► We sample regular and Track Pack versions
► Updates in line with the rest of the Focus range
► Automatic and manual, hatchback and estate available
As with the rest of the more workaday Focus range, the Ford Focus ST has received an update to see it through until death in a couple of years. With the Fiesta ST also on borrowed time, you’re looking at the last of the traditional fast Ford hatchbacks.
Although it’s now very nearly £37k at the time of writing without even adding £850 of Performance Pack or three grand’s worth of Track Pack, it’s still one of the cheaper family-sized hot hatches. After all, it still undercuts the Honda Civic Type R, Volkswagen Golf GTI and most potent versions of the Cupra Leon, even if the Hyundai i30 N is cheaper by a substantial amount.
Anything exciting for the facelift?
Not really if we’re honest. Externally there’s a new front bumper and grille while the big change inside is a 13.2-inch infotainment system with the latest SYNC 4 software plus wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Annoyingly the climate controls are no longer physical, although they’re always displayed at the bottom of the touchscreen to make life marginally easier.
The range has also been slimmed down somewhat, with the diesel model unsurprisingly sacked off. That leaves a choice of hatch or estate with a manual or automatic gearbox.
Ford Focus ST: What do you get?
Let’s start under the bonnet. While the pre-2018 petrol ST had a 2.0-litre engine, this car uses a retuned version of the 2.3-litre four-cylinder Ecoboost engine used in the old Focus RS.
It offers 276bhp and 310lb ft (compared with 247bhp and 266lb ft in the previous petrol ST) plus a form of anti-lag, although don’t expect ear-splitting bangs and sizeable flames from the exhaust. There’s also an electronically controlled limited-slip differential (e-LSD for short) and electronically controlled adaptive dampers (CCD in Ford-speak, for Continuously Controlled Dampers) albeit only on the hatch.
According to Ford Performance’s European boss Leo Roeks, the front-drive ST has mid-range in-gear acceleration quicker than the AWD Focus RS, thanks to lighter weight and different gear ratios, with comparable quarter-mile times. Zero to 62mph comes up in 5.7sec, eight tenths quicker than the old ST.
The manual gearbox has a 7% shorter throw than the previous ST’s already snappy shift, and features a flat-shift capability – smoothing and maintaining the engine’s torque delivery if you keep your foot in while changing up (although not recommended for every upshift) – and automatic rev-matching on downshifts.
The Estate version is not available with the adaptive dampers – they don’t fit with the architecture of its rear deck – but does get its own specific tuning for its rear suspension to give the best mix of agility while loaded and unloaded.
What are those packs about?
The aforementioned Track Pack is also hatch only, bringing manually adjustable KW coilover suspension, bigger Brembo brakes, lighter flow-formed 19-inch alloy wheels, a Track mode with rev matching, launch control and a shift light, and some black detailing on the outside. If that all sounds rather familiar, it’s because they’re the same go-faster bits applied to the limited run Focus ST Edition.
The Performance Pack isn’t quite as extreme, bringing mode selection for the adaptive dampers of manual hatch models, the shift light, rev matching and launch control.
What’s the interior like?
Generally quite demure, with a light smattering of ST badges on the flat-bottomed steering wheel and on the Recaro seats’ backrests to remind you it’s a hot hatch, along with some faux carbon trim pieces similar to those of the Fiesta ST. The infotainment screen is certainly much larger and clearer than the old car’s tiddler, although we wish it was angled towards the driver.
The eight-way adjustable Ford Performance seats are thankfully a bit less overly bolstered than those of the Fiesta ST, with wider space across the shoulders and around the waist so they don’t pinch you quite so mercilessly. The base’s side bolsters still take some clambering over but overall they’re comfortable and practical.
How does the petrol drive?
The Focus ST’s acceleration certainly feels as quick as Ford’s figures suggest. It stops well, too. The brakes have been made bigger and stronger than previously, with 330mm/302mm discs front/rear, performance pads and an electronic brake booster, constantly adjusting to maintain the pedal’s bite when the brakes start getting hot to keep brake feel consistent. With less weight to haul, Ford claims the ST stops better than the Focus RS.
Read our Ford Focus ST long-term test
The difference in damping switching through the modes on Performance Pack equipped cars is like night and day. If you’re on a particularly gnarly B road you’ll probably want the dampers in their softest mode, while the stiffer settings are best left to smoother surfaces or the track.
Ford Focus ST front cornering
You’ll find there’s a big difference in handling too. Lift your foot from the throttle mid-corner in Normal mode and the ESC system subtly prevents any kind of waywardness, keeping the car entirely under control. In Race, the Focus pivots neatly into oversteer, aided by the electronic settings for the stability control, dampers and diff – but it remains safe and controllable.
Sounds good, better with the Track Pack?
With coilovers that can only be tweaked with a set of spanners, the Track Pack doesn’t give this kind of easy configurability. Out of the box it’s undoubtedly firmer than a standard ST, yet the KW shocks tightly control body movements and ensure there’s no crashiness or pogoing, helping it remain just about on the right side of liveable.
They also help the Track Pack feel even more agile and entertaining than the regular ST. Not only are the coilovers firmer, they drop the ride height by 10mm to help reduce lean and make it change direction with more urgency. Turn off the electronic assistants and it’s still happy to wag its tail on corner entry, too.
Like the regular ST, flick through the drive modes and you’ll notice the exhaust note change, with plenty of pops and crackles on the overrun in Sport, much like the now-deceased Focus RS. As is becoming standard practice throughout the performance car industry, the engine’s sound is enhanced using the car’s speaker system, taking the natural frequencies of its engine note and amplifying them – bassier at low revs, with a more aggressive edge at higher revs. It works to a degree, but the more natural notes of a Hyundai i30N will satisfy the purists out there a little more.
Torque steer is still present, but has been reduced by a system linked to both the e-LSD and the electric power steering which applies counter-torque (not counter-steering) to keep the steering calm under power. It’s a system already present in the Fiesta ST, and it works well in the Focus. Even so, a heavily cambered road will still have the steering wheel writhing a little.
Also like the Fiesta, the Focus ST has an extremely fast steering rack – even faster, in fact at two turns lock-to-lock. But with a longer wheelbase than the Fiesta, the overall response is said to be comparable.
What’s the ST estate like?
The estate practicality is the least contentious issue here. The Focus isn’t massive – not as roomy at the Peugeot 308, for instance – but you get usefully more space than in the ST hatch: 370 litres extra with the rear seats down, 302 litres with them up.
In comparison to the hatch, there’s a heavy, dithery feel through the bends. Turns out you can’t change the rear suspension and lose the e-differential and expect the estate to handle with the agility of the hatch. It’s not terrible by any means, but fails to live up to its billing.
Ford Focus ST: overall verdict
Ford’s efforts with the Focus ST have largely paid off. It’s not quite potent enough to worry the super hatch-baiting Civic Type R, but it’ll go toe-to-toe with the Golf GTI and spicy versions of the Cupra Leon and come out on top, as it really can thrill on a good road and rewards you for working with it. The Performance Pack is a must while the Track Pack is a tempting choice for the more committed hot hatch fan.
However, we can’t help but feel like the interior changes give with one hand (infotainment) and take with the other (physical climate controls), and then there’s the small matter of the Hyundai i30 N. While not as spacious in the rear, it’s cheaper, similarly well equipped and even more exciting in a thuggish kind of way.
