WR TV: 2014 Ford Focus ST

This week we find ourselves behind the wheel of another factory-built hot hatch. Much like the Fiesta we featured in September, the Focus also gets a thorough high performance reworking for ST duty from Ford’s engineers.

 

The Focus ST sports a turbocharged 2.0-liter four cylinder motor that’s good for 252 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. Coupled with a six-speed manual transmission it’s enough to get the 3200-pound Focus from zero to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds. To match its straight line prowess, the ST gets also an uprated suspension, bigger brakes which measure 12.6 inches up front and 10.7 inches in the rear, and a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 high-performance summer tires.

 

Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper hot hatch without the requisite sporty aesthetic, so to that end the Focus ST features more aggressive bodywork, bigger alloys, a performance exhaust, and sits 10mm lower than a standard Focus. Inside, the ST features a trio of auxiliary gauges mounted atop the dash, a four-spoke leather wrapped steering wheel, performance pedals, a shift knob unique to the ST, a smattering of ST badges, and our tester also came fitted with the optional Recaro sport seats.

 

First we’ll take a look at the ST inside and out, then head out on the road to see how this quick little five-door behaves at speed: