The phrases “Quick Ford” can conjure quite a lot of opinions from the automobile fanatic, each good and dangerous. You both assume they’re the salt of the earth—a efficiency automobile for the widespread man—or a thug’s automobile for performing unimpressive stunts in your native McDonald’s automobile park.

It’s truthful to say I might be accused of leaning towards the latter, being a totally paid-up member of the Golf GTI membership. So maybe the Ford Efficiency division can forgive me once I say that, at first look, I used to be just a little sceptical of this Focus ST, and significantly the suggestion of a “Observe Pack”.

Anybody who has had a observe automobile or taken their automobile on a observe day will simply get sucked into the world of aftermarket upgrades. Wheels, tyres, brakes, and suspension are the components mostly swapped first. The problem is, 99% of us aren’t F1 engineers. We haven’t the foggiest concept what to purchase and, extra importantly, easy methods to set it up. It’s a recurring theme on observe day boards and social media teams, the place folks ask questions like, “Which coilovers are the perfect?” or “What ought to I do about tyre pressures?”. As you might have already gathered, the plethora of solutions solely compounds the confusion.

This brings us again to the Focus ST’s “Observe Pack”. It seems that Ford has been keeping track of these teams as a result of the contents of the £3,000 Observe Pack learn straight from the playbook: wheels, tyres, brakes, and suspension, all upgraded for circuit use. The car sits on a set of 19-inch Ford Efficiency wheels shod in Pirelli P Zeros. Brembo has created a bigger entrance brake setup, with 363mm discs and gargantuan calipers. And the suspension is a full-height, two-way damping adjustable coilover system developed by KW.

Blimey, it’s a critical little bit of package. And it solely will get extra spectacular when you open the glove field—actually! As a result of in there you’ll discover the suspension instrument package, full with Ford’s cheat sheet to actually maximise all that adjustment. Not solely does it aid you arrange the shock absorbers and experience peak for various eventualities—comparable to highway, bumpy highway, GP observe, Nürburgring, and so forth.—nevertheless it even lists optimum tyre pressures, each cold and warm, together with easy methods to set them.

All very spectacular, however this automobile isn’t an all-out observe particular, and historical past exhibits that tuning a automobile to such excessive lengths can smash its day-to-day usability. Simply ask anybody who’s fitted coilovers to their every day driver in pursuit of faster lap occasions. If you wish to spend £40,000 on a observe automobile, you may have different choices; for those who’re spending it on this, you’ll need it to be a jack-of-all-trades.

Leaping into the new seat, preliminary impressions are beneficial. The seats, the identical ones discovered within the Puma ST and different efficiency Fords, present consolation and help in a means few different OEM seats do. The driving place is sweet too, providing a broad vary of changes, and the cabin feels notably spacious in comparison with a few of its rivals. The centre of the sprint is dominated by a 13.2-inch touchscreen, which, annoyingly, controls practically the whole lot. Fortunately, Ford has retained bodily buttons elsewhere, together with on the chunky (a tad too chunky, for my part) ST steering wheel. Some glimmers of widespread sense, like a bodily button for parking that instantly prompts the navigation system to search out you a close-by automobile park, are welcome. The cup holders’ seemingly limitless adjustment and depth imply that spillage while hot-lapping Silverstone is lastly a factor of the previous.

The push-button begin brings a slightly angry-sounding 2.3 Ecoboost engine to life, accompanied by a flash of the ST brand on the all-digital dashboard and a notification confirming you may have a seatbelt on, which you need to clear to see the complete show. That slight annoyance is definitely forgiven, nonetheless. One factor Ford does higher than every other model is lane steering. That’s to not say the system itself is stellar, nevertheless it remembers that you simply turned it off as soon as and doesn’t require you to take action each time you begin the automobile. Thanks!

Exiting onto my pothole-ridden village highway, the Focus hints at its observe roots with a touch stiffer experience. But, it doesn’t sacrifice consolation. Because the 30 mph restrict provides solution to a 60, accelerating permits the adjustable suspension to really showcase its value, protecting all 4 corners involved with the highway, even on essentially the most quintessentially British of roads.

The Focus continues to impress. The ability supply is VW-level clean, and whereas the engine’s sound won’t be essentially the most inspiring, the pops and crackles on the overrun amuse my internal baby. However there’s nothing infantile about its composure; the chassis shows unimaginable depth in its skills. I’ll say, nonetheless, that I’m not an enormous fan of the Pirellis it comes with. I believe this specific set of P Zeros has been heat-cycled by many an excited journalist, so I gained’t be too harsh. But, I sensed the tyres tapping out lengthy earlier than the Focus might show its full dynamic vary.

As sizzling hatches evolve into “hyper-hatches,” the added lap-time prowess can typically take away among the enjoyable. It’s a troublesome balancing act for any producer, as slower Nürburgring lap occasions might be perceived as damaging press. Nonetheless, the Observe Pack manages to mature the automobile’s chassis with out dropping the enjoyable issue. Mid-corner lift-off oversteer is aplenty, but superior damping and the LSD present sufficient grip and composure to problem automobiles nicely above its value level.

In conclusion, the “Quick Ford” mantra has at all times been about delivering extraordinary worth by way of efficiency, a real ‘energy to the folks’ ethos. As Ford and different producers ramp up their EV manufacturing, one can’t assist however wonder if Quick Fords will ever be as compelling as this once more. If that is certainly the final hurrah for the ICE-powered, everyman efficiency automobile, it’s a becoming swansong.