The Goodwood Festival of Speed, held annually on the grounds of Goodwood House in West Sussex, England, is a mecca for speed freaks. Started essentially as a showcase for historic marques, it has ballooned to include all manner of wheeled lunacy, and this year’s event includes the debut of the refreshed 2015 Ford Focus ST. A definite C/D favorite, the current Focus ST is both a 10Best winner and a member in good standing of our long-term test fleet.
Native Son, World-Class Reputation
Although Ford was born in America, the brand has long reserved a special place in its heart for the U.K. (and Britons a special place in their heart for the brand), so it makes sense that the latest ST would make its debut there.
As with the already revealed 2015 hatchback and sedan, the new ST’s tweaks start with a refreshed front fascia. The look includes a set of sleeker headlight units that imbue it with a squintier and slightly more aggressive countenance. LED running lamps are standard, while the ST2 and ST3 trim levels have HID headlights. The grille is slightly larger, but it retains approximately the same overall shape. Gone, however, are the thin, fanglike elements that split it into three sections.
The lower area adopts an egg-crate look, and the fog-lamp lenses are now polygonal in shape instead of round. A newly sculpted hood plays nicely into the more aggressive look. Out back, a deeper blackout panel now spans the entire fascia, and the trademark twin hexagonal exhaust finishers carry over.
Gray, 18-inch Rado aluminum wheels are standard, and an additional new wheel design and red painted calipers are optional. Magnetic Metallic replaces Ingot Silver in the exterior color palette, and buyers can now add stripes—in Satin Black and High Gloss Red—to their cars. Doing so also nets matching mirror caps.
The interior gets a few updates of its own, including a redesigned center stack with new finishes and a supposedly improved climate-control interface, a new center console with more storage and a “smart charging” (Ford claims it charges twice as fast as the old one) USB port, and revised door inners with integrated cup holders. A new flat-bottomed steering wheel covered in “soft-feel” leather arrives (with heating as an option), and an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat makes it easy for drivers of all sizes to get comfy and to find an optimal driving position.
The basic ST1 gets seats covered in dark fabric, while the ST2 adds partial leather and gives buyers the choice of Tangerine Scream, Performance Blue, Smoke Storm, or Race Red accents for the bottoms and side bolsters. In the ST3, the seats are upholstered in no-nonsense, full-on black leather. Aggressive Recaro front seats are standard in the ST2 and ST3.
Dynamically Speaking
To keep the Focus ST’s driving dynamics on point, the maker asked Ford Team RS—the European arm of Ford’s Global Performance Vehicle group—to give the chassis a onceover. The result includes new springs up front, sportier damping characteristics, and retuned electric power steering for better feel. Back for ’15 is the 252-hp, 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four and six-speed manual transmission—after all, why mess with proven combo? That is, unless you’re talking about the highly anticipated Focus RS, a car that promises to top the ST in raw performance. In that case, mess away.
It goes without mentioning that Ford Sync will be onboard for 2015, complete with the developer-friendly Sync AppLink. Ford says there are currently more than 60 AppLink-enabled Android and iOS apps available, which, okay. For us, the real beauty of any Focus ST has nothing to do with apps or touch screens. Nope, the beauty is in firing it up, grabbing a gear, and letting ’er rip.
Andrew Wendler brings decades of wrenching, writing, and editorial experience with numerous outlets to Car and Driver. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Car and Driver, Esquire, Forbes, Hot Rod, Motor Trend, MPH, MSN, and Popular Mechanics, among others. A Rust Belt native and tireless supporter of the region, he grew up immersed in automotive, marine, and aviation culture. A lifetime of hands-on experience and a healthy dose of skepticism provide him the tools to deliver honest and informative news, reviews, and editorial perspective. Of note, he once won a $5 bet by walking the entire length of the elevated People Mover up track that encircles downtown Detroit.
