Final Ford Focus ST taken on last hurrah in Highland Perthshire

I’ve been writing about cars for this newspaper since 2006 and this must be at least the 10th Ford Focus ST I’ve driven, if not closer to the 15th. They’re always a pleasure.

The latest version has a 2.3 litre four-cylinder petrol engine with 280hp. The model that was dropped on my doorstep in Dundee came in an attention-grabbing bright shade of blue, which was ideal. Hot hatches shouldn’t be boring.

The Focus stands out in this merry shade of blue. Image: Jack McKeown.

The headline figures are 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 155mph. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Plenty of electric cars these days can better that acceleration figure. The delight of a hot hatch is in the way the straight line speed pairs with cornering ability.

When I became a motoring writer in 2006 the majority of cars were manual and it was unusual to have an automatic model. That situation has flipped entirely, so much so that this is the first manual car I’ve driven this year.

The Focus ST comes with a manual gearbox as standard. Image: Jack McKeown.

After my left hand refamiliarised itself with what to do I thoroughly enjoyed changing gears. Fords have always had nice gearboxes and it was a pleasure to snick my way through the speeds, with the engine giving a pleasing roar each time.

What’s the Focus ST like to drive?

One day a work job took me up to Pitlochry. It would have felt wrong to cruise home on the boring A9 so instead I wound my way back to Dundee through a series of backroads. Its dynamic chassis, light weight, and accurate steering make it much more fun to string through a series of bends than even the fastest car Tesla can produce.

The Focus St is a tremendous driver’s car. Image: Jack McKeown.

There are loads of drive modes to play around with too: Slippery, Normal, Sport and Track. I found track too savage for day-to-day driving. It didn’t rain much when I had the car so Slippery mode went untested, and I spend half the time in Normal and the other half in Sport. Suffice to say there’s a mode to suit everyone.

The Focus ST comes with an electronically controlled limited-slip differential, which is a fancy name for a piece of kit that helps prevent wheelspin. Even when I gave it full welly from a standstill the tyres didn’t spin fruitlessly; they gripped smartly and got on with their job.

Inside the cabin

Regular readers will be aware cars get praised when they have easy-to-use buttons or dials for the major controls. Putting the heating controls on a touchscreen, as Ford has done here, makes me shake my head in disappointment.

When you’re driving it’s so much fiddlier to adjust the temperature or fan settings if you have to stab a tiny corner of a screen. That goes double when the car you’re driving is as fast and fun as the Focus ST.

That niggle aside, the Focus ST’s interior is otherwise praiseworthy. Bolstered part-leather seats hold you in place during even the tightest cornering. They adjust electrically and despite being firm I found them comfortable.

Red stitching, alloy pedals and ST-engraved stainless steel plates on the sills further elevate the car above the workaday basic Focus. The fun doesn’t stop when darkness falls either – powerful adaptable LED headlights blaze the way ahead on even the blackest of nights.

A quiet country road is where the Focus ST belongs.

You can accompany your ride with a thrilling soundtrack thanks to the 10-speaker Band & Olufsen stereo system.

When you’re not using the Focus ST as a performance car it does a perfectly good imitation of a family hatchback. Children have plenty of room in the back and there’s space in the boot for a large shopping trip or the family dog. There’s even an estate version of the Focus ST if you want a more practical performance car.

What’s the verdict?

A not-at-all-unreasonable fuel economy figure of 34.5mpg means the Focus ST can be used as an everyday runaround without feeling like you’re pouring petrol down the drain. Prices for the Focus ST start at around £37,000. I drove a limited edition model called, er, the Edition, which comes with a Track Pack that enhances performance. It had a price tag of just under £43,000.

This is the last Focus ST we’re likely to drive. Image: Jack McKeown.

Sadly, this is probably the last Focus ST I’ll drive. Ford has called time on the car – it will come off sale at the end of this year, pulling the curtain on a run that stretches back to the first ever Focus ST in 1998. I drove my first one in 2007 and my last one in 2025. I’ll always have fond memories of it.