{"id":6198,"date":"2014-04-11T07:30:15","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T14:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rallyways.com\/?p=6198"},"modified":"2014-04-11T05:03:40","modified_gmt":"2014-04-11T12:03:40","slug":"2014-ford-focus-st-review-first-hand-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rallyways.com\/6198\/2014-ford-focus-st-review-first-hand-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 Ford Focus ST Review First Hand Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
Here we have the Ford Focus ST. This is Ford’s reintroduction of the hot hatch to the US Market. It is also the older brother of the Fiesta ST reviewed<\/a> a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Focus ST, FoST for short, is a very exciting turbo hatchback option that has seen very good sales. I know this because at every car show or meet I’ve gone to in the last few months there are at least a couple of these present. For this write-up we partnered with Crowley Car Company<\/a> and North County Ford<\/a> in Vista, CA for the test car. I was happy to get a hold of this particular car as it was a trade-in and had only 9,500 miles. This means it still feels like a new car, but I could drive it like a car that has been broken in. Win, win.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The guys from North County Ford brought the car to the Targa Trophy road rally<\/a> which started at HRE Performance Wheels<\/a>. They handed me the keys before doing the rally in a Mustang Boss 302. I took the FoST on a considerably longer and more exciting route than the FiST the previous week. Good fun because the mix of curvy roads went from long sweeping turns to really tight stuff. Then, the freeway drive was long enough to really get a good feel for the FoST as a commuter car. I also had a couple of food and coffee stops during the course of the drive that allowed me to stop, go away from the car for a bit and “reset” my thoughts before driving it again. This allowed me to get more familiar with the car than a typical one-time test drive would allow – not to mention, this is much longer a drive.<\/p>\n Ford Focus ST Specs of course<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n This particular Ford Focus ST is painted in Tangerine Scream – A shocking yellow that has quickly become the seminal Focus ST color. Ever since I saw the car for the first time at San Diego Auto Show 2012<\/a>, the bright yellow paint got ingrained in my consciousness. Any time someone says, “Ford Focus ST” that bright yellow image of a turbo hatchback spinning on the Ford display stand comes to mind.<\/p>\n The Focus ST is a heavily stylized car with plenty of cues to identify its young boy racer looks. Things like the front air dam, side skirts and rear diffuser surrounding an odd, but interestingly-shaped exhaust. It has a neat wing over the rear window. The taillights are very big, quite stylized and the sides of them go way up the rear quarter panels. The wheels are pretty fantastic looking and the front grille is very menacing. It’s a car that doesn’t look very friendly – in a good way.<\/p>\n\n
Appearance<\/h3>\n
2014 Ford Focus ST interior<\/h3>\n