Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

The new Focus ST is a big step up from the last one, but weirdly, it's best enjoyed in 'Normal' mode...
Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

Pros

Cons

The last Ford Focus ST had three main things going for it: it was quick, it was cheap, and you could have it in ‘Tangerine Scream’ orange.

The trouble was, you got what you paid for. More expensive rivals had far more polish than the ST with its over-firm damping and savage torque-steering tendencies, the latter issue made worse with a weird system which tried (and failed) to compensate by fiddling with the power steering assistance on the fly.

The biggest problem with the Focus ST is it didn’t - as you might have hoped - feel like a bigger version of the brilliant Fiesta ST. Now there’s a new version of both, with the latest hot Fiesta somehow managing to top the God-like genius old one. But the newest ST’d Focus? That’s not quite so easy to judge.

Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

Ford has certainly thrown plenty of tech at it. It’s been given the 2.3-litre Ecoboost inline-four engine from the Mustang, with a kinda/sorta anti-lag system inspired by the Ford GT’s. It has a newly developed electronically-controlled limited-slip differential, and adaptive dampers that monitor various parameters every two milliseconds.

Getting out of the old one and into this would be like switching from an abacus to an iPhone X. The fifth and sixth-generations of the Fiesta ST are very much kindred spirits, but that simply isn’t the case with the third and fourth-gen ST Foci - Ford is trying something different here, and it’s trying rather hard.

Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

Complication is not necessarily what you want in a hot hatch, though, and a simple press of the Sport button (there was no such thing in the previous-gen car) suggests that we might have been right to worry about the ST turning into a tech-fest. The throttle pedal becomes more responsive (good), the exhaust gets louder (also good), the dampers firm up (fine), and the very fast steering decides it wants to be absurdly heavy (oh dear).

I’m not sure where this ‘heavy steering= sporty’ thing - of which BMW are particular fans - came from, but it really has to stop. Set the Focus in Sport, and every flick of the wheel is not especially pleasant - it’s a stodgy, artificial kind of weight, accompanied by a weirdly springy self-centring feeling.

At least it doesn’t get any stickier in Track mode. The ST’s angriest drive mode switches the ESP to a less intrusive ‘Sport’ setting and makes everything little more aggressive, but what you’re better off doing is ignoring both modes and sticking to ’Normal’.

Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

This is more like it. I don’t have an issue with the damping in the other two modes, but in Normal, there’s a little more give in the shocks, meaning the car flows slightly better over undulations and tricky camber changes. Most importantly, the steering isn’t so damn odd. The weight is about right, and although the wheel is still too keen to snap back to the middle, it isn’t as fanatical about doing so. Going for ‘Normal’ also means the rev-matching system is turned off, although I’d be happier with it on - the Focus ST’s pedal layout doesn’t make for easy heel-and-toe shenanigans.

Without the steering being such a distraction, it’s possible to finally Focus (sorry) on the stuff the ST does well. For instance, its balance in the faster, more flowing stuff - here, it’s secure, confident, and up for being manhandled. However ham-fisted the pilot, he or she will be flattered.

Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

The clever e-diff is an interesting one. Technically, it’s not an LSD at all - it’s a clutch-based system that sits outside of the differential casing. It’s been developed using lessons learned from the GKN-supplied rear axle of the four-wheel drive RS, and is able to send up to 100 per cent of torque to either front wheel. In other words, it’s more like a VW Golf GTI Performance or Hyundai i30 N, rather than a Honda Civic Type R with its comparatively old-fashioned mechanical Torsen diff.

It’s set apart from the Fiesta ST too, which in Performance Pack trim gets a geared torque-biasing differential from UK-based firm Quaife. Why isn’t it the same in the Focus? It’s so the steering feedback isn’t corrupted, Ford says.

Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

Sure enough, there isn’t that characteristic tug through the wheel when you’re pushing the envelope. But at the same time, you don’t get that sensation of the front end being nudged back into line under power as you do with a lot of the ST’s rivals. It’s not quite capable enough for that.

That said, getting the Focus ST to push on into understeer - without merely steaming into a corner at an entry speed as unrealistic as a Michael Bay film - takes some effort. And more effort, I’d have thought, than 90 per cent of ST buyers would ever want to go to when out for a spirited drive.

Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

Speaking of which, many who take the ST plunge will no doubt brag about having a Focus RS engine in their Ford, but that’s not strictly true. It’s closer to the Mustang 2.3 than the one in the now-departed RS.

Does that matter? Well, you won’t be wanting for straight-line performance - it develops 276bhp and 310lb ft of torque, shooting you from 0-62mph in just 5.7 seconds. There’s even a launch control system with the £800 Performance Pack if you want to engage in some particularly speedy getaways from the traffic lights.

Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

Keeping the displacement high and the turbo boost pressure high, and recirculating the exhaust gasses to keep the turbo-spooled (as I said, a ‘kinda/sorta’ anti-lag system) mean it’s reasonably responsive too. But its range of operation isn’t exactly wide, and the gearing doesn’t make the most of what the 2.3 does have to give.

Every tight-ish bend gives the same dilemma: do I go for second or third? Opt for the former, and you’ll be beyond the 5500rpm peak power mark and in the territory of the soft limiter. Choose the latter, and you might find yourself below 3500rpm, the mark at which the ST starts to get into its stride. For a turbo engine, it’s a late bloomer.

If you are in its sweet spot, there’s no denying that it builds speed impressively. It sounds, like a lot of inline-fours, inoffensive rather than particularly interesting. Sport and Track modes add fake noise, although I never found this objectionable.

Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

All of this might make it seem like the Ford Focus ST is a mixed bag, but the good stuff outweighs the bad by a big margin. It’s just a shame the ‘Normal’ steering can’t be combined with the engine in ‘Sport’ - that’s where the car would surely be at its best. Ford reckons most customers tend to play with configurable drive modes once before abandoning them for the rest of their ownership spell, so the ST hasn’t been given that kind of functionality.

This is a good time to bring up the price. Remember how the old one was cheap? This one, as a consequence of all that added stuff, isn’t. We were expecting a decent increase in price, but the £31,995 entry point is punchier than we might have imagined.

Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

Admittedly, £32k bags you a Focus ST with most of the stuff you’re going to want - the old ST-1, ST-2 and ST-3 specs have been ditched for one generously decked-out derivative. But that figure does put it perilously close to a Honda Civic Type R GT.

The Focus may have a better infotainment system and a marginally nice interior (weirdly naff instrument cluster aside), but the Civic is in another league dynamically. It only asks that you can live with all its wings and angles. If you can’t, the Hyundai i30 N Performance is next in the imaginary ‘let’s fight the new Focus ST’ queue, costing £4000 less and packing a lot more aural drama than the Ford. Get the two together - something we might just do at some point - and the Blue Oval is going to seem more sensible, I fear.

Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid

It’s doubtful any of this will matter. Fast Ford buyers are a loyal bunch, and a significant chunk will almost certainly sign up regardless of whatever anyone says. They’ll be taking the keys to an ST that’s leaps and bounds better than the old one when driven fast, very practical and just about shouty enough to look at.

Will they be getting a Focus ST that finally feels like an upsized version of the much-celebrated fast Fiesta? Sadly not. But hey, at least the Focus has closed the gap.

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Comments

Ben Anderson 1

£32,000 is crazy money for a Focus ST. For £2,000 less you can be in a Kia Stinger with a mechanical diff and rear wheel drive. £4,000 less is the Hyundai i30N Performance (£2,000 for the sexy little fastback version). The Megane RS is £27,835, and not much more than the Focus will put you into the outrageous Civic Type R.

Lets not forget the VW group cars, too. Golf R, Golf GTI, Leon Cupra, Audi S3.

I don’t see why you’d want this car when the competition, at least on paper, is so much better.

Long story short, why bother with this thing?

07/02/2019 - 17:43 |
26 | 8

Because it looks amazing

07/02/2019 - 18:18 |
4 | 8

These are the UK prices. Here in Germany, the Focus ST is 1k€ cheaper than the i30N and 3k€ cheaper than the Mégane RS. The base model Stinger (which is less powerful, for the record) starts at a healthy 12k€ (!) more. The Golf GTI VII is ancient, the Golf GTI VIII will almost certainly be more expensive.

I have no idea why the Focus is so expensive in the UK, or why the Kiyundais are so cheap in the UK, but these prices do not reflect the market in the entire world.

Frankly, if I was in that situation, I don’t think I would go with the Focus ST either, but that’s for other reasons. As far as performance per price is concerned, the Focus ST isn’t any better or worse of a deal than the competition — at least on paper. Also considering that Ford dealers like to throw out their cars at massive discounts.

07/02/2019 - 20:38 |
18 | 2

My point exactly, and saying it looks amazing is purely subjective, to me it looks like it’s huffed a little too much glue and is now missing a chromosome. There is no justification for the ST at its price point when the competition will lay it on the tarmac and walk all over it.

07/02/2019 - 22:17 |
4 | 0

I’d rather get a 320i with a few extras for 35k

07/03/2019 - 06:19 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

For a performance car, at that price, the pedal positioning is awful.

07/02/2019 - 19:52 |
4 | 0
Griffin Mackenzie

-> trying to fix all the foibles of the car with expensive electronic garbage instead of just designing a better car

07/03/2019 - 01:54 |
6 | 2

Especially when those foibles give it character over your average 2.0 turbo and crucially make it dirt cheap.

07/06/2019 - 23:36 |
0 | 0
Nitrogentank

We need this in the States

07/03/2019 - 03:26 |
10 | 0

we only hope to see that…..

07/03/2019 - 04:34 |
0 | 0

I have a 2015 Focus ST and would happily trade mine in for a new one in a year or two if they brought it stateside

07/06/2019 - 15:22 |
0 | 0
Jem_Clark

Come on, you all know that you would rather have this instead…..
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi1.wp.com%2Fwww.motoringresearch.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F05%2F01_Focus_RS.jpg%3Ffit%3D1366%252C768%26ssl%3D1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.motoringresearch.com%2Fcar-reviews%2Fford-focus-rs-mk1-retro-road-test%2F&docid=eRTyUoeSyoXHUM&tbnid=4ZVrAwu9odQh_M%3A&vet=10ahUKEwialqD8j5rjAhVFWH0KHWaqDREQMwhxKAIwAg..i&w=1366&h=768&safe=active&bih=820&biw=1440&q=ford%20focus%20rs%20mk%201&ved=0ahUKEwialqD8j5rjAhVFWH0KHWaqDREQMwhxKAIwAg&iact=mrc&uact=8

07/04/2019 - 01:36 |
2 | 4
deand

This moment when a fords rear looks better then a new A45 AMG😂

07/04/2019 - 20:59 |
0 | 0
Matthew Boxberger

It would be more enjoyable if i could get one in America

07/05/2019 - 15:46 |
0 | 0
Ford Focus ST Review: A Solid Hot Hatch With One Button You Should Avoid
TheCuttingboard

Focus power! Happy to hear the mostly positives about the new Focus, since we won’t get one in the US.

07/06/2019 - 14:26 |
0 | 0
Basith Penna-Hakkim

Yet another great car we can’t have in the States

07/06/2019 - 22:00 |
0 | 0
Dave 12

Ridiculous price. Should have stuck to making technologically simple hot hatches. When I bought my 2012 I was 23 and it cost me 19k including interest on the finance. It had 5000 miles on it so I think it was a couple of grand off the retail price and that was the full spec ST3 wagon with the extra interior lighting pack. For an ST it was as pricey as it got. That was seriously expensive at that age and now I’m 30 I could easily afford it but I’d spend that kind of money elsewhere. I get there’s a loyalist market for fast fords but it seems to me like they’ve misjudged their market which has to be young blokes with limited spending power taking their first plunge into the hot hatch market. Too much competition out there in the segment. Not even close to being on my list.

07/06/2019 - 23:34 |
0 | 0

My 2013 ST-3 was nearer 30k new. And most people who bought them new were not young blokes taking their first plunge into hot hatches

03/21/2020 - 19:19 |
0 | 0