A Focused Drive
After another night of COTW shenanigans (hosted by
@lilcat89 ),
I took stock of how the Focus ST faired after being driven to hell and back.
The engine wasn't half bad, A 2.0 turbo 4 making 265hp after the oil change that pulled very well out of low speed turns, but started dying off after 6000rpm.
The Handling wasn't too bad either, there's the expected front wheel drive understeer, but it can oversteer if you try hard enough and it's easy to gather up if it does.
Ok, I'm kinda delaying the inevitable, it's time to address the cars main issue, the issue which was an error by PD and kinda ironic that such an error was on a car called the Focus.
Alright I'll stop padding it out,
the 5th gear is very long, longer than most.. Oh wait, already used that phrase.
How long is it? Well I didn't shift into Top Gear (
) until 180mph and I hit a top speed of 212mph with a push and slipstream assistance.
On a track like SSRX or Old LeMans it's not too much of a issue, but on normal tracks, tracks which the Focus was made for, it can be a major handicap.
To summarise, it's a great fun hatchback with decent handling, punchy engine, but crippled by a coding error on its transmission.
If the transmission is corrected, it's a sleeper, no question.
Verdict: Beater 👎
Really should've Focused more on the Focus eh PD?