Ford Focus ST 2015 Review

Compared to some of the other cars Ford will launch in 2015, the updated LZ Focus ST is pretty small beer.

The mid-size Mondeo has just arrived, the Everest SUV and facelifted Ranger ute come around mid-year, the rest of the LZ Focus small car line-up in the third quarter and the Mustang sports car before the end of 2015.

So with its forecast annual sales of just 650-700 per year, the Focus hot hatch isn’t about to get the accountants at Ford excited.

But if you’re a driving enthusiast with an affection for the Blue Oval, then the LZ Focus ST is definitely worth paying attention to.

Like its predecessor, the latest ST is an enjoyable and well-sorted drive that is easily accessible to those of us without Formula One driving skills. You can punt it along a winding country road without feeling intimidated or worried.

The heart of this driving appeal is the unchanged Ecoboost 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, which is a slightly more powerful 184kW/345Nm (360Nm on overboost) version of the four-cylinder found in some locally-built Falcon models.

Its peak power output is higher than the class-defining Volkswagen Golf GTI, but the really impressive bit is the max torque is produced in a range between 2000 and 4500rpm.

What that means is gloriously flexible power delivery that allows you tackle that winding country road without worrying too much about thrashing about in the (albeit sweet shifting) six-speed manual gearbox.

During the launch drive north-east of Melbourne we tackled one particularly tight section entirely in third gear, the drivetrain impressively propelling the car out of hairpins without hitch or hesitation and accompanied by a meaty, metallic engine note piped into the cabin by the ‘symposer’ – a feature first heard in the previous-generation five-cylinder XR5.

‘Big deal about the torque in third gear’ you might be thinking, ‘I am buying the auto anyway’.

Um, no you are not. Like the previous ST there is no automatic choice. The only options offered on top of the $38,990 price – which is up by $700 but still undercuts the manual Golf GTI by $3000 – is a $2000 technology pack and another $450 for prestige paint.

The packs adds rear cross traffic alert as a new feature on top of active city stop, blind spot detection, lane keeping aid, lane departure warning, driver impairment monitor and auto high-beam headlights.

Standard new features include auto idle-stop – which reduces the claimed combined fuel consumption average from 7.4 to 7.3L/100km – the SYNC2 infotainment system with 8.0-inch colour touch-screen mounted at the top of the centre stack and a flat-bottom steering.

They are in addition to front, side and curtain airbags; stability control and anti-skid brakes, reversing camera and rear parking sensors; really supportive but manually adjusted Recaro partial-leather seats; dual climate-control; Mykey security system; sat-nav; cruise control; a bank of three ‘sports’ gauges on the centre stack for boost pressure, oil temperature and oil pressure; illuminated ST-branded scuff plates and ambient lighting. The spare tyre is a space-saver.

Externally, the LZ is given away by its higher mounted grille, smaller headlights, a power bulge bonnet, reshaped front foglights and slimmer tail-lights. The 18-inch alloys are now grey and the brake callipers are red.

The good news is Ford’s work on the new ST didn’t stop at the feature list, with its Euro hot-shop Ford Team RS getting its hands dirty strengthening the body, revising the sports suspension with all-new front springs and retuning the dampers front and rear. There are stiffer suspension bushes on the front lower control arm and rear spring links.

The electric-assist ‘EPAS’ power steering has also been revised in search of sportier handling and the dynamic stability control system retuned (and can still be switched off).

A new acronym has been introduced too; ETS is Enhanced Transitional Stability and is a sub-system of the DSC. It predicts via vehicle stability and driver input info when a skid or loss of control might occur at speed and intervenes with individual wheel braking.

The good news through all this fiddling is the fundamentals of the ST’s chassis dynamics remain familiar. Considering this is a front-wheel drive car with substantial power and torque without a mechanical limited-slip diff or – better yet – a RevoKnuckle arrangement in the front-end like the Focus RS, that is quite an achievement.

Instead, it employs torque vectoring (braking individual wheels) to control wheelspin. Yes, big gobs of power from sudden throttle applications will have the steering wheel twitching and moving in your hand, but it’s no Saab 9-3 Viggen (younger readers, if you don’t know what that is, look it up on Wikipedia under ‘crash waiting to happen’).

Instead the steering impresses with its deft combination of weighting and speed; you really can dive into a turn accurately and fast, place the car where you want it and be confident the suspension tune and Goodyear F1 rubber will drag you and the car through.

It’s fun, engaging and not hard to access.

Where the ST is less impressive is ride quality. Look, it won’t have you reaching for the Panadol to stifle the back pains, but it’s the sort of cars where rough roads are rough and smooth roads are less rough. If anything the suspension retune has made this more noticeable.

It is the coarse ride and lack of an auto option that really works against the ST as a daily driver – as well as a 12.0-metre turning circle. A dual-clutch automatic gearbox and adaptive dampers would aid this car noticeably (now it’s sounding like a Golf GTI!).

Inside the ST has taken a lift in presentation thanks to the new SYNC2 screen, which definitely reduces centre stack clutter. There is also adequate space front and rear and in the 316-litre boot.

But there are some omissions, like the lack of a centre-rear head restraint, visible rear air-vents and a fold-down armrest in the back seat. And while the top of the dashboard has soft-touch materials, most of the dash is hard to the touch.

By the way, the ST is built in Germany while the rest of the LZ range will come from Thailand, which explains why the hot model is here first – Thai production doesn’t begin for some months yet. But Ford says interior quality and presentation will be high across the range, no matter the car’s origin. We’ll wait and see.

Essentially, the latest ST is a moderately improved version of an already enjoyable car. It acts as a reminder that Ford remains capable of building really good drivers’ cars from a mainstream base.

The ST may be small beer, but there’s no doubt it’s still strong on flavour and satisfaction.