Thursday 8th September 2005

Ford unveils spec for Focus ST

Performance, prices and toy list revealed

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Eyecatching...

Ford has released details and prices of the new Focus ST, effective successor to the dynamically strong but weakly performing ST170 -- Ford canned the RS in June (see link below). The TeamRS-developed ST laps the Nurbürgring 10 seconds faster than the old RS, reckoned Ford.

It's the punchiest Focus to date and costs from £17,495. You can buy one from 1 October in three specifications, and in Performance Blue, Panther Black, Colorado Red, Sea Grey and Electric Orange body colours.

Performance and chassis

Top speed is 150mph, and 0-60mph is achieved in a creditable 6.5 seconds. In the chassis department, Ford has tweaked the Focus' well-received suspension setup to add stiffness at the front via an extra cross-member between the MacPherson struts by the bulkhead.

The springs have been stiffened by 30 per cent front and rear, and the dampers recalibrated to match. The rear anti-roll bar diameter goes up by five per cent, and ride height is down 25mm.

The brakes have been upgraded with 320mm diameter front ventilated discs shrouded by bigger calipers and high-performance pads for extra bite, heat management and endurance.

Safety features include a rigid passenger safety cell, footwell reinforcement, collapsible steering column and pedals and side impact protection door beams, along with the usual complement of airbags and seatbelt pre-tensioners.

Exterior

The ST distinguishes itself from the 20 billion other Foci on the road with a deeper front bumper, brushed aluminium trims for the fog lamp apertures front and rear, and a venturi-style rear bumper and chrome-tipped dual exhausts.

Detailed specification

Standard spec includes the familiar 2.5-litre Duratec five-cylinder 20-valve lump, turbocharged to develop 222bhp at 6,100rpm and 236lb-ft of torque at 1,600rpm. External sporty bits include 18-inch alloys, special ST body styling and a large rear spoiler. Inside, it gets a leather-clad steering wheel, Recaro sports seats, black headliner, 'submarine' lighting, a six-speed close-ratio gearbox, and an additional instrument pod containing a turbo boost pressure gauge, and oil temperature and pressure dials as standard.

Focus ST 2 £18,495

Additional kit over the base model includes an MP3-compatible Sony CD/radio system, xenon headlamps, heated front windscreen and ESP traction and stability management. It's got more toys than an Astra VXR, and £500 cheaper; it's also £1,500 less the Golf GTI.

Focus ST 3 £19,495

Focus ST 3 adds electric 10-way adjustable Recaro front seats, full leather trim and a Sony six-CD autochanger to the Focus ST 2's specification.

• Ford suspends Focus RS project

[GrahamG]

Oddly enough there was a bright orange ST lapping on the Nordschliefe on Friday evening

[plfrench]

That is a bargain in the base spec. I can see that taking sales from the Astra VXR. The added interest of a 5 cylinder engine gives it an edge. I just hope Ford can make money on it so that they can continue to give us more interesting performance versions...

Paul.

[green-blood]

aww darn it, I'd decided that it was Golf GTI for me.... hwever now I've got second thoughts.... I have a focus, nothing pacey but this seems liek bargain of the year

[Mr Whippy]

Just looks daft. Them tyres won't be cheap either for ones worth putting on it.

Would rather supercharge the old nicer looking ST170 for a larf!

Dave

[Witchfinder]

I reckon it looks magic, and that's a really aggressive price. Ford are onto a winner there. Gonna have to book a test drive!

[thetruemackie]

Oooh, I want one. It's got the VXR and GTI on price and I reckon it'll drive better than both.

I'll have to ring up my local dealer and arrange a test drive

[plfrench]

I wonder if Ford will launch an STR if sales go ok. That 2.5 lump must be relatively unstressed, and the chassis can obviously cope with the power seen as the ST lapped 14secs quicker than the RS Focus round the Nurbergring. The S60R uses a version of this engine kicking out 300bhp so perhaps a cheeky 250bhp version in the Focus STR wouldn't be out of the question.

Paul.

[r988]

Interesting, theres another thread in gassing station on this car and everyone there hates it

[FestivAli]

Oh yeah. Be nice if it came to Australia. Mind you, how much bhp does the Volvo v40 t5 put out? and how similiar are they in cost? to my knowledge, the volvo has optional 4wd. It's the same engine isn't it? The other thing is that those alloys look very similiar to the ones that Holden (Vauxhall to you lot) has on the Astra CDXi - except they look worse. Call me tasteless, but I rather like the look of the orange/black leather interior on the car in the pic. Looks ok on the outside, if a little understated.

Ali.

[julianhj]

Very keen pricing, even in the top spec. If I could stretch to that I'd be putting in an order.

I wonder what sort of knock-on this will have on mk. 1 FocusRS prices? I've seen £15k examples for a little while, but this might knock them down a bit further with any luck.

>> Edited by julianhj on Saturday 10th September 13:14

[dinkel]

plfrench said:

I wonder if Ford will launch an STR if sales go ok. That 2.5 lump must be relatively unstressed, . . . . Paul.

The 222 hp version without the turbo

[Guess]

Can't understand why the bu**ers on the other thread don't like it. Whippy's whipped 'em up, I reckon!

[thetruemackie]

Yeah,

I don't agree with the "easy option" engine comment. It's pretty darn unique in this segment and looks to give impressive torque from very low down while still revving high and giving good power.
It's also been developed specifically for the car to be more fizzy than in the Volvo application.

No doubt this engine can give plenty more too, with a remap I reckon you could have 250bhp+ with no issues and way more with other tweaks (I'm guessing they kept the turbo quite small since it must spool up very quicky to give that much torque at such low RPM and it not having a particularly high specific output).

I bet it's a hoot and I want one

[tomtvr]

"the familiar 2.5-litre Duratec five-cylinder 20-valve lump" - what does it mean by "familiar"?

[DennisTheMenace]

r988 said:

Interesting, theres another thread in gassing station on this car and everyone there hates it

And i bet its down to badge snobbery Apparently its tuned to sound like the quattro mmmm nice 5 pot burble
the C-max i have just got easily rivals Vag for build quality , and dynamicly smacks the vw's head on the kerb , cant see me picking any other make of car the way ford is going now , ok the current cars look dull but now they are sorting the styling to match the way they drive .


an ST C-max in that colour to rival the vxr zafira would be interesting

[Bill Carr]

To use the parlance of the times, that car is badass! Love the orange paint and upholstery, love the looks - subtly menacing - and the wheels, although I bet they're a bugger to clean. And very keenly priced. All things being equal, it should be a totally unqualified success.

[old64er]

tomtvr said:

"the familiar 2.5-litre Duratec five-cylinder 20-valve lump" - what does it mean by "familiar"?

yeah, it aint very familiar ???

[davefiddes]

old64er said:

tomtvr said: "the familiar 2.5-litre Duratec five-cylinder 20-valve lump" - what does it mean by "familiar"? yeah, it aint very familiar ???

It is familiar but only if you know who Ford own.... You usually find these engines in those big baddass white Volvos that chase after the baddies on the motorway at slightly over Mach 1.

[m.c]

there was one in the life centre square in newcastle last week. some sort of ford display.

here it is




>> Edited by m.c on Thursday 8th September 21:50

[dinkel]

FestivAli said:

How much bhp does the Volvo v40 t5 put out? and how similiar are they in cost? to my knowledge, the volvo has optional 4wd. It's the same engine isn't it?

Yup, tweaked . . .

Geneva