Motor Australia – September 2019

d motorofficial f motor_mag^31

WEWOULDnotnormallybegina

reviewofthelatesthothatchbackwith

a referencetoFerrari,butbearwithus.

WhenFerrarilaunchesa newcar,

journalistsarerituallysubjectedtoa

tableauxofcomplicatedgraphsand

diagrams.It’sdrybutoddlycompelling,

andreasonablebecauseitschassis

electronicshavebecomebewilderingly

complexworksofartandFerrariwould

likeustoappreciatethat.

Well,Fordpulleda Ferrariforthe

fourth-generationFocusST.Justifiably,

too.Thisis a complicatedcar,anocean

ofbinarycodeawayfromthelastST,

whichwaslaunchedsevenyearsago

withnothinglikethesamespreadof

technologies.

We were presented with graphs that

plot torque from the upsized engine

against the locking rate for the front

axle’s electronic limited-slip differential.

The hardware comes from GKN and

is controlled via a locking clutch not

unlike VW’s ‘XDS+’ system, so while the

redline assigned to Track mode (yes,

there are now modes) rockets up in a

way we’re told would probably help

thenewcomerlapa quickcircuitsuch

astheNurburgringfastereventhan

theoldFocusRS,itsSlipperymodeis

reassuringlygentle.

There’salsobrake-basedtorque

vectoringtotrimundersteer,whichnot

solongagowouldhaveitselfbeenthe

headlinenewsbutis nowmerelypart

ofthescenery.

Anothergraphfromtheengineers

tellsusthecontinuouslycontrolled

adaptivedampers,whicharereactive

totheroadsurfacebutrespondin

justa coupleofmilliseconds,exert

roughlytwiceasmuchforcein Track

asin Normal.

Admittedly,togetaccesstothe

fullmulti-modefunctionality,you’ll

need the optional Performance pack –

otherwise the dampers operate only in

a Goldilocks setting between Normal

and Sport – and that includes further

programs for rev matching, launch

control and, goodness gracious, ‘flat’

shifting, for which you needn’t even lift

off the accelerator pedal if you’re close

enough to the redline.

Deprived of context, you might

MAIN

Latest ST employs

the garden variety

Focus models’

unequal-length

double-wishbone

architecture, but

is enhanced with

various suspension

refinements and

bigger brakes with

electromechanical

actuation

➜

Redefining the hot hatch formula

FORD FOCUS ST

BY • RICHARD LANE

ENGINE 2261cc inline-4, DOHC, 16v, turbo

POWER 206kW @ 5500rpm

TORQUE 420Nm @ 3000-4000rpm

0-100KM/H 5.7sec (claimed)

4.5 WEIGHT 1508kg • PRICE $45,000 (est)

Rating

LIKE: New tech; performance

boost; clinically direct steering;

blend of road and track manners;

Performance pack

DISLIKE: Nose-heavy feel;

not the ultimate track star