2013 Ford Focus ST

The hot hatch market has ebbed and flowed over the years featuring a number of cars American drivers haven’t been able to get their hands on.  But this one has recently emigrated to the U.S. – it’s the all-new Focus ST.

Ford has been down this road before, about 10 years ago with the SVT Focus – a 170-horsepower bundle of fun produced exclusively for North America.  This time around, the Special Vehicle Team collaborated with Europe’s Team RS to produce Ford’s first global performance car. And for the first time, drivers on this side of the Atlantic get to experience the joy of a Focus ST.

Available exclusively in 5-door style, the ST is a masterful work comprised of a powerful yet efficient 252-horsepower EcoBoost engine, an expertly matched 6-speed manual transmission, an on point sport steering system and driving dynamics which punctuate why we became enamored with fast cars in the first place.  As larger and heavier vehicles have dulled our senses over the years, cars like the Focus ST will quickly resuscitate your forgotten passion for driving.  Though much more than a straight-line speed machine, the Focus ST easily launches to 60mph in the low 6-second range, thanks in part to a clutch pedal/shifter combo that a novice could work smoothly.  Left foot action is highly sprung but it lets you know precisely where engagement occurs and the stick moves fluidly through its gears.  And because of the 2.0-liter engine’s low-inertia turbocharging, its 270 pound feet of torque is delivered on-demand, linearly and throughout the rev range giving the Focus ST a powerful, refined drivability.  What every driver of a car like this wants is a connectedness to its controls so as inputs are given the vehicle reacts accordingly – in concert with your wishes and the Focus ST achieves those difficult to find attributes all the while hugging you into the body contoured Recaros.  It’s sized right and engineered with enhanced torque vectoring control and a set of sticky Goodyear Eagle F1 tires that firmly plant it through your favorite corners.  The ST’s grip, aided by this limited-slip differential-type system, is rousing.  When you want, you can knock the stability control down to a less intrusive sport mode and even turned off completely. If you can’t have fun driving this car than it’s a you problem.

And during times when more civilized motoring is called for, the Focus ST stores its racy personality to provide an ideal daily driver offering a compliant ride, low cabin noise, comfortable seating for 4 and a useful cargo area.  It’ll also accept regular gas and even when driven spiritedly returns 23mpg city/32mpg highway.  My tester, with the optional 201A package also brings in the goodies with Ford’s latest digital displays and connectivity services giving the ST a modern, high quality feel.  MSRP of this Race Red example is $27,675…definitely a lot of car for the money.

The ST draws criticism in a couple of areas. Despite Ford’s use of torque steer compensation this Focus still darts about under load in the first 2 gears though it’s reasonably manageable.  And with all of the talk about the famed sound symposer used to bring more tuned engine noise into the cabin, there’s really not much to be had and any exciting exhaust sound is all but absent.  But those are small warts on an otherwise brilliantly built hot hatch.