Ford Focus ST
The worm, it seems, has turned. Once upon a time it took a distressingly scant number of miles for me to weary sufficiently of the Focus ST’s penchant for torque steer writhings on a par with the python caught bathing in Tarzan’s favourite pool that I found myself wishing for the company of a similarly badged Fiesta instead.
However, whilst the Fiesta ST I drove around this time last year had surreptitiously acquired steering which tugged like a toddler in a sweet shop, this latest iteration of the Focus ST appears to have finally conquered the problem. Um; baby with the bathwater, I hear you fret? We’ll see…
Ford’s designers appear to have been stung into sufficient inaction by the increasing popularity of lumpen SUVs over hatchbacks in the UK that, when it comes to the injection of some real energy into styling this latest ST, they have not so much dropped the ball as failed to even pick it up in the first place.
Take away 825 quid’s worth of shouty, Mean Green paint (the once popular Dale Winton tan Orange died with him) and you’re left with a sporting hot hatch that lacks aggression in the nose department, is randomly creased with more aimless enthusiasm that a pachyderm’s posterior, and has spent so long on the party balloon pump that, from some angles, it now looks almost SUV chubby.
On board, one’s attention is instantly drawn to the appearance of a vast, 13.2-inch touch-screen atop the dashboard, and the concomitant disappearance of the knobs and knockers that once operated the climate control system with such speed and tactile ease… Worse, the MODE button on the steering wheel no longer scrolls through driving modes at the touch of a finger; it merely activates a touch-screen menu of same which you must remove a hand from the helm to stab at. How daft is that?
Happily, the fully digital driver’s instrument binnacle works rather more wholesomely, and can be suitably configured to offer sufficiently concise yet comprehensive information as to obviate the need for a head-up display which I found surprisingly intrusive. The other good news is that, whilst Recaro seats have obviously become sufficiently pricey to no longer make the cut, Ford’s in house replacements are just dandy, and amorous enough to keep you entirely snugged up through all the fling and flounce of your favourite B road.
Under the bonnet, we find the most powerful engine yet fitted to a Focus ST – a retuned version of the 2.3 litre four-pot used in the old Focus RS. It may not have all the aural charm of the old five-cylinder unit, but it still acquits itself pretty well in the noises off department, even if some of the sound is enhanced through the speakers in Sport mode. Thus armed, the ST may not be the quickest kid on the block, but power delivery that artfully combines the eager with the smooth feels a nice fit for the package and proves thoroughly engaging and plenty fast enough.
With a 7% shorter throw than that of the previous ST, the shift of the six-speed manual transmission is crisp, accurate and instantly rewarding with the insouciant ease of the overly familiar. Good thing too, because the engine majors in mid-range torque so there’s little point in pressing on to over 6000 rpm, and early upshifts quickly become the order of the day. Automatic rev-matching on downshifts is integral to the Performance Pack fitted to the car I drove, but those who favour fully dancing feet may readily switch it off.
Electronically controlled adaptive dampers comprise the most significant engineering add on of the Performance Pack, though I must confess to having found entertainment a plenty without having to resort to either Sport or Track. Normal mode offers the kindest ride on lumpen B road surfaces, whist Sport and Track both toughen proceedings to the point where you really do need an uncommonly smooth surface to enjoy the ride.
At just two turns lock-to-lock, the steering is extremely fast. Loathers of torque steer will be delighted to find that it has here been reduced to but a shadow of its former self through a system linked to both the electronically controlled limited-slip differential and the electric power steering which applies counter-torque to keep the helm calm under power.
If there is a down side, it’s that the steering feels a tad woolly top dead centre and somewhat disinterested at pottering speeds; small price to pay, however, for the liberation from disconcerting tugging with the Axminster fully crushed, when everything falls sufficiently neatly into place that quibbles will be the last thing on your mind.
The ST may go about its business somewhat less frenetically than the very hottest rival offerings, but that added whiff of maturity in no way detracts from the fun. Thrown up Fish Hill, Mudfordshire’s premier tightening radius test bed, the Ford’s enthusiasm for cornering is utterly infectious. Grip levels are astonishing and traction superb; the car never feeling short of grunt when pulling free of even the most awkward curve. And overall, there’s an easy fluidity to proceedings that’s far more appreciable with the helm now sticking to the same agenda as the driver…
Plenty quick and encouragingly slick, then. And even if the price has been steadily creeping up as the number of cylinders falls, still more fun than a clown on fire.