Ford Focus ST review @ 1000 miles

SS_Firehawk

Looks like the turbo is running out of breath. That much tq down low is kinda useless except for gas mileage. Definitely has promise though.

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m4a1mustang

It's a fun car. I just hope Ferodo offers DS2500 pads for it soon.

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nuTinmuch

I've actually been considering moving to a Focus ST in the coming months.

I'm going to have to be commuting a lot more for work, that and I'll likely be moving into a new place/getting married. All of that makes me sort of want to get something a little more practical. I was dead-set on the WRX, but I really do like the interior of the Focus ST.

I might wait until this fall, just to see if any more details about the 2015 WRX come out.

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m4a1mustang

Fiancée went YOLO today and ordered the Cobb Stage 2 kit (AP tuner, intake, and FMIC) and CP-E catback and catted downpipe (so we'll run the Stage 3 tune). She is already SCT tuned now but decided to jump to Cobb for better R&D and support.

Quaife has an LSD out for it now too.

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ZBro16

Is the Ford direct injected? Didn't know if it utilized a cam-driven fuel pump or not. That's the only thing holding me back from dumping some money on Cobb's website for my MS3 (but I should keep that money for Z money... I can't help but be curious about playing with my Mazda some).

CDFP is a fairly expensive mod (labor and part - I don't feel like messing with a fuel pump, but I haven't done research on the actual process yet.) and as it stands it would be a warranty issue for me I think. There is a fuel starvation problem under boost with the MS3 if you do even a stage 1 tune - cobb recommends running safe mode on all their tunes unless you have upgraded your CDFP.

m4a1mustang

Yeah it's DI.

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ZBro16

They might just use a worthwhile CDFP on it then. The Mazda's is weaksauce (part of the reason it falls on its face on the top end - the other is air intake restriction). Unless the focus's is too new and they haven't seen any vulnerabilities with it yet, should rock pretty hard on a Cobb Stage 2.

I'll read up on it as I'm just wildly curious if nothing else. I like the ST a lot.

ZBro16

AH - so after a quick search, the Ford does used a high pressure cam driven fuel pump similar to the Mazda. The Mazda uses one from Hitachi and the Ford uses a Bosch.

From what a guy on an EcoBoost forum said, the ST's CDFP is set at its maximum threshold just like the Mazda's is. These fuel pumps are set to push out around 1600psi under full boost (pretty nuts), and modification and tuning will require more, which puts the ST in the same modding situation as the Mazda.

I'd look into what's available for aftermarket. Sounds like with even a stage 1 tune on an intake you'll run into some moderate fuel starvation problems.

Lug

The Ford Pushes 2200 lbs and hasn't come close to being at it's limits yet. A guy on the Mazdaspeed forum is modding his ST with a big turbo and has hit 330 hp w/o a special tune. He thinks he can hit 400 on the stock internal fuel system....time will tell.

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ZBro16

I don't understand how you modify the actual turbo without tuning properly. Hope he doesn't blow it up. Changing turbos and upping boost will likely play hell with the fuel system to some point, so I guess he will find out exactly how far it can go. Hopefully it works out for the best, but my instincts say otherwise.

Lug

I think he used a standard ST COBB stg II solution. Basically hasn't push the hardware yet. He is working directly with COBB on the tune now, says it's quite different than the way the MS3 does things. He pushed his MS3 to 0ver 500 hp on a stock block so the guy's got a bit of street cred already.

Link to his thread and what he's found so far if you're interested....
http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...rbo-st-135643/

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Shamu

Dont take my word just look at what other reviewers have said about this Ford crap box. If I was in market for 20 MPG torque steering 3200 lb pig of an econobox I'd be in line for ST for sure!

Quotes from leading car mags


The Ford struggles to get the power down in adverse conditions and tends to describe a ragged line when the visor drops, and its manual gearbox is not as efficient as VW's dual-clutch layout.


Despite these grand promises, the RS was notorious for excessive steering fight, so it does not come as a huge surprise that the ST displays similar tendencies.


The bad news is that the turning circle is more F-150 than Focus. At 39.4 feet, the ST, which is shod with eighteen-inch tires, needs three more feet to move between curbs than its lesser stablemates. The turning circle of the Volkswagen is a commendably tight 35.8 feet -- so much smaller than the Ford's that you'd even notice the difference making a U-turn in the middle of a wide-open red state.


On actual roads, you more often than not find yourself wrestling all 270 lb-ft of torque for steering superiority. In first and second gear, make sure you have some space when getting onto the gas with the wheel anything but straight. Even then, you'll want a full lane, stripe to stripe. I haven't felt torque steer like this in a very long time. In fact, I've driven GTIs with 400 hp at the wheel that were more docile than this Ford


When the car senses torque steer, it ups the steering assist in the opposite direction. It feels very unnatural and suddenly you're correcting your efforts to correct the steering to correct the direction of the car in an effort not to have to correct a curbed wheel.

You probably want to blame us, the Edmunds editors, for our long-term 2013 Ford Focus ST's less-than-stellar fuel economy. Or maybe you think fault lies with the EPA's testing procedure. We've been averaging around 22 miles per gallon, which is below the EPA 23 mpg city rating, not to mention the 26 mpg combined rating.

...we averaged just 20.4 mpg for the month on 91 octane premium.

The technology on our long-term 2013 Ford Focus ST has more than its fair share of issues. From the annoyances with MyFord Touch and pairing our phones, to the car thinking it should have a rear-view camera the audio and navigation controls and software seem to be the weak point on

Recently, I happened to notice the gap between the tweeter on the passenger side of our long-term 2013 Ford Focus ST and the door trim below it. Then, I glanced over at the driver-side tweeter. It fits tight to the door trim

Because of its swooping beltline and smallish rear window, the Focus hatchback does not provide the driver the greatest of rearward visibility. It's not terrible in the sense of a mid-80s Italian supercar, mind you, but it can make backing out of driveways or parking spots a bit trickier than I'd expect for a small hatchback

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m4a1mustang

I haven't seen any fuel starvation discussion on the forums (then again I don't follow them that closely), but it seems like everyone is happily running stage 2 and 3 these days.

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ZBro16

Sweet. I'd keep an eye on it in case.

Lug

Wow, that's got to be the most selective quoting in history. You know damm well I can show you almost every mag on the planet calling it the best FWD car out today. And all of them universally rating it over the VW and the MS3. geez.

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