Ford Focus ST review

In turbulent times, it’s good to know that the Ford Focus ST remains a constant – at least in the hot hatchback sector.

You see, Ford has an immense and enviable legacy of building great performance hatchbacks, and there's been a sizzling ST version of all four generations of the Ford Focus. This latest Focus ST is sold with a hatchback or estate car body, and unlike many new cars these days it's still available with a manual gearbox.

For drivers looking for even more excitement, there's an optional Track Pack for the hatchback version to improve handling further. There’s also a limited-run Edition model combining the Track Pack pack with an exclusive Azura Blue paint finish.

The big question is whether the Ford Focus ST is as good as the best hot hatches available. Read on to find out how we rate it against key rivals, including the Cupra Leon, the Honda Civic Type R and the original hot hatch, the VW Golf GTI...

The great news is that the Ford Focus ST is an enjoyable hot hatch for the road. It’s not up with the ultra-balanced Honda Civic Type R as a fully-focused machine for road and track alike, but it offers greater playfulness and, ultimately, a higher fun factor than other rivals, including the Cupra Leon and VW Golf GTI.

It’s an easy car to position on the road and the quick steering makes it feel responsive on twisting back roads. That said, the weighting of the steering could be more consistent to make it a little more predictable and accurate. Thankfully there is a solution: opting for the Track Pack, with its grippier tyres and coilover suspension improve matters.

The Focus ST's 276bhp petrol engine is a detuned version of the turbocharged 2.3-litre four-cylinder in the discontinued Ford Focus RS so it has a dash of pedigree to go with its healthy dollop of performance.

The ST can officially get from 0-62mph in a brisk 5.7 seconds with a manual gearbox or 5.8 seconds with the optional automatic. That means it's not as quick as a Civic Type R (nor does it rev out as enthusiastically) but matches the Cupra Leon 300 and just edges ahead of the Golf GTI for pace.

The augmented engine sound is more convincing than most rivals' and its louder exhaust note gives it an extra layer of theatrics.

The standard six-speed manual gearbox is light and slick, making it a delight to use. We'd avoid the optional seven-speed auto because it dampens down the response from the accelerator pedal, making the car feel less lively, and is not as responsive as the snappier and smoother dual-clutch auto gearboxes in some rivals.

To keep all its vigour channelling straight to the road, the Focus ST has an electronically controlled limited-slip differential (LSD) to minimise wheelspin and prevent the nose from running wide as you power out of corners. You also get bigger brakes than on a standard Ford Focus to scrub off speed more effectively, and the steering and suspension are bespoke and tuned for increased agility.

On the standard suspension, you definitely feel bumps as they pass beneath the car, but cushioning is acceptable for a hot hatch. If comfort is what you’re after, the Golf GTI is the one to go for.

If you add the optional Track Pack, you get front coilover suspension, which is adjustable – as long as you're willing to remove a wheel and use a tool kit. The pack also includes stickier tyres, lighter wheels, a light that indicates when you need to change up a gear and rev-matching to help you change down smoothly. You can't have an auto gearbox with the Track Pack.

Few cars drag you out of bends quite like a Civic Type R but the Focus ST's LSD does a good job of magnifying the traction available at its front, driven wheels. Even with plenty of steering lock applied out of tight turns, you can get hard on the power without masses of wheelspin.

A Cupra Leon 300 will scrabble its tyres more often, while traction in wet conditions remains higher in the Focus ST than most rivals. If you want four-wheel drive on your hot hatch, options include the Cupra Leon Estate 310 with 4Drive.

An LSD can result in torque steer, where the steering wheel is tugged left then right under power as each tyre grips and breaks traction. The ST suffers from a little of that, but not enough to spoil the driving experience.

The stickier tyres on the Track Pack helps lessen the torque steer effect, letting you apply the power sooner with minimal fuss (especially when the tyres are warmed up). They also help the ST feel even more planted as it dives into corners and feels much more reassuring, dialling back some of the playfulness until you’re really pressing on. 

The standard ST’s brakes are strong with a reassuring pedal feel, but the Track Pack adds larger front brake discs to increase stopping power.

“The Track Pack is an option I’d really recommend going for. It’s great if you’re serious about track day lap times and also helps the ST flow down a road more naturally.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

The minute you open the driver's door of the Focus ST, it's obvious that it's not a regular Ford Focus – the heavily bolstered, part-leather front seats give it away. They adjust electrically in multiple ways and grip you tightly around the midriff.

The front seats enhance what’s already a great driving position. Every Focus ST comes with loads of adjustment for its steering wheel, along with well-aligned pedals and a dashboard that's pretty simple to use.

The quality of the interior materials is a little iffy though, with plenty of hard plastics on show. However, the detailing – such as the red stitching, alloy pedals and ST-engraved stainless steel scuff plates on the sills – adds some sporting panache.

Visibility is generally good, with fairly slim windscreen pillars that give you a largely unobstructed forward view. The wider rear pillars are less helpful, but you get a rear-view camera and parking sensors at the front and rear. There are also adaptive LED headlights that do a great job of illuminating your route through the gloom. 

You get a 12.3in digital driver's display behind the steering wheel, and a head-up display is available as an option.

The 13.2in infotainment touchscreen on the dashboard runs the latest Ford Sync 4 software, but it's not the best system on the market. Some of the small icons are tricky to hit when you're driving, and the air-con is controlled using the touchscreen, so it's more distracting to change the temperature than in cars with proper physical controls.

The infotainment system includes sat-nav plus Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring. Then there’s the stereo: a Bang & Olufsen system that pipes a healthy 675W through its 10 speakers.

“I reckon the ST’s front sports seats are some of the most supportive in the hot-hatch class, even when they switched from Recaro ones to their own ones in later models.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

Unsurprisingly, the ST is the same as any other Ford Focus when it comes to passenger space. That makes it one of the roomiest hot hatches you can buy.

There’s plenty of space in the front, and the hatchback version has more head and leg room in the rear than many rivals, including the VW Golf GTI. In estate car form, the ST is right up there with its closest competitor for space, the Cupra Leon Estate.

In terms of boot space, the hatchback ST is just behind the hatchback Cupra Leon and they're both roundly beaten by the Skoda Octavia vRS. The ST Estate’s bigger boot makes it more practical than the hatch, but it’s still slightly smaller than the Cupra Leon Estate and less commodious than the Octavia vRS Estate.

For more details on the ST's passenger and boot space, check out our specific reviews of the Ford Focus and the Ford Focus Estate.

“I like the ST's optional door-edge protectors, which come as part of the Parking Pack. They're great for protecting your paintwork if someone opens a door into a wall.” – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

The standard Ford Focus ST hatchback isn’t badly priced compared with rivals, costing a bit less than a Skoda Octavia vRS and a lot less than a Cupra Leon 300 or VW Golf GTI. The Track Pack is a £3000 option, but even with it the ST is slightly cheaper than the Leon or Golf.

The same applies to the Focus ST Estate, which costs slightly less than the Octavia vRS Estate but is significantly cheaper than the Leon 333 4Drive. 

As standard, Ford gives you plenty of kit, including keyless entry, privacy glass, cruise control, dual-zone climate control, privacy glass, power-folding door mirrors, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel. The Track Pack adds black exterior highlights, including on the roof, rear spoiler, door mirror caps and alloy wheels, plus plenty of performance-enhancing features.

You don’t buy a hot hatch if you’re hoping for record fuel economy but the ST can officially manage an average of around 35mpg. In our real MPG tests, which included a mix of roads to give a real-world average, we managed 32.1mpg with the standard manual gearbox. It's less economical with an automatic gearbox.

As for safety, the regular Ford Focus fared well in its Euro NCAP appraisal, although its five-star rating was achieved in 2019 when regulations were less stringent. The ST has traffic-sign recognition, lane-keeping assist and automatic emergency braking (AEB) as standard, while blind-spot monitoring and traffic-sign recognition are on the options list. In terms of security, a Thatcham alarm and deadlocks come as standard.

The Focus finished ninth in the family car class in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey, which is a vast improvement over previous years when it was closer to the bottom. Ford as a brand finished in 14th place out of 31 manufacturers, behind Skoda, but above Cupra and VW. You get a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty with the ST.

“If you can’t find an ST Edition, the good news is you can add the Track Pack to a regular ST and it’ll work out a bit cheaper. I’d go for one of those in Mean Green paint, please." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

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