Photo: Ford
Though the Focus – and Focus ST – are no longer available stateside over increasing demand for utilities and trucks, the Blue Oval keeps making ‘em for the Old Continent. The Focus RS project may have been canceled, but on the bright side, Ford Performance continues to make improvements to the ST lineup.
“Improvements” with biiiiiig quotation marks, to be frank, because the headline says it all. In addition to the six-speed manual, the Focus ST is now available with a seven-speed transmission in the UK, featuring a torque converter instead of a dual-clutch configuration. Although it may be a more comfortable solution to the row-your-own-gears tranny, the auto is 0.3 seconds slower to 100 km/h (62 mph). Fuel economy remains unchanged for the 2.3-liter EcoBoost at 34.4 British mpg (28.6 U.S. mpg or 8.2 l/100 km).
There’s another problem with the auto box, and that’s the marketing. “Gear differentiation is optimized for performance,” reads a statement from the Blue Oval, but what performance when it’s slower than the three-pedal manual? To make things worse, the seven-speeder is £1,450 more expensive than the stick shift.
As an enthusiast car with considerably lower production volumes than the normal Focus, the ST should have been more focused on driving engagement rather than the convenience of a sluggish automatic. And at £34,710 for the hatchback and £34,660 for the wagon, there are better alternatives in the segment.
Renault Sport has the Megane R.S. 280 and Megane R.S. 300 Trophy at 28,995 and 32,995 pounds sterling, respectively. Honda offers the Civic Type R at £32,230 before options, and on a budget, the Hyundai i30 N is seriously good value for the money at 29,810 pounds sterling. Whichever way you look at it, Ford Performance has yet to unleash the full potential of the Euro-spec Focus ST.
Having mentioned earlier that the Focus RS project has ground to a halt, care to guess why Ford of Europe didn’t go forward with the hybridized hot hatchback? “As a result of new emissions standards, increased CO2 taxation, and the high cost of developing an RS with some form of electrification for a relatively low volume of vehicles, we are not planning another RS version of the Focus.”
There’s another problem with the auto box, and that’s the marketing. “Gear differentiation is optimized for performance,” reads a statement from the Blue Oval, but what performance when it’s slower than the three-pedal manual? To make things worse, the seven-speeder is £1,450 more expensive than the stick shift.
As an enthusiast car with considerably lower production volumes than the normal Focus, the ST should have been more focused on driving engagement rather than the convenience of a sluggish automatic. And at £34,710 for the hatchback and £34,660 for the wagon, there are better alternatives in the segment.
Renault Sport has the Megane R.S. 280 and Megane R.S. 300 Trophy at 28,995 and 32,995 pounds sterling, respectively. Honda offers the Civic Type R at £32,230 before options, and on a budget, the Hyundai i30 N is seriously good value for the money at 29,810 pounds sterling. Whichever way you look at it, Ford Performance has yet to unleash the full potential of the Euro-spec Focus ST.
Having mentioned earlier that the Focus RS project has ground to a halt, care to guess why Ford of Europe didn’t go forward with the hybridized hot hatchback? “As a result of new emissions standards, increased CO2 taxation, and the high cost of developing an RS with some form of electrification for a relatively low volume of vehicles, we are not planning another RS version of the Focus.”
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