Ford Focus ST Review & Prices

The Ford Focus ST is like legendary American frontiersman Davy Crockett. While all the other hot hatches have abandoned manual gearboxes, like Crockett making a last stand at the Alamo (not the car rental place…) the Focus ST is still available with a proper six-speed manual.

Actually, you can now specify the Focus ST with an eight-speed automatic, which comes with a little rotary gear selector down on the centre console, but in all honesty it’s not a good choice — it feels much less fun to drive than the manual, and it slows the Focus ST down.

If you’re shopping for the Ford Focus ST, you might also consider a couple of other hot hatches, such as the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Cupra Leon.

On the outside, the Focus ST gets the same update to its styling as enjoyed by the rest of the Ford Focus range, so there’s a bigger, wider radiator grille than before, and slimmer, slightly more aggressive lights. As before, the Focus ST adds in a chunky, sporty-looking bodykit and some nice alloy wheels.

The cabin has also been updated, and the rather tiny touchscreen of the old Focus ST has been replaced by a big, new 13.2-inch touchscreen which is running the latest Ford SYNC software. It’s a big improvement, screen-wise, but it’s annoying that all of the air conditioning controls have moved to the screen — that makes it more fiddly to use than it should be.

Elsewhere, the interior is the same as that of the regular Focus, which means that it’s actually well put-together, but the materials and the design look rather cheap compared to what you get in a Volkswagen Golf GTI or a Skoda Octavia vRS.

Still, space in the Focus is pretty good and there’s room enough for four adults to get comfy, plus there’s a decent 380-litre boot. If that’s not enough for you, then there’s always the option of the Focus ST Estate, which can swallow nearly 600 litres of whatever it is you need to carry, and which turns this hot hatch into a truly practical family car. Just beware of the ultra-sporty front bucket seats — they’re so narrow that, er, chunkier drivers will find them quite restricting.

Behind that new grille, there’s an old engine — the same 2.3-litre ‘EcoBoost’ four-cylinder turbo as before, which in the distant past was also used by the old Focus RS and the Mustang. With 280hp and a sub-6.0-second 0-62mph time, the ST is certainly not slow, although there are more powerful alternatives these days, such as the VW Golf GTI Clubsport, and the Cupra Leon.

The Focus’s brilliant handling makes up for that power deficit though — the standard Focus remains a delight to drive, and the ST is just the same, but quicker. The limited-slip differential mounted between the front wheels helps the Focus ST to sniff out grip and traction even in changeable conditions, while the ST Edition version comes with manually adjustable race-track-style suspension for even sharper handling. Probably of more use in day-to-day driving is the automatic rev-matching for the manual gearbox, which makes you feel like a proper rally driver as you downshift for a corner.

The Focus may not, sadly, be long for this world — Ford is going to end production of its long-serving family hatch next year — but the ST ensures that it’s going out as a hot-hatch champ. In the meantime, see how much you could save with Carwow’s Ford Focus ST deals. You can also browse used Focus STs, as well as other used Fords, from our network of trusted dealers. Carwow can help you sell your car, too.

The Focus ST isn’t quite as sharply-priced as once it was. It’s roughly the same price as the newly-updated VW Golf GTI, although in fairness the Focus does have an extra 15hp on its side. It’s cheaper than a BMW M135i, but then that’s a 300hp four-wheel drive car, and it has a BMW badge.

Skoda hasn’t yet announced UK prices for the latest Octavia vRS, but it’s likely to be similarly-priced to the Focus, with slightly less power, but with much more interior space. The Honda Civic Type R is considerably more expensive, and is considerably more powerful too, but feels like more of a precision tool than the Focus.

The Focus ST is aggressive and sporty to drive, which is great when you’re in the mood, but it’s too twitchy when you just want to relax and get home

In town

Obviously, the Focus ST is the sporty one in the Ford Focus range, and that makes it rather less well-suited than a conventional 1.0-litre EcoBoost model when you’re heading into town. The steering — just two turns between full lock — is faster, the gearshift is shorter in its throw, and the suspension is both lower and 20 per cent stiffer than standard. None of this is helpful in town, where the firm suspension (it never quite gets too hard, but you’re still aware of every bump) and the slightly wider turning circle than standard can make the Focus ST a bit of a chore.

Thankfully, the usual Focus physical characteristics — compact size, decent visibility, standard parking sensors and camera — do help, but this is just not the comfiest nor easiest car to guide around town.

On the motorway

The motorway is just not the natural home for the Focus ST, but at least it does have some driver assistance systems to help you out on longer journeys. Those include a radar-guided cruise control system, which keeps you a safe distance from the car in front, and a lane-keeping steering system. The lane keeping is less successful, as it tends to wobble about and ping-pong between the white lines, making it feel like the car’s actually a bit drunk. Better to steer yourself, even if that can be a bit more tiring on long hauls. As long as the motorway itself is fairly smooth, the Focus ST is actually pretty comfortable and quiet, and it’s not even too thirsty on a long run.

On a twisty road

The Focus ST can be optionally fitted with adaptive suspension (oddly, this option isn’t available on the estate model…) which in normal mode is actually good at soaking up the bumps that you’d find on a typical British back-road. Switch it up into Sport mode, and everything tightens up, but only rarely to the point where things become too uncomfortable — that said, Normal mode is actually the best.

That super-quick steering is great when you’re tackling a hairpin, as you probably won’t have to cross your arms over to get all the way around, but on gentler curves it can make the Focus ST feel a bit twitchy. At least the brakes are excellent. The growling sports exhaust really makes itself heard when you’re in Sport or Track modes, but that clever front differential can be a bit of a liability, as it makes the Focus ST ‘torque-steer’ — the steering twitches noticeably when you apply more power — so this is a much rowdier experience than you’d find in a Golf GTI. That’s not necessarily a bad thing — it is big fun in the right circumstances — but the Golf or Skoda makes a better day-to-day car.

If you want the ultimate in ST handling, there is the Track Pack, which adds specialist manually-adjustable suspension (as in; you have to get your spanners out to adjust it) and bigger brakes, but this isn’t really aimed at everyday on-road driving, and is really more for those who like to regularly bring their Focus ST to track days.

The Focus ST keeps the inherently good practicality of the standard model, but there are alternatives which are much roomier

As with the standard Focus, the ST is reasonably roomy up front, and you get some useful storage including cup holders, decent door bins, a slightly too-small glovebox, and a storage area at the base of the centre console which is also home to a wireless phone charger. It’s not as roomy up front (or anywhere, in fact) as the Skoda Octavia vRS though.

Space in the back seats

Even with the big Recaro-made bucket seats in the front, the Focus ST is roomy enough in the back for a tall passenger to get comfortable behind a tall driver. Again, the Skoda Octavia vRS is roomier still, but the Focus is hardly badly off for space. The sculpted outer rear seats mean that there’s not much space in the centre rear seat though, so it’s best to think of this as a roomy four-seater, rather than trying to squeeze a fifth occupant into the back seat.

There are useful seatback nets on the front seats for rear seat passengers to stash their stuff, but the rear door bins are quite small, and shaped to hold a big bottle of water rather than tablets or phones.

Boot space

The Focus ST hatchback’s boot is fine but nothing more. With 380 litres of space, it matches the VW Golf GTI for luggage room, but doesn’t do any more than that. There are at least some useful moulded-in shopping bag hooks on either side of the boot, but while the rear seats split-fold 60:40, they do leave a considerable lip above the boot floor, and there’s a bit of a loading lip too. If you want a Focus ST that’s more practical, go for the hugely roomy estate model, which can hold up to 600 litres of cargo up to the luggage cover, and while the Skoda Octavia vRS can hold more, the Focus ST Estate is more than roomy enough for most. The only downside is that you have to forego the adaptive suspension.

The Focus ST gets a useful infotainment upgrade, but the whole cabin looks and feels cheaper than that of the competition

The combo of big, high-backed bucket seats, lots of ST and Ford Performance logos, and some red stitching and trim tells you in no doubt that you’re in a fast Ford. Actually, the Focus ST’s interior gets a lot right — the driving position is excellent, the view out the front is brilliant (slightly less so out the back but that’s what parking sensors are for) and you feel perfectly positioned between seat, steering wheel, and gearshift.

There’s also been a major upgrade of the infotainment system. Out goes the tiny touchscreen of old, and in comes a massive 13.0-inch affair, using the latest Ford software. This is basically the same software as found in the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV, and it’s pretty good with sharp graphics, reasonable responsiveness, and a simpler menu layout than you’ll get from the likes of Cupra. However, it’s been made more fiddly than it needs to be because the air conditioning controls have been moved to the screen. This is baffling, as the panel on which the buttons for the air-con used to sit is still here, so it’s not as if the cabin has been improved by taking them away, and it just seems rather silly.

On the upside, there’s an excellent Bang & Olufsen stereo system, which actually can make itself heard over the sports exhaust, and you do get Ford’s brilliant ‘QuickClear’ heated windscreen, which is a real boon on frosty mornings.

Being as it gets its power from a big-ish 2.3-litre engine with a massive turbocharger, it’s hardly surprising that the Focus ST doesn’t score well in terms of emissions nor fuel economy. In fact, with 183g/km of CO2, it falls into one of the higher bands for the first year’s road tax, although at least the Focus ST’s sub-£40,000 price tag means you avoid the levy for cars priced above that amount.

Official fuel economy stands at 35.3mpg, which is do-able if you’re gentle on a long motorway run, but forget it if you’re driving the Focus ST as it begs to be driven. Around 25mpg is a realistic average.

At minimum, you’ll pay £225 a month in BIK tax if you’re getting a Focus ST as a company car.

When tested by Euro NCAP, the independent crash test experts, the Focus scored a commendable 96% for adult occupant protection, 87% for child occupant protection, 72% for protecting vulnerable road users, and 75% for the fitting of active safety systems.

Of the latter, the ST gets lots including emergency call assistance, an adjustable speed limiter, lane assist and lane-keeping, pre-collision emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, and radar-guided cruise control.

Ford fits a Thatcham alarm system and power door dead locks, but you’d definitely want to consider fitting a tracking device for a car as desirable to crooks as this.

There have been reports of engine failures for the 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine, but they seem to be pretty rare. The engine itself has been in use for a good while, and used to be used in 350hp form in the old Focus RS, so 280hp in the Focus ST means it’s slightly under-tuned. Power steering issues are common, but they can usually be fixed by improving the power steering hoses.

All Ford models come with a basic three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, but for an extra cost you can extend that out to as much as five years and 100,000 miles. There’s also an inclusive service plan and roadside assistance.

The Focus finished a desultory 47th out of 50 cars in the most recent Auto Express Driver Power survey.