2002 Ford Focus ST170 from UK and Ireland - Comments

Comments: 1-15, 16-19

23rd Feb 2004, 11:32

"An excellent performance hatch"

What things have gone wrong with the car?

Nothing major just had to get my tyres balanced, the dealer put a new tyre on and forgot.

Also had to do a little DIY with a rattling air cleaner during low engine vibration.

General comments?

In 2002 Ford released a sportier derivative of the Zetec model, the ST170. Designed in conjunction with the Rally Sport (RS) project the ST (sports team) was looking at developing a more rally-derived version of the popular hatchback for a consumer level. The 170 is comprised of the Duratec ST engine, which was developed from the 2.0 Zetec engine used in the higher end Zetec and Ghia models. Using extensive testing and a new ECU the boffs at Ford managed to push a sustainable 173ps at 7000 rpm (196nm of torque at 1800 rpm) out of the power plant. The engine enables the model to become an easy run against the more distinguished sports cars like the VW Golf GTI.

The price on release of the model started at £16,100 and in my opinion was poorly equipped. At base level you get manual air conditioning with air recirculation, traction control, part leather sports seats, unique ST instrument clusters and electro green illuminated display with aux oil level and pressure gauges, part leather seats, four airbags (front, pass and side of front seats), power height adjustment on drivers seat, lumber adjustment for front seats, and a rear power output. Sporty touches include meteor grey centre console, aluminium door handles and gear stick with leather gaiter and full leather sports steering wheel. Exterior looks include darkened out front light clusters, all in one colour and beautiful 17" alloy wheels with ultra low profile tyres. Disappointingly the rear light clusters are the same as a normal Focus and there is a lack of a rear spoiler. A stiffened sports suspension with self-levelling and ABS with bigger callipers and discs, and the fatter stainless steel exhaust gives the car a meaner look and help its driving experience. Additional equipment like quick clear windscreen with heated screen washers, digital air con and headlight washers is optional as part of the comfort package which in turn lightens your wallet. Also ESP is an option. Why these features can't be standard on the ST170 since they are standard on the more luxurious Ghia, I will never know, cruise control would have been nice. I suppose a trip computer would be a bit silly in a car like this.

Right there is the practicalities and the moaning out the way and now lets get down to the nitty gritty. The 173ps engine finds its strength at 7000 rpm with a 7400 rpm cut off, so high revs are the name of the game. When pushed it's a very fast car and feels natural under these conditions, the big stainless steel exhaust gives the car a very throaty sound making it sound like a V6 at times and dulls out the engines noise giving the feeling of power even at ridiculously low revs. On the motorway it will cruise effortlessly at 70mph just under 3000 revs thanks to the six-speed gearbox, but the exhaust noise does give you the sensation of the engine working harder. The sixth gear is a high and long so the real pull isn't felt until the car is at least at 2500 revs being slow at first then pulling strong past 3500 revs, enabling you to pull well from 50. The fifth gear pulls excellent from 1500 revs onwards and is suitable for acceleration on motorways at low speed and for going over roundabouts. First gear is very short and you desperately need to get to second to stand a chance of an extremely fast acceleration, otherwise little Ford Ka's will be leaving you. Luckily the six-speed Getrag gearbox is fluid and helped with the strong springed clutch with dual mass flywheel enables quick shift change easily getting you to 60 in just 7 seconds. As the gears get higher they get longer, fourth is useless unless under hard acceleration and under normal driving I often bypass it going straight to fifth or sixth depending on speed. Third gear has a reasonable amount of pull for a petrol engine and you can actually feel the mid torque during acceleration, kicking in at a mere 1500 revs, it's an extraordinary acceleration gear when you're in full flow. At 70 mph fifth gear pulls harshly and will climb up to 100 mph in seconds and will take it to 125 mph and still not take the revs past 6000 revs. Sixth is also comfortable at accelerating from 70 mph taking slightly longer than the fifth gear (the only time smaller engine cars can actually keep up with you) and will cruise at 125 mph at a mere 5000 revs still 2000 revs off the maximum power. The car has two minds, it can be driven normally like any other 2.0 engine and has a surprising economy compared to other souped up 2.0 engines. Then at the other extreme there is this monster that screams out after 5000 revs giving an amazing speed and superb acceleration.

Not failing in the Focus's stead the drive and handling is superb. The redesigned rear suspension and lower ride height gives a racing car feel, and holds the road well, better than most super minis. The feedback through the steering wheel is precise and shows in its rally derived movement. Its family hatchback looks both inside and out can give people the wrong impression, especially some Volvo estate drivers who think their car is the only car on the road; it's nice to comfortably overtake a big fast car. Although you need some low-geared high revs harsh acceleration to get the ultimate racing feel, it still feels effortless and a charm to drive the best car I have ever driven.

Overall a damn good hatchback, mixing both racing and consumer comfort together, a fantastic achievement. Let down by the rather short standard equipment list, but definitely up there with the boy racers dream cars.

5th Apr 2004, 10:00

A very well-written and informative review.

Should be held as an example to other review-writers.