2013 Ford Focus ST review notes

ASSOCIATE WEST COAST EDITOR BLAKE Z. RONG: This 2013 Ford Focus ST is a joy, an absolute blast to unwind. Where to begin? Well, the steering is direct, communicative, well weighted. It feels best taking high speed sweepers, like the ones at Malibu Canyon -- or, if you prefer, on the freeway: you get the impression that the steering was tuned for autobahn-crushing stability, rather than canyon carving. It's equally adept at both. On twisty roads it loses some of its feedback as momentary blips of torque steer try to tug and straighten it out. Yet it's never overwhelming -- get that Mazdaspeed 3 out of your head -- but around a corner, it practically tries to predict your path, which can be irksome if you haven't finished rounding the corner yet.
The chassis is as solid as a Cunard flagship, unflappable and never flustered. The car never plows through corners or jostles its suspension around off-camber curves. Astute readers will recall that I drove the Shelby Focus ST at great and exhausting length; that was a silly, torquey car, but I did love how the suspension allowed the rear end to rotate, sometimes through a corner, which is the fundamental equation for driving entertainment. The regular ST doesn't, possibly because it lacked the Shelby's trick Ford Racing or optional upgraded Eibach suspension. If I had my way with money and unwavering project car devotion I'd ask Ford to build me a Focus ST with the Ford Racing suspension so I can recapture that magic.
Quibbles exist, but they're all standard Focus stuff: no interior storage space, some chintzy materials, MyFord Touch requires a lot of eyeball time away from the road. It does take premium, belying its bargain image. The seats are wonderful -- Ford probably hasn't had thrones this aggressive since the original Taurus SHO, which looked like a rotund man's outstretched arms -- but the Recaros grab you so intently that you find yourself saying, hey man, relax. I'm a bit of a fidgeter.
I'll go ahead and say it: until Mazda shows us its new Mazdaspeed 3 -- until one of us can extract enough info out of my new best friend, Derek Jenkins -- this is probably the hot-hatch benchmark. The Volkswagen Golf GTI is coming soon as well, to a chorus of narratives on how it will “reinvigorate the segment it introduced.” Sun Records Elvis, not Fat Elvis, we hope. The Mazdaspeed 3 is a silly proposition, all muscle and no finesse, like walking a pet gorilla on a Sunday morning. The Volkswagen Golf R is probably the most balanced, but it's AWD; I mean, that's practically cheating! Considering how neutral and free of understeer this is, and how Ford's engineers weren't allowed to dip into the half-shaft box, this is a marvel.
But the fact that every hot hatch gets better and sportier and yet more practical means that the hot-hatch segment itself is being elevated to high art. Ford had better enjoy this momentary time with the Focus ST as the class leader, because who knows where it'll be by the end of the year? That's how fast this segment moves.
But you know what? I like small cars, and lots of people like small cars. Smaller can only mean better in terms of handling, right? In that vein, bring on the Ford Fiesta ST.
WEST COAST EDITOR MARK VAUGHN: This was even more fun than the Mazda Mazdaspeed 3 we had a few weeks before, and that car was fun. The Ford feels just a little down on power to the Mazda and when you check the spec sheets on both you see that it is, but not by much. The Mazdaspeed 3 puts out 263 hp at 5,000 rpm to the Focus ST's 252 at 5500 rpm. Torque is also more Mazda with 280 lb-ft at 3,000 to the Focus ST's 270 lb-ft at 2,500. Curb weight evens the two cars out a little with the more powerful Mazda having to pull around 3,281 pounds to the Focus ST's 3,223.
While both cars are terrific fun to drive and we're almost splitting hairs here, the Focus ST is more responsive behind the wheel. It's one of those cars that makes you smile every time you drive it (as was the Mazda). Just a blast no matter what you're doing. It encourages you, wills you, to go faster around corners, any corners, even those where you maybe should go a little slower perhaps. It's not your fault, it's the car's fault. It tracks true until, as Blake noted, the torque steer starts to tug it out of line, but that's only because it has so much power.
It does everything else well, too. I found a good, safe, clear place to try a few 0-60 launches and had at it. If you let the clutch slip even a little you lose about three-tenths. If you rev the engine and engage the clutch as quickly as you can you get 6.4 seconds to 60. Others have claimed as quickly as 5.9 seconds and I think you could likely get down to the even-lower sixes with some practice. I only had three tries before I felt I was pushing my luck so that was all I got.
Even the audio system on this thing is powerfully different. I suspect it is set up for that bass the kids like, but it really adds an extra dimension to any music it plays.
If I was in the market for something like this -- and at $27,675 just about anyone can be in this market -- I would buy one of these. So much fun. Did I already say that?
ROAD TEST EDITOR JONATHAN WONG: It's very cool to see Ford back in the sport compact segment here in the U.S. The SVT Focus went away after the 2004 model year and there wasn't much excitement in the Focus lineup until the ST landed for 2013. Like our west coast guys above, I was excited about the Focus ST after my first street drive of it last fall. But how do I feel about it now after I've had one on a proper road course? Actually, I'm still quite satisfied with it.
The first thing that caught my attention as I pulled out of the pits onto GingerMan Raceway was the engine note of the 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder -- it sounds like a mini-muscle car. At wide open throttle it sounds mean for a blown four with a deep and throttle sound. There is an active sound tube that pipes some of that glorious sound into the cabin, which some people think is cheesy, but I don't think it's so bad. It helped make me notice the great sounds of the engine even with my helmet on so that's fine in my book.
As for power, I have no complaints there. There's plenty of it with only a hint of turbo lag before the engine picks up and pulls the ST quickly down the straights. With 252 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque going to the front wheels, it's understandable if people would worry about torque steer, but it's manageable. Thanks to electronics like a torque-vectoring control that acts like an electronic limited-slip differential and a cornering understeer-control system, you're able to get the power down surprisingly efficiently out of corners. The steering wheel won't be ripped out of your hands when you goose the gas pedal like in, say, a first-generation Mazda Mazdaspeed 3.
Steering is weighty and there's decent feedback available through the wheel. Suspension tuning reminds me of how Volkswagen has the GTI and Golf R setup with initial roll before the car sets up and holds tight around turns. The trick to a respectable front-wheel drive track car is good front end bite on turn-in and a rear that rotates around when thrown into a corner hard. The ST doesn't exhibit too much understeer and the back end does swing around well, so it's good on that front.
The six-speed gearbox's shifter action isn't bad, but the throws are longish. As I said after my first drive on the streets, the optional Recaro sport seat's heavy bolsters were annoying on track when pulling back on the shifter to go into second gear as I banged my elbow into the side bolster. I like well-bolstered seats just as much as the next guy, as they hold you tight when shooting around a track, but in this case I think a little of the bolster could be shaved down.
The biggest disappointments with the ST were the brakes that went away in a hurry, which again reminded me of Volkswagen and our past experiences with GTIs on track. I will say the Ford's upsized brakes didn't fade as bad as Volkswagen's, but it's still not cool. Getting things slowed for turn 11 at the end of GingerMan's longest straight was interesting. As I always say, if you plan on tracking your ST, upgrade the pads and brake fluid and you should be in good shape.
The brakes are an easy enough fix to make the Focus ST a more than capable and entertaining track companion. I wouldn't be surprised if these did well in a stock autocross class, either. And then you throw in the practicality aspects of the ST with its hatchback utility and good on-road manners and you have a rather complete package.