"The spirit of everything we learned from the Fiesta ST is definitely in there," says Leo Roeks, peering up at the differential housing of the latest, third-generation Focus ST.
He is not, I might add, talking about that specific piece of hardware, not least because this is the first time Ford has put an electronically controlled limited-slip differential in anything exclusively front-driven. The boss of Ford Performance Europe is instead referring to the entire car – the new Focus ST, yours later this summer for £29,495 – and how his engineers have captured the bubbly, chuckable persona of the smash-hit Fiesta ST in a larger, more refined package. It’s something worth getting excited about, certainly, and Roeks makes the point again: "The DNA is very important to us."
We’re stood in a service building at Ford’s Lommel proving ground in Belgium, where a car like the Focus ST goes to be tortured when it finally moves off the computer screens, off the production line and into the light of day. By now the front-engined layout is well known to us, and underpinned by Ford’s lighter, more rigid new C2 platform, which needs no strengthening.
Where the Fiesta ST uses a downsized three-cylinder engine, its bigger brother has gone the other way, reprising the turbocharged, all-aluminium 2.3-litre four-cylinder EcoBoost engine previously found in the Mk3 Focus RS, only this time with less pulverising but far from meagre totals of 276bhp and 310lb ft. That’s more torque than any direct rival, in fact, and enough to see the ST out-perform the hulking old RS through the mid-range, says Roeks. How about that for progress?
Off the line, the official 0-62mph time is 5.7sec – some 0.8sec quicker than the last generation of Focus ST and about as quick as it’s possible to go without rear driveshafts. As for getting power to the front axle, it’ll be possible to option a seven-speed automatic gearbox (though not in the 187bhp diesel estate ST) but the six-speed manual is what most owners will want. As such, Ford has put its back into developing this aspect of the car, not only reducing the throw but introducing rev-matching and a flat-shifting function. Basically, if you’re close enough to the 6500rpm red line, you needn’t lift off the throttle.
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This 2.3 4pot, I know the
This 2.3 4pot, I know the focus rs and mustang have variations on it but does it have anything to do with the old 2.3 cosworth developed engine from the old scorpio? I know that was a while ago but modern engines can be based on older iterations.
As for the car, I like it, when I first saw a new focus I wasn't sure, I thought it a little bland and generic, but now having seen a few it has grown on me and I like the looks both inside and out. And going by previous st versions, I'm sure this will be an excellent steer.
2.3 a number to remember
Glad they kept it below £30k there was an Autocar story saying it'll be £33k.
Looks 8/10, performace 9/10, value 9/10. I can even over look the slighty uninspiring cheap looking interior.
Roll on up sizing, bet VW are glad they didn't go ahead with making the next GTi a Hybrid now!
xxxx wrote:
Think the ST3 models will be £33k (depending on options), which is about £5k up on what mine was in 2015 - might price themselves out of the market.
Of course it feels good from the passenger seat
Most cars do when there's a skilled pilot at the wheel, and they invariably feel faster when you are not in charge of the controls. I am old enough to remember when Ford managed to convince a certain journal that it's then new front drive Ford Escort was a winner, better even than the highly respected Alfasud around the company's own test track...
The Focus ST may indeed be a great car, but let's not pre judge.