s a question for another time.
The dashboard has a boost meter that gives a subtle warning as to what you can expect once you turn the key, but there is no key to turn. Leaving the key in your pocket, you can punch the dash-mounted button and the sweet little engine spins into life like a bouncy puppy begging to please. The ambient cabin lighting is now on and looks stunning even in the day time, but looks magnificent at after sunset.
Pairing your phone before you set only takes a second and it fairly easy. There is nothing worse than having to plumb the nether regions of the owner’s guide every time you want to perform the simplest task. Once paired, wondrous things are afoot. You can stream you music via the airwaves, or plug in to the USB port for even more control, and a spot of charging. Even better, the Sync feature allows one’s messages to be read to one while one is driving. How civilised.
The Audio functions can also be controlled from the left steering wheel buttons and the car functions from the right side buttons. Each is displayed in its own LCD, 1 in the Audio unit and the other in front of the driver. The LCDs are a fairly modest 4” display and I for one find this to be insufficient to properly show the reversing camera picture. It’s only a small thing, and one a driver would no doubt get used to. It could so easily be fixed, and indeed it should have been fixed. Some of the functions have voice command if you can be bothered using it.
The ST only comes in a manual, but what a manual. The Goldilocks clutch is not too light, not too heavy, not too light, and has just the right amount of take-up. The gear shifter has a relaxed feel to it. Centre up and down is 3rd and 4th, push to the left up and down is 1st and 2nd and pull to the right is 5th and 6th. Reverse is via a lifting collar under the knob. “So what” I hear you say. It’s important because you can’t easily feel the gates. The only way to get the gears right each and every time is to use the above technique. Gently caress the gear knob, don’t manhandle it like a drunken nightclub fumble. Let the selector fall naturally then once you have matter firmly in-hand you’ll be making fast zigzag sweeps. The system is so beautiful to use that most of the time changes are every bit as smooth as one of them-there fancy-schmancy automatic jobbies.
Waiting at a set of lights has prompted me to mention my other point of contention and that is the system Ford uses to compensate for torque steering. As you know, a front wheel drive car will kick the steering wheel when you plant your Nikes into the carpet. It’s annoying and the more torque an engine has, the worse the torque steer is. I’ve driven some Hot Hatches where there steering wheel is almost ripped from an unwary drive’s hands. The Ford system detects heavy acceleration and the computer tells the electric power assistance to apply opposite pressure to the steering column. This sounds like a good idea but it feels like it makes the steering wheel ultra light. If you have given the ST a bit of wellie, the steering wheel responds to the light pressure and you often find yourself wandering from side to side. Again, it’s something I feel sure a regular driver would master. It’s a quirk that would in no way put me off ownership.
The 184KW 2.0L turbo petrol has an impressive 360Nm of torque will get to 100kph in 6.5 seconds. It’s all very controlled and far less bonkers than the insane EvoX. Ford claim 7.5 L/100K and after several hundred K’s I feel that’s probably about right. If you spend the day sinking the boot in, you can expect that figure to be a lot more. The engine is so good that it doesn’t always need a massive amount of boost from the turbo. If you’re wanting to drive Miss Daisy, the Focus is happy to beetle around town but on the open road, or in those lovely twisty mountain roads I’m so fond of, it’s a different matter. The suspension is ST tuned so that ride isn’t completely sacrificed for superb handling. She switches direction instantly with the steering providing plenty of feedback. The silky gearbox and ample nature of the engine just beg to be taken by the scruff of the neck and thrown into corners with all the enthusiasm of an F1 driver on holidays. The sticky tyres have an enormous amount of contact with the road and although you can feel the tiniest bit of understeer at times, the car never feels as though it’s going to break traction.
The engine will spin right up to the auto-limiting all the while providing a symphony as a soundtrack. In short, it is a superb piece of engineering that is perfect in almost every way. The only thing that would make it better is the addition of the Assisted Parking which is standard in the titanium. I’m a fairly decent parker, but the Focus can get itself into a spot with a mere 500mm either end with far more confidence than I can.
You can turn electronic protection off if you so desire, but Ford put it there for a reason so use it. The seats keep you in place, and the electronic nannies stop you from making a goose of yourself, so enjoy!
CONCLUSION:-
Apart from a bigger screen for the rear camera and the addition of Assisted Parking, there isn’t anything I’d change and no other place I’d rather be.
Price: $38,290 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Power: 184kW at 5500rpm
Torque: 340Nm at 2000-4500rpm (360Nm with Overboost)
0-100km/h: 6.5 seconds (claimed)
Fuel economy: 7.4L/100km (9.6L/100km on test)
CO2 emissions: 172g/km