Published:
20 May 2024It may not have an ‘RS’ badge on the bootlid, but be in no doubt that this car was a major strategic departure for Ford, because it was the firm’s first global performance car.
This car’s mission wasn't just to sell in the familiar, performance-savvy Western markets, but pretty much everywhere else, too. It was designed and developed to appeal to palates as different as those you’ll find in Hong Kong, Los Angeles and the all-important Chelmsford and Southend.
What’s more, the mechanicals are the same everywhere, from engine to suspension tune.
Relative to the Focus ST that went before it, the car lost a cylinder, switching from turbocharged five-pot to four, and dropped in capacity from 2.5-litres to just 2.0. But power grew by a healthy margin, as did torque, while one of the previous car’s few disappointments – fuel economy – was addressed.
This ST is alleged to go 20 percent further on a gallon of unleaded than the previous one, and nearly 40mpg is promised on the combined cycle. In that vein, it was deliberately cast as a more usable, practical and accessible performance car than the car it replaced. There was also the addition of a 2.0-litre diesel engine which produces 182bhp and 295lb ft and is capable of 135mph, but can also achieve 40+mpg and produces a mere 110g/km of CO2.
It’s available as a five-door hatchback and a five-door estate, but not as a less-versatile three-door.
On the flipside of that particular coin, though, you’ll find little of the mechanical richness of some of the ST’s hot hatch rivals: no mechanical limited-slip differential or RevoKnuckle front suspension here. The chassis is fully independent, though, as you’d expect.
