FOCUS ST
There’s always been something about fast Fords that makes people take a second look. Something about the blue oval which makes a performance car seem attainable, maybe. Or perhaps Ford just do a good job of appealing to most of the people, most of the time. Whatever the reason, Ford’s latest hot-shot hatchback, the Focus ST, turns more than its share of heads – even when the Electric Orange of the first press cars and the TV ads is swapped for a slightly more sober metallic blue, as on our test car.
Up front sits a turbocharged, 2.5-litre in-line five which Ford calls the Duratec ST. It’s a revamped Volvo T5 motor with new injectors, remapped ignition, and a less massive flywheel, all of which mean the ST motor responds more crisply to throttle inputs – a rare pleasure in a turbo engine. Mash the pedal into the carpet until the silver-rimmed rev counter hits 6,000rpm and you will have 222bhp at your disposal, enough to propel the ST from rest to 60mph in 6.5 seconds and go on to almost 150mph.
Yet, impressive as these headline figures are, the real story of the ST is not its outright performance, but the way it delivers.
Maximum torque – 236lbft is available at just 1,600rpm, and the curve is flat all the way to 4,000rpm. On the road the ST seems happy to pull from any speed in any gear. Overtaking is swift and easy, even if you decide against a down-change and let the torque curve do the work. All the time you are accompanied by a quattro-esque straight-five howl through the twin centre-exit exhausts. Beyond 5,000rpm the engine begins to sound strained, but there’s rarely any need to use that many revs: if you do you’ll generally be travelling so fast the noise won’t be your primary concern.
Up front sits a turbocharged, 2.5-litre in-line five which Ford calls the Duratec ST. It’s a revamped Volvo T5 motor with new injectors, remapped ignition, and a less massive flywheel, all of which mean the ST motor responds more crisply to throttle inputs – a rare pleasure in a turbo engine. Mash the pedal into the carpet until the silver-rimmed rev counter hits 6,000rpm and you will have 222bhp at your disposal, enough to propel the ST from rest to 60mph in 6.5 seconds and go on to almost 150mph.
Yet, impressive as these headline figures are, the real story of the ST is not its outright performance, but the way it delivers.
Maximum torque – 236lbft is available at just 1,600rpm, and the curve is flat all the way to 4,000rpm. On the road the ST seems happy to pull from any speed in any gear. Overtaking is swift and easy, even if you decide against a down-change and let the torque curve do the work. All the time you are accompanied by a quattro-esque straight-five howl through the twin centre-exit exhausts. Beyond 5,000rpm the engine begins to sound strained, but there’s rarely any need to use that many revs: if you do you’ll generally be travelling so fast the noise won’t be your primary concern.