Photo: YouTube screenshot
The Focus has been a highly successful compact car for two decades, and about half the time, a hot ST version accompanied it. The all-new version of that car has been hotly debated in the powertrain department, but a new piece of information makes the rumor mill grind to a halt.
It looks like Carscoops received a tip containing a photo of a sticker. The bit we care about says "FOCUS ST 2.3 GTDI," which implies a 2.3-liter engine with gasoline turbo direct injection.
In the history of the Focus ST, there's never been such a thing, so it's not an old sticker. The last model came with a 4-cylinder 2-liter while the one before that borrowed a 2.5-liter 5-cylinder from Volvo. Of course, the outgoing Focus RS and Mustang EcoBoost both featured a 2.3-liter lump.
Since almost all hot hatchbacks have a 2-liter engine and Ford already has one of those, we naturally assumed things weren't about to change But they will, probably because Ford Performance wants a lot more power.
Nobody knows for sure, but we believe it's somewhere around 286 HP, a very specific number that comes from 210 kW. Of course, we'd also love to see the Focus ST go crazy and chase the 300+ HP boys (Civic Type R, Leon ST). Still, there's nothing a dealer-fitted Montune kit can't fix.
If the Focus is not coming back to America and this is a European car, why do they have oz and lbs on the sticker? Well, that's because the car is testing in Australia. Caradvice showed basically the same label back in August... but we missed it.
So what about the talk of an 8-speed auto fitted to a 2-liter engine? Well, it's looking like that belongs to the diesel Focus ST, which was never offered in America, to begin with. That one should get about 190 HP going to the front wheels.
In the history of the Focus ST, there's never been such a thing, so it's not an old sticker. The last model came with a 4-cylinder 2-liter while the one before that borrowed a 2.5-liter 5-cylinder from Volvo. Of course, the outgoing Focus RS and Mustang EcoBoost both featured a 2.3-liter lump.
Since almost all hot hatchbacks have a 2-liter engine and Ford already has one of those, we naturally assumed things weren't about to change But they will, probably because Ford Performance wants a lot more power.
Nobody knows for sure, but we believe it's somewhere around 286 HP, a very specific number that comes from 210 kW. Of course, we'd also love to see the Focus ST go crazy and chase the 300+ HP boys (Civic Type R, Leon ST). Still, there's nothing a dealer-fitted Montune kit can't fix.
If the Focus is not coming back to America and this is a European car, why do they have oz and lbs on the sticker? Well, that's because the car is testing in Australia. Caradvice showed basically the same label back in August... but we missed it.
So what about the talk of an 8-speed auto fitted to a 2-liter engine? Well, it's looking like that belongs to the diesel Focus ST, which was never offered in America, to begin with. That one should get about 190 HP going to the front wheels.
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