Frankfurt 2011: the Ford Focus ST

13 September 2011 - 08:25

We like hot Fords. Particularly when they come in garish colours and pack a confirmed, production-ready 184kW. That's right, the Focus ST is nearly here and it will be available in this, um, rather fetching, shade called Tangerine Scream. Other colours are available. Well, red, white and blue.

Aside from the new colour, the move from concept to showroom-ready hasn't resulted in many changes at all. The engine packs the promised 184kW and being a four cylinder, rather than the full fat five of the old ST, is around 20 per cent cleaner and more efficient, so expect economy and CO2 figures of around 6.4 litres per 100km and 185g/km.

See pics of the new Ford Focus ST, ST Wagon and ST-R

But a four cylinder is never going to sound as fruity as a five is it? That's our concern, but Ford insists it's spent much time and effort tuning the noise, comparing the five cylinder to Beethoven and the four cylinder to Mozart. Hmm. We were hoping for a touch of Led Zeppelin.

No matter, the new ST has a six speed manual gearbox and 359Nm of torque, which (although Ford was being coy about performance) should be good for a 250km/h top whack and 0-100 in the low sixes. The ST will also sport a fairly alarming number of acronyms: SSS, TSC, ESP, EDCC, ETVC, CUSC. These all have something to do with the driving and are promised to enhance the experience. This isn't always true.

No word on prices, but we reckon the Focus ST will line up again the Renaultsport Megane 250 and VW Golf GTI, both of which cost within a whisker of $45,000. Delivery of the German-sourced hot Focus to Oz is expected by the end of the year. There is an ST wagon, too, but it's not confirmed - nor especially likely - for Australia.

There's something else too. An ST-R. We could build this up and say it's the third coming of the RS, a stripped-out, hardcore, track-focused ST. But it isn't. It's a racing version designed primarily for American privateers. But it is expected to compete in Europe, and who knows, hopefully someone clever will figure out a way to turn it into a road car before too long.

In other news - other end of the performance scale news - Ford has also announced another new engine for the Focus. A 1.0-litre three cylinder turbo Ecoboost with either 75kW or 90kW. It's more interesting than it sounds actually, mainly because it delivers under 120g/km and all 169Nm from a mere 1300rpm. And being a three cylinder may actually sound as fruity as the new ST. We hope not, but we fear it might be possible.