Ford Focus ST

Here are some figures for you. 225BHP; 0-100km/hr in 6.8 seconds; max speed 152 MPH; 5 cylinder 2522 cc turbocharged engine €35,385. The figures conjure up an impressive image alone but the physical reality of the car is something else altogether. It really is beautiful. The detailing is spot on and despite the fact that I thought the revised Focus looked like the old one after working out in the gym, the ST must have been what was in the Ford engineers minds when they were thinking new Focus. It looks right from all angles and with just the two doors its sporty abilities are clearly signalled.

Inside it's as you'd expect a performance car to look. High quality materials with all the necessary gadgets and toys. The Focus interior is excellent on even the basic models that Ford felt it was good enough to be fitted to the ST unmodified, and they were right. The practicality you get with the standard Focus is there also and the ST will cater for nearly anyone's transportation needs where 5 need to be transported. The difference with the ST is that in it, transportation will/can be very fast indeed. The power unleashed when the accelerator is pressed is as unbelievable as it is unending. It seems there is much more power than you can or dare use. When the turbo kicks in it's a noticeable whoosh accompanied by an involuntary WHOOOOOA from your mouth.

Performance cars are all about roadholding, grip and ride. To get the best roadholding the payoff is a harsh riding car. The truism is there in the ST but it's not as harsh as you'd expect and certainly not deterring. Go round a corner in the ST and its breathtaking roadholding capabilities manifests itself. Limpet-like, on rails etc. analogies spring to mind. I marvel at any car's ability to corner fast and safely, especially front wheel drive cars. Having said that the feedback from the wheels through the steering wheel is impressive and correctly communicates what's going on up front giving plenty of time for corrective action before anything gets out of hand.

Overtaking is a skill that we Irish abuse with nationalistic pride. I'd say we all have experienced the situation where the idiot behind believes his/her car can fit in the gap in front of you. This belief is coupled with the additional superhuman belief that he/she can perform the manoeuvre before hitting the very fast approaching car. Once those indicators go on there's no stopping the idiot and everyone has to make way. Especially as the car the idiot is in is slower than a glacier. We need more of those TV info-commercials telling us how to do things like overtaking, what to do at roundabouts and the yellow box rules to reduce stress and hopefully carnage. If we were all in ST's overtaking would be effortless and dare I say it safer as we would be a lot less time on the opposite side of the road.

The ST is a real attention grabber and the amount of people asking to sit in it was impressive. The interest spread across all age groups and the young Walshe's instinctively knew it was powerful - somehow. Maybe the paintjob of "Electric Orange" had something to do with it or was it the orange upholstery. I didn't half feel self-conscious driving it. The orange would be a car modifiers dream but over a certain age… pick another colour. All this ST performance comes at a price which is not experienced until the mundane task of filling it up arrives. This baby drinks petrol. The car was calibrated in Km/hr but the trip meter was set in miles. Anyway, after 98 miles the needle went below ½ full! It was only 40 miles later when it dropped below ¼ tank with refill time arriving a further 36 miles later. And this car's tank holds 55 litres. You'd be forever filling it up even if you drove it sedately. If you manage to achieve the manufacturers figures below you possess superhuman qualities. (You'd also be spending a few bob on tyres as the cars front tyres were worn out after only 9000 miles.)

I was in the USA recently and bought a few car magazines to further my interest/knowledge in the models offered over there. In one of them they were encouraging Ford to sell the Focus ST over there as it is such a good car and the Americans would love it. I suspect there is no better place for it to be on sale than there considering its thirst for petrol, or should I say gas. One thing's for sure, you'd never call it gas on this side of the Atlantic when you see the fuels bills for running this otherwise absolutely spectacular car.

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