Test Drive: From Halifax to Montreal in a 2013 Ford Focus ST

By Kevin Harrison & Mary Beth Thompson

The last vacation I took was back in February for the Toronto Auto Show. I took a few days and it was a great time for any gearhead (especially for one with a swanky media pass). While I had a press car to take me to and from the event, and subsequently around Toronto, I remember speaking to a few out of town journalists who said they had driven to Toronto rather than fly. They all said it’s the best way to travel to an auto show.

I had never done any sort of long road trip before (the longest in recent memory was the five hour trek to Cape Breton) so I wanted to make sure to do it for next time. The only problem? I couldn’t wait for the next auto show.

So I contacted Ford to ask if I could take the Ford Focus ST I was scheduled to be in this past long weekend up to Montreal for the Osheaga music festival. Not only would I enjoy the experience of driving to my destination, it also gave me a more intimate experience with the car. This would be my road office for  12+ hours.

Why take a Focus ST you ask? Well besides the obvious fun to drive factor, it seemed to blend a lot of other good road trip car qualities as well. Things such as a hatch for all our stuff, decent fuel efficiency on paper, a manual transmission (a rare treat for automotive journalists these days) and of course plenty of tech to keep us entertained.

So with an itinerary made, arrangements to have the cats looked after and, crucially, the keys to the Focus ST, we began our journey the Montreal with a 4:30 AM start. First things first, get all our stuff into the Focus.

It may have been overzealous of us to assume we needed as much stuff as we had, but picking out outfits based on weather and mood (Seinfeld reference to all you fans out there) is tough to anticipate. So Mary Beth (aka my girlfriend) and I brought enough clothes to fill a rather large suitcase. Plus an Adidas bag. Plus an empty string bag. You know, just in case. So we got the large bag into the Focus ST no problem. It fit perfectly. Except that was kind of a problem. Even though the Focus ST is a hatchback, the trunk space isn’t what you’d call massive and it looked even smaller with our goliath bag in there as well. It took up just about all the space. That plus a privacy cover which, at 4:30 AM I couldn’t be bothered to deal with, meant that we had to put the other bag in the back seat. Not a huge deal as it meant we could access snacks a lot easier, but still a bit unexpected. Isn’t this why people buy hatchbacks?

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At 4:30 in the morning it not only gave us an opportunity to see the sun rise, but also the opportunity to use the Focus ST’s optional HID lights. They are clear and crisp and much welcomed over halogens for longer drives. This is one of the few small ways to tell a Focus ST from a regular focus. ST’s also get a revised front fascia and large black honeycomb grille, 18 inch wheels (which, by the way, had mixed feelings from friends in terms of looks), a lowered ride height, a functional rear spoiler, centered exhaust tips and of course ST badging. Some call the look awkward, some even go as far as calling it ugly, but I’m not seeing any of that in the design. I could do without the yellow paint, but overall I think the design works well at differentiating itself from regular Focuses (Focii?) all while trying to not be in your face about it. That is, if you choose another paint colour. It actually could have been the screaming tangerine paint  which earned the Focus ST the attention from many passersby including a man working the toll booth at the MacDonald bridge in Halifax who wanted to know more about it despite a queue that formed behind us. There was also the couple in the first generation Toyota RAV4 which drove past in the right lane as I waited in the lights, backed up and rolled the window down to ask more about it (again not noticing or caring about the long line forming behind them). And then there was the beat cop who unnecessarily upped my stress level by flagging me down just so he could take a closer look. He said it was the first he had seen in person and that it looked better in pictures.

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Inside, everything is fairly familiar to ‘regular’ Focus owners except for ST badging on the wheel, and three gauges on top of the stack indicating various pressures and oil life. Then there’s the body hugging Recaro seats which are an option worth checking off if you plan on going to the track. It may even be worth checking off if you do a lot of spirited driving. They keep you in place and they do it comfortably although Mary Beth might disagree. She liked the seats but found them to be uncomfortable for the long road trip after a while.  The back seats are tight, especially if I sit in my ideal driving position. It made a nice shelf for our jackets and bags though.

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On the road the Focus ST is responsive. Steering is direct and the car feels quite balanced. In fact, there is no under steer at all. It feels completely composed and stable in the corners and I never once felt like I had to back off because it was getting out of sorts. This is easily one of the best front wheel drive cars I’ve driven in a long time. However, like any hotted up front wheel drive car, the downside comes in the form of torque steer. And boy does the Focus ST have a fair amount. If you accelerate in a straight line quickly, it’s there but it’s fairly minor. It’s when you accelerate out of a corner where you need to be careful.  Keeping control during torque steer takes moderate effort.  While this does not totally ruin the driving experience by any means, it just takes some getting used to.

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Acceleration in general is quite good. 0-100 kph takes about 6.6 seconds which isn’t bad at all. However perhaps more important than hitting 100 as quickly as you can is the fact that there’s just power everywhere at any given moment. You could be traveling along the highway at 110 kph in sixth gear and you wouldn’t even need to downshift to pass. Just put your foot down and boom. Power. If you do decide to show everyone that you’re secretly five years old and stomp on the throttle form a sand still, you will have more than enough power to go with decent grip. There is slight wheel spin but overall you take off with gusto. The engine/exhaust note combo is quite good, although I wish Ford hadn’t have fallen into the ‘exhaust note through the speakers’ craze. While it’s nice to hear the engine and exhaust, that just comes off as unnecessary and ultimately gimmicky. I knew the Focus ST was equipped with this feature before I picked it up. It was obvious to me when the sound came into the cabin, but I wanted to see if someone unsuspecting would notice as well. Sure enough Mary Beth asked the question: “why does it suddenly make that noise?” she said each time I reached around 3,000 RPM. Indeed it is noticeable. And although she didn’t call it annoying her tone suggested it was weirdly distracting.

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Since I haven’t been to Montreal since I was 15, I obviously relied on the nav a lot. This allowed me to input gas stations, restaurants and our final destination using the hands-free feature. So with the push of a button, I eagerly declared that I was hungry. After an awkward pause, a woman’s voice answered back: “and where would you like to eat?” After going through a few sub menus and narrowing down my choice, it devised a route for me. It’s all seemingly brilliant. There are a few niggles though.  The delay and awkward pauses makes you feel like you have to restate what you want the nav woman to do. This seems to catch her off-guard as she then pauses for longer. Sometimes she’ll just ask you to select from a list to be clearer, which is fine, but this causes you to take your eyes off the road while examining said list. Eventually you just decide to do it yourself manually rather than through her, but she won’t let you do that while the car is in motion. That’s a sensible precaution, however it then forces you to pull over and it makes you start all over again. All I want is food!  And I get irritated (as most people do) when I’m hungry, so the process becomes unnecessarily frustrating. While the hands free feature is cool, we ultimately found it to be easier and quicker to just use the touch screen.

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As for fuel consumption, the Focus ST is rated at a fairly impressive 10.2 L/100 kms city and 7.3 L/100 kms highway. Around the city I was getting about 10 L/100 kms which is quite good to see I could slightly beat the ST’s official ranking (even with some small flogging). Overall, including the highway trip to Montreal, the Focus ended up averaging 9.0 L/100 kms in real world fuel efficiency.

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After a few mandatory visits to Tim Horton’s (eventually) along the way, and a torrential downpour about an hour outside of Montreal, we finally made it to Montreal’s famed-for-all-the-wrong reasons roads. While they weren’t in as bad of a condition as I had pictured, the Focus bumped, jumped and tossed itself over the rough sections, making for a jarring ride. The suspension is tuned for suspension so comfort isn’t the Focus’s forte. That said, it does manage decently on better paved roads.

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All in all though, the trip was made a success partly due to our enthusiasm to get there and partly due to the Focus’s enthusiasm to get us there. There were no breakdowns, no glitches and no real problems or hassles. Not only does the Focus ST represent a clear and compelling challenger against the in-segment king, the GTI, it also proves that my automotive journalism colleagues were right. It really is worth the time invested to take a good car on a serious road trip. And the Focus ST really is a good car. Period.

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Price As Tested: $32,093

Pros:

  • Power whenever you need it
  • Strong, good sounding engine
  • Direct throws from the manual transmission
  • No under steer and great handling
  • Decent on gas
  • Great Recaro seats

Cons:

  • Hang on! It’s torque steer time
  • Cramped trunk and back seat
  • Hands free is a bit fidgety

Immediate Competition:

  • Mazdaspeed3
  • Subaru Impreza WRX
  • Volkswagen GTI

Overall: 9/10

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