The New Ford Focus ST Is Here, And It's Brought Along An Oil-Burning Brother

We’ve already seen the regular Focus facelift, but the mid-life Focus refresh we’ve been waiting for - the one for the hot ST - has now been revealed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. As you can see from the comparison pictures below, the changes aren’t exactly radical. At the front, the angry shark mouth grille has been reshaped slightly, the vents below it enlarged, and the headlights slimmed down.

The rear light clusters have also shrunk, while the rear bumper is dominated by a large vent. The inside receives the normal Focus’ updated interior, which looks to be a much neater affair than the ridiculous button-fest of the outgoing car.

The ST has also received changes underneath. There are new springs at the front and revised shock absorbers all round, while the electronic power steering system and electronic driver aids have been re-calibrated. This includes tweaks to the torque vectoring system, which should hopefully iron out the ST’s boisterous power delivery.

The 247bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged engine is unchanged (0-62mph in 6.5sec, 154mph top speed), but that’s not something which needs much attention, as it’s one of the ST’s strongest attributes.

The biggest news is the petrol ST’s new oil-burning brother. The 2.0-litre TDCI diesel engine under the bonnet of the newbie kicks out 182bhp and 295lb ft of torque, the latter figure trumping the petrol ST’s 266lb ft. It’ll do 0-62mph in 8.1 seconds and top out at 135mph. Relatively modest performance figures for a hot hatch, but with that punchy torque figure, it’ll feel plenty fast.

You’ll be able to order the new STs in Europe from this Autumn, with the first deliveries occuring in early 2015. Pricing will be announced later in 2014.

You can check out our review of the outgoing ST below.