2019-10-01_CAR_UK

116 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | OctOber 2019

o on, admit it: if this Ford Focus wasn’t painted in Orange

Fury you wouldn’t confidently say it was the new ST at first

glance. An ST-Line, maybe, but a full-on hot hatch? Surely

not. And yet that’s exactly what this is. And its modest

identity crisis is indicative of the very fine balance Ford has

to strike with the ST.

In the ever-shifting, ever-improving, keenly-contested world of the hot

hatch, the ST has a lot of jobs to do. It needs to be bang on the pace when

compared to other £30k-ish, 275bhp-ish hatches, but it must also, in the

absence of a more hardcore Focus RS, offer something to appeal to those

tempted by the more powerful likes of the Civic Type R.

It has a lot to prove: when we put the previous model in our August

2014 mega test marking 50 years of hot hatches, it emerged near the

bottom of the pack with only a three-star verdict. More recently, it’s also

been overshadowed by one of the biggest hot-hatch surprises in recent

history: the Hyundai i30 N. Even the fortress of stability that is the Golf

GTI felt the shockwave from this Korean invasion – so much so that VW

has mounted a honeycomb-addled, racecar-inspired counter-offensive

with the new Golf GTI TCR. We’ve brought both the Hyundai and the

Volkswagen along to test against the new hot Ford.

The Focus has the right stance, but it just looks too subtle next to the

Hyundai and VW. Take away the curdling-custard paint and your only

substantial visual cues are a double-pointed spoiler, red brake calipers

and metal-tipped twin exhausts. The ST badges are easily missed.

Same story inside, too. The Focus is as gloomy to sit in as a doomsday

bunker but, ergonomically, it’s absolutely bang on. Clear instruments,

chunky steering wheel, a highly adjustable driving position that allows

you to sit usefully low, ventilation controls that don’t induce befuddle-

ment and Ford’s Sync 3 infotainment system that, while simple in design,

works well, with its crisp graphics and high-mounted screen.

But there’s little to differentiate it from a well-specified ST-Line, bar

tremendously supportive and adjustable Recaro seats, and the drive

mode and separate ‘S’ (for Sport mode) buttons on the steering wheel.

The previous model had no drive modes, but the new one gets three as

standard – Slippery, Normal and Sport – with lairy Track mode bundled

with the optional (and inexpensive at £250) Performance Pack.

Not the greatest start, then, when parked next to its Giant Test

rivals. Who’d have thought that, colour aside, a performance Golf and

G

FORD FOCUS ST

Bland to behold,

a blaST to drive

The e-diff stops the Focus ST

descending into a torque-steery

mess like its predecessor

The Giant TestThe Giant TestThe Giant TestThe Giant TestGiant test: Focus ST