NEW MK FOCUS ST
Nobody would accuse the Focus ST of being an also-ran among hot-hatches. But it’s fair to say Ford has never pitched any of the previous generations as a direct rival to Golf GTIs, Megane Renaultsports or Civic Type Rs. The Mexico or XR3i to the flagship RS Escorts of an earlier Ford age if you will. No longer. The new Focus ST is the real deal, with the power to compete with the best of the hot hatch field and the chassis tech and gizmos to put it to the road with near-RS levels of sophistication and performance. This is a serious step up in ambition and brings with it a massive burden of responsibility. And a bit of a price hike…
A quick re-cap for those who weren’t listening at the back when news of the new ST broke. The engine is an evolution of the 2.3-litre EcoBoost, sharing fundamental architecture and breeding with that in the previous RS and the Mustang. It’s got a twin-scroll turbo, anti-lag technology inspired by the GT and F-150 Raptor and delivers 280ps/276bhp and a thumping 310lb.ft of torque out of the box. That noise you can hear? People
