Road Car: Ford Focus ST – a car for all seasons and reasons

It’s easy to slip into generalizations and lazy judgment about road cars. The truth is, not all Escalades and Navigators are purchased as dubious status symbols; not all models of modern Mini are ugly caricatures; not all 1988-2005 Civics have been adorned with lowered suspension, fat tailpipes, strident color schemes and strange rear wings.

Here’s another truth that may have passed you by: not all performance cars need to be taken within an inch of their limits to appreciate them, nor is the breadth of their ability so narrow as to be a pain in the backside – figuratively and/or literally – on anything less smooth than a race track. It became apparent while ambling along at 35mph in a Ford Focus ST, stuck behind an overstuffed SUV in a no-passing zone, that this is a hot hatchback that can cosset its driver when he or she is bored. At a moment when irritation should cause you to notice every imperfection in a car as it deals with some atrocious road surface while bumbling along at 1,500rpm, the ST retains its composure. That’s all the more impressive when you consider this car’s also one of the sharpest 4/5-seaters on the market once you’re able to start pushing it.

That combination would be more eye-opening if we’d not experienced the remarkable progress Ford has made with its dynamics over the past 20 years. When the Focus was launched in 1998, it continued the good work started by the folks at Ford Europe in the early ’90s with their Mondeo , then the fourth-generation Fiesta and the short-lived but wonderful Puma. But managing to achieve this in the Focus, a car that replaced the dull-in-every-sense Escort, was the biggest achievement of all, because the compact segment was the biggest in Europe at the time. Suddenly the Ford brand was attractive to the enthusiastic driver and, by proxy, provided a higher standard of driving dynamics even to those who couldn’t care less about the finer points of car handling. In short, the Focus became the category benchmark.

And at the performance end of this size category, the Focus ST has always been at or near the top of a driver’s

shopping list. Here in the U.S., only the VW Golf GTI has presented a consistent challenge as it appeals to those looking for a slightly more subdued but also slightly more refined drive. Yet let’s be clear: a Golf does not actually behave with greater chassis composure than a Focus; it just feels like it’s got more inbuilt sound-deadening, more isolation of the cabin from the suspension agitations caused by rough roads.

So yes, the Focus is a touch more raw, but more than a touch less expensive, especially when viewed from the horsepower-per-dollar perspective. Just under $25k gets you a 210hp Golf in its handsome yet discreet new Mk7 clothes. Or it gets you a 250hp Focus, with styling far more distinct from the lesser models in the range. I can’t say I’m a fan of the ST’s deep grille which reminds me of Tom Selleck’s mustache in Blue Bloods, but from every other angle, this car looks right, and has done since the launch of the third gen Focus in 2011.

Settling into the cabin, you become aware of certain materials that allow this car to be such good value. The plastics on the door, dash and center console could be thicker and less flexible, but it’s not something that would bother you unless you’d just stepped from a more hewn-from-solid machine like a Benz or Bimmer.

I’m not turned on by sitting on what appears to be Iron Man’s body armor (RIGHT) so far prefer the more sober mono-colored Recaros (BELOW RIGHT), but have no complaints about their comfort – supportive on the back over long journeys, and laterally grippy during hard cornering. Despite the seat locating the driver surprisingly high for a sporty car, there’s adequate headroom, and the tilt an

d telescopic steering rack allows plenty of easy adjustment for those long or short of limb. Dials are clear, although the three gauges perched on top of the dash – for engine temp, turbo boost and oil pressure – need a longer cowl as they’re reflected at night in the sharply-angled windshield.

I’m bored with automotive writers moaning about the how few manufacturers offer manual gearshifts these days, but when you’ve got an absolute honey of a ’box as in this Focus ST, I’m forced to admit there’s something a bit special about the driving experience. The six-speeder slots into each ratio as if being sucked like a money capsule into those pneumatic tubes you see at supermarket checkouts and, combined with a short-travel clutch, the ST’s transmission requires barely more effort than a paddle-shifter. No, really.

The steering does require effort, but for (almost) all the right reasons. The chunky wheel is very well weighted, gives a surprising amount of feedback for a modern car and is also stunningly accurate. That accuracy is heightened by the aforementioned superb shock and damper setup that prevents the car from being thrown off your chosen line by mid-turn bumps. The steering rack is also very, very swift, with fewer than two turns lock to lock. It must be said that this is also partly to disguise the car’s lame turning circle which, in a longitudinally tight parking spot, can leave you feeling like Austin Powers during his infamous 33-point turn.

The high-ratio rack also emphasizes the torque steer as the boost kicks in while powering hard out of a slow corner, yet paradoxically also means there’s less steering correction to make. The point is, you do need a firm grip on the wheel if you want to be pinpoint accurate with your trajectory on exit of a slow turn, but it’s

rewarding getting it just right.

However, a word of warning: in the dry and with the traction control left on, a responsible driver is not going to exceed the front grip offered by the 18x8” tires on the road, so don’t turn into an apex early and expect to control the front wheel slip angle purely with the gas pedal. You’ll end up cutting the apex because the outer wheel has just gripped and followed the angle you chose via the steering.

With stability control turned off completely, the rear of the Focus becomes more active yet remains pleasingly docile. Coming off the gas abruptly mid turn brings the tail into line with the fronts rather than sending it snapping out wide. Not sure how the ST achieves this magical state (although I appreciate it flattering this driver’s ability), but it feels like the car’s pivoting around its center point rather than its front end. For a grippy and powerful front-wheel-drive car, such easy dexterity is special.

But then this car is pretty special. Its 6.1-second 0-60mph, 16.3sec 0-100 and maximum speed of 154mph might not thrill the driver who regards straight-line performance as king, and maybe those aren’t startling figures given that this Focus has 252 horses to pull 3,225lbs, but truly they’re inconsequential. In reality, out on the road, the ST always feels rev-happy and eager to rush to its max power delivery at 5,500rpm, and yet the two-liter four-cylinder turbo is also very tractable. With 270 lb.-ft. of torque arriving at 2,500rpm, that interrelates nicely with the absurd amount of momentum you can carry through turns, if you want to pick just one gear for a fast sequence of turns.

When it comes to performance car reviews, that may be the latest I’ve ever left it to mention its so-called vital statistics, and that’s because they indicate only one factor in the Focus ST’s overall ability to supply driving satisfaction. To feel well-planted yet also supremely agile whenever the road turns is one of the ST’s greatest tricks; another is its capacity to deliver both a fine ride yet also sports car-like responses to driver input.

Is there another car that can add those abilities to the practicalities of a four-door hatchback and be purchased brand-new for under $25k? I can’t think of one. Some cars are just right from concept to execution and the Focus ST is one of them.