Ford Focus ST review @ 1000 miles

Originally Posted by 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