Mountune unleashes 243kW Ford Focus ST

Approved Ford UK tuner, Mountune, has launched a new performance upgrade for the latest Ford Focus ST that boosts power by 37kW and torque by a punchy 95Nm.

That means total power of the turbocharged 2.3-litre four-cylinder, with the new m330 performance kit fitted, climbs to 243kW while the fourth-gen Focus ST's peak torque climbs to a muscular 515Nm.

That means the Mountune'd Focus ST is only 14kW down on its bigger Focus RS, while producing 75Nm more torque.

Unsurprisingly, the extra power and torque ensure the Focus ST is significantly quicker than the base car, taking 5.2 seconds to hit 60mph (97km/h) – around 0.5sec faster than before.

Costing just £599 ($A1200), the kit comes with a 12 month/19,000km warranty and involves little more than a high-flow air filter and a plug-in for the Focus ST On-Board Diagnosis (OBD) port that allows the ECU to be remapped.

Mountune's SMARTflash remap tech not only liberates more power but also allows for no-lift gear shifting and extra pops and bangs in the exhaust.

Better still, the OBD plug-in has a Bluetooth interface that permits, not only over-the-air software updates but for the owner to calibrate their own car.

This includes adding an aggressive launch control, even louder exhaust (for sport or track driving) plus a setting that reverts back to standard factory power and torque.

Finally, the owner's smartphone can fully immobilise their vehicle if the car is being left for long periods.

Approved by Ford of Great Britain, it's unlikely the m330 kit will ever be officially imported by Ford Australia, but some of the go-faster Mountune parts are expected to land here through unofficial channels.