2019-04-01 CAR UK (1)

Insider

The third-generation fiery Focus comes from a long

bloodline of fantastic fast Fords. The last one was excellent

but played second fiddle to the straitjacket-meriting RS.

Available this summer as a hatch or an estate, it comes with

twin tailpipes, big wheels and an aggressive front end.

The ST’s 2.3-litre EcoBoost turbocharged inline four is

much like the one used in the previous-generation Focus

RS and current Mustang. A seven-speed auto is now

offered alongside the classic six-speed manual, and there’s

a manual-only diesel that fortunately isn’t called STD. Phew.

Front-wheel-drive ST’s petrol engine has 276bhp (up 29bhp

on its predecessor) and 309lb ft (up 59lb ft) for a sub-6.0-

second sprint to 62mph. Rev-matching is offered as part of

the optional Performance Pack for manual versions; it also

brings the red brake calipers. No one will buy the 187bhp

diesel for its sprint time.

Crucially, the petrol ST has Ford’s first-ever front-drive

electronic limited-slip diff, with the diesel option using

torque vectoring by braking instead. Sport and Track

modes allow a fruitier tone from the exhaust system, and

there’s launch-control tech – just like the hot Fiesta.

Do the maths and the Focus ST adds up to a very attractive

proposition. Almost every version of the current Focus

drives beautifully, and the Fiesta ST’s standout brilliant. So

this should be great, and yet... And yet we find ourselves

counting down the days until the T-Roc R arrives.

Essentially a high-rise Golf R, the T-Roc R is a crossover

that’s eaten a couple of cans of Popeye’s spinach. Arriving in

the UK in September, it’ll double VW’s R performance range

from one (exceptional) car to two. Angrier styling, quad

exhausts and R badging alert innocent bystanders.

Just one engine here, and it’s essentially the Golf R’s: a

2.0-litre turbo four with 296bhp and 295lb ft mated to a

seven-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic and all-wheel

drive for very rapid, fuss-free on-road performance

regardless of the weather.

Just the one engine, as with the Golf R, so no diesel to

muddy the waters. VW claims a 4.9-second sprint to 62mph,

and it will keep going to a 155mph electronic buffer. To put

that in context, that’s 0.3sec slower than a Golf R, but quite

a bit quicker than the Focus. (Ford hasn’t yet quoted a top

speed for the ST, but expect it to match the T-Roc.)

Race mode via the T-Roc’s twiddly drive mode dial and

launch control for the drag race enthusiast included

alongside vast brakes nicked from the Golf R Performance

Pack, fat 18-inch wheels and stability control that can be

switched off. Good.

Are you kidding? The Golf R is a car so outrageously

talented it’s taken all the fun out of working out what your

next car should be – it’s a Golf R, obviously. Except now it

might be a T-Roc R, not least because it means you can have

your crossover cake and eat hot hatch.

A serious

contender

because...?

276bhp

Focus or

296bhp

T-Roc?

What’s

makes it fly?

What’s the

performance

tech?

And the

winner is?

The hot hatch

fights for its life

It’s Ford’s new Focus ST and, in the crossover corner, VW’s feisty T-Roc R. Fight!

FORD FOCUS ST VW T-ROC R

Fast enough

to keep me

interested?

CAR

WINNER

18 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | APRIL 2019