Long-Term Road Test Intro
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We’re spending 40K miles with Ford’s compact hot hatch.
Months in Fleet: 6 months
Current Mileage: 18,061 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 26 mpg
Average Range: 377 miles
Service: $159
Normal Wear: $0
Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $0 (repair pending)
Some of you may remember our long-term 2012 Ford Focus SE and how it drifted silently into the internet abyss, never to be heard from again. The red hatchback was forced off the road and the, er, off-road incident nearly totaled it. With much to repair, it wouldn’t have replicated the new-car experience on which our 40,000-mile tests center, and so Ford agreed to a long-term review of a new Focus. This time we went with the hot-hatch ST. In red, of course.
This was before the Focus family, which had been awarded a Car and Driver 10Best trophy in 2013, fell off the list for 2014. That isn’t to say the Focus has lost its luster—there’s just a lot of good stuff out there, including the new 2014 Mazda 3, itself now a 10Bester. After all, the Focus ST is one of the cars extant that balances practicality with performance. The compact hot hatch will throw down low-six-second 0–60-mph sprints and offers plenty of cargo space for Costco runs. We’d say its the best dual-purpose car for less than $30,000, but our comparo already determined that Volkswagen’s forthcoming MkVII GTI has dibs on that title. So call the ST the second best.
In an attempt to maximize the use rate of the 252-hp ST, we opted for a fully loaded model. The base ST starts at $24,910, but lacks the optional Recaro front buckets, which we wanted. We might have selected option group 201A ($1905), which includes the high-bolstered Recaros (partially clad in leather) as well as an upgraded stereo and an automatic climate-control system, but those two-tone seats evoke images of boy-racer underbody lights from the Fast Furious crowd. So we stepped up to the $4435 202A group, bringing navigation and monotone full-leather seats. With a set of $375 gray wheels, our ST just squeaked under the $30K mark at $29,720.
Tale of the Tape
Along with posting a 6.1-second zero-to-60-mph time in initial testing, the ST turned a 14.7-second quarter-mile run at 96 mph, braked from 70 mph in 165 feet, and held onto the 300-foot skidpad at 0.94 g. That’s all within the normal realm of ST performance and there were no surprises, although we did notice the car reacted better to slower shifts than we’re normally accustomed to and it accelerated slightly quicker when we took our time between shifts.
Thus far, the logbook is full of praise for the power and the sorted ST chassis (despite a bit of torque steer in the lower gears at wider throttle openings). This is one hot hatch that doesn’t beat you up, and when you want to hammer down a country road, it behaves more like a rear-driver than any front-driver should, which is to say neutral. However, those stiffly bolstered Recaros, while not hated, have drawn some flak for cutting into thighs.
The only issue we’ve had was in the car’s first week with us when the Bluetooth system refused to connect to a phone. A resourceful staffer turned to the internet and learned that an update to MyFord Touch is possible without a trip to the dealer. It involves registering the car with Ford, downloading a file to a USB drive, and then plugging that drive into the car’s USB port. We won’t go so far as to call this an unscheduled stop; we’ll instead call it an inconvenience, albeit a much, much smaller one than if we had to take the car to the dealer.
Like many other cars these days, the ST has no predetermined service schedule. The engine computer decides when service is necessary. We’ve made two such stops thus far, and expect two more before the test is complete. The first service occurred with 10,000 miles on the odo, and the resulting oil and filter change set us back $46. The second service at 18,000 miles, including a $25 air filter and $35 to install it, cost $113.
Mean Streets
For travel through the cold and snow we selected Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 winter tires. The tires, size 235/40R-18, cost $800 and impart confidence. The Blizzaks don’t offer enough traction to keep the turbo engine from spinning the tires when it’s snowy, but we’re doubtful such tires exist.
As confident as the winter tires make us, there’s no protection from other people, as technical editor Eric Tingwall discovered. As he was parallel parking on the street, an oncoming Dodge Avenger performed a U-turn into the ST’s left rear corner. The damage was isolated to the rear bumper cover and we opted to drive with the scar for now in case we experience another incident while the roads remain slick. We’ll keep you updated on the ST’s performance as the 40,000-mile test continues.
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