Facelifted Ford Focus ST hits Goodwood

A MORE powerful and fresh-faced 2015 Ford Focus ST has been unveiled online as it makes its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the United Kingdom this weekend.

During the past week Ford has shown teaser images and video clips of the new Focus ST, but the company released full images of the car along with details of the eagerly awaited hot hatch.

As expected, the front of the new Focus ST has been revised with a hexagonal grille similar to the Fiesta ST, bringing it into line with the new corporate ‘face’ being rolled out across the Ford’s global range.

The headlights are narrower and resemble those of its smaller Fiesta ST sibling, while the lower intake and splitter has been revised and rectangular fog lights have been added.

Around the back, the tail-lights have been redesigned – they’re smaller than they were on the previous model, while the twin hexagonal exhaust tips are still there but Ford has given the Focus ST a different diffuser which extends right across the back of the car.

The ST badge on the tailgate, however, appears to have been dropped. Fans of the car shouldn’t worry too much about this as the ST badge on the grille remains.

Overall the car’s exterior has a sharper, more angular look – from the creases in the bonnet to the pronounced character line running through the door handles, and the front guard.

Inside, the Focus ST has benefitted from the cabin updates which have come with the rest of the 2015 Focus range.

This means a dash less cluttered by buttons and a larger display screen. The cabin also gets the ST touch with a trio of gauges mounted onto the dash for boost pressure, oil pressure and oil temperature, and there’s a flat-bottomed steering wheel.

The Ford Focus ST is about go as much as show and under the bonnet is the same 2.0-litre four cylinder turbo petrol EcoBoost engine, but it’s been tuned to make 188kW, up 4kW on the previous ST.

Torque is also up from 360Nm to 367Nm in the new car and the short-shifting six-speed manual transmission from the previous ST will be carried over.

Under the car, Ford says it has improved suspension with all-new front springs and shock absorbers tuned to deliver better dynamics. The electric-power assisted steering has also been revised and improved according to Ford.

Ford Group vice president of global product development Raj Nair said the new Focus ST will offer an even better performance package than the previous model.

“Ford has long enjoyed a reputation for producing performance hatchbacks with superb driving dynamics, and the new Focus ST further ups the ante,” he said.

“The engineering enhancements to the suspension and steering deliver greater responsiveness, agility and precision – all of which will reward the performance enthusiast with an exhilarating driving experience.”The 2015 Ford Focus range will arrive in Australia next year. Ford Australia says the ST is coming to Australia but can’t give details at this point on the arrival time or price. The current Ford Focus ST is priced at $38,290.