The soft injection moulded dashboard combines with the black headliner, black carpets and predominantly black upholstery to create a very Germanic interior. Like the Volkswagen GTI, the first thing you will notice about the Focus when you hop inside will be the very European color palate. I have a feeling that if and when the Mazdaspeed3 lands, it will take the crown as I find the Mazda3 the most attractive entry in the compact hatchback segment. The reason is that the regular model’s hood doesn’t mate directly with anything as it is styled to be the upper part of the front grille. (Don’t worry, you can get your Focus in colors other than “Tangerine Scream”.) The ST shares hoods with the lesser Focuses (Foci?) there is an oddly large gap between the hood and front bumper that is so uniform (and is on every ST model I have seen) that it must be intentional, however distracting. I haven’t warmed to the Euro nose that the current generation Focus wears while the ST’s more conventional single grille look manages to be both more grown up and more aggressive when compared to the donor car.
Sorry America.Īlthough the parts list is short, I found the transformation impressive. If you haven’t noticed by now, there is no sedan variant of the Focus ST. For performance duty Ford takes the already handsome Focus, lowers it by nearly half an inch and swaps in some new wheels, a front bumper, tweaked spoiler, rear valance and exhaust tips. I must therefore rule the Focus ST the most attractive hot hatch in America and put the comparatively boring GTI in last place, or second. If you’re patient enough, VW plans on releasing a new GTI for the 2015 model year and the Mazda rumor mill is rife with 2015 Mazdaspeed3 assumptions. There are a whopping two options: the 2014 Ford Focus ST and the 2014 Volkswagen GTI. The result is the polar opposite of a pony car.įor 2014, the American hot hatch shopper is spoiled for choice.
The formula is fairly simple, you take a compact hatchback, insert a turbocharged engine, stiffen the springs and add an anti-roll bar that can lift the inner rear wheel in corners if you really push it. Hot hatches are all the rage in Europe but represent a fairly small segment of American consumption.
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