Ford reveals updated Focus ST Edition

Hopefully you’ll recall the old Focus ST Edition. We do, it was a little bit brilliant. Now, presumably off the back of the light refresh the core model received not long ago, the model is back in ‘new’ format. The concept of its newness, it seems, is mostly theoretical – new infotainment screen aside, this seems to us almost exactly the same combination of KW coilovers and flow-formed alloy wheels that is was before. But we’re certainly not complaining: in a decade where hot hatches are dropping like flies, confirmation that you can still buy ‘track-ready’ Focus should be treated as fantastic news. 

So to refresh: the crux of the ST Edition is (and always was) to make the Focus ST better on circuit, ‘while delivering the creature comforts of a high-specification family car for the school run or commute’. As before, that means you get the same 280hp 2.3-litre Ecoboost (bless it) with the same six-speed manual ‘box (ditto) which should be good for 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 150mph. It is still exclusively available in Azura Blue, and gets Motion Blue interior highlights to go with a lot of standard kit, including a 10-speaker B&O sound system and Ford Performance seats. 

But what you’re really paying for is the two-way adjustable coilover suspension with its twin tube stainless steel damper housings and powder-coated springs. This lowers the car 10mm by default, although there’s an additional 20mm of adjustment available and Ford reckons the spring rates are increased 50 per cent compared to the standard ST. That makes the Edition sound unrelenting, but the KW-supplied kit gives you 12 compression and 16 rebound settings to manually choose from, so the final configuration is left up to you. 

Alongside the suspension changes you also get the distinctive flow-formed, black-painted alloys that are claimed to reduce unsprung mass by 10 per cent at each corner, and ‘oversized’ 363mm Brembo front brakes behind them. With Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres on top. Ford also supplies you a technical document with its recommended settings ‘for a variety of driving conditions’, including those it thinks are best suited to the Nordschleife. In other words, it’s right up our street. Which is good because Ford has taken the opportunity to hike up the price: the last ST Edition was priced from £35,785 in 2021. The new one, which is available to order now, is £42,905. That infotainment screen has a lot to answer for.