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First drive: 2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack. Image by Ford.

First drive: 2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack
Ford’s brilliant hot hatchback has been updated in line with the conventional models, and now it’s available with a track-orientated upgrade pack.

   



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Ford Focus ST Track Pack

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Like the standard Ford Focus, the high-performance Focus ST was treated to an upgrade just last year. But as well as receiving all the new tech from the latest-generation family hatch, the performance model is now also available with a track-day-orientated Track Pack, offering improved braking and handling performance, as well as a bit more style. We put it to the test to find out whether it's worth the money.

Test Car Specifications

Model: 2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack
Price: £39,950 as tested
Engine: 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol
Transmission: eight-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Power: 280hp
Torque: 420Nm (with overboost)
Emissions: 183g/km
Economy: 35.3mpg
0-62mph: 5.7 seconds
Top speed: 155mph
Boot space: 375 litres

Styling

It's immediately obvious that the Track Pack versions of the Focus ST have a little more menace about them. Compared with the standard car, the Track Pack provides a black-painted roof, black door mirrors and a black rear spoiler, as well as a black diffuser, black 19-inch alloy wheels and red Brembo brake callipers.

Combine that with the adjustable coilover suspension and the Focus certainly looks like a baby touring car, but there is a small issue. Because all this stuff is straight from the Max Power playbook, the modifications all look a bit... DIY. It's almost as though you've spent £39.95 at Halfords, rather than spending £39,950 at the Ford dealership. And it attracts the sort of attention you'd expect from people who are into that kind of thing. It seems the driver of every modified Corsa in the land wants to race you at the lights.

Interior

While the Track Pack might add plenty in the way of external upgrades, the interior hasn’t changed all that much. But it still has all the updates that came with the modifications to the Focus as part of the latest facelift.

That means you get a new digital instrument display, which is a snazzy upgrade for the Focus, and the new widescreen touchscreen, which is a big improvement on what went before. Using Ford’s latest-generation software, the system is clear, sharp and easy to use, as well as being well integrated with the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration technology.

However, the new system comes with touchscreen climate control, which has become something of a bugbear for us. The Ford implementation isn’t terrible – partly because the screen is competent – but physical controls would still be preferable.

Of course, this being the ST, those aren’t the only features of the cabin. Ford has given its hot hatchback sporty seats, sporty pedals and a sports steering wheel, as well as dark roof lining and lots of red stitching. Combine that with the moody new displays that come up on the screens when you switch into S mode, and you’re left in no doubt this has more sporting intent than your average Focus.

Practicality

Although Ford might have designed the ST for performance – and the Track Pack may have increased that performance – the ST is still a Focus. That means it’s essentially a family hatchback at heart, and it’s every bit as practical as your common-or-garden Focus.

You still get a 375-litre boot, which is roughly on a par with the standards of the class, albeit far from the biggest in the segment. But rear leg- and headroom is perfectly adequate for adult passengers, and fitting four grown-ups in the cabin is perfectly feasible, even if the dark roof lining makes it feel more cramped than it is.

Performance

The Track Pack doesn't make much difference to the Focus' straight-line performance, but then it didn't really need to . The 2.3-litre turbocharged petrol engine up front is exactly the same as before, offering an ample 280hp and sending it all to the front wheels via a slick six-speed manual gearbox. That means 0-62mph takes 5.7 seconds and the top speed is 155mph.

Of course, by modern, all-wheel-drive, automatic hot hatch standards, that isn't especially remarkable, but the ST feels punchy and potent in every situation, while the gearbox is a dream. The gear lever moves smoothly through the gate, and the throw is short and snappy. Performance figures, it seems, aren't everything.

However, some customers might be slightly tentative about the fuel economy, because if you drive the Focus as its maker intended, you won't get anywhere near the claimed 35mpg economy. But it will happily do more than 30mpg if you drive sensibly on a long run, and that isn't too bad for something so quick.

Ride & Handling

The Ford Focus ST was already a stonkingly good hot hatchback to drive, with impressive agility and bags of grip, but the Track Pack somehow manages to add to that capability. Ford has swapped the standard ST's already impressive suspension with an adjustable coilover set-up, and the 19-inch alloy wheels are shod in sticky Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres.

For those chasing lap times, all this is ideal. The already limpet-like Focus now leans even less in the corners, and it changes direction like a dog chasing a hosepipe. One minute it's going one way, then it suddenly switches almost digitally. It feels light and nimble in a way no family hatchback really should, and it's absolutely fabulous as a result. The body barely even leans in corners, and the steering feels fast and direct, if a little light. Not many front-drive hot hatches feel so alive.

But there's a price to pay for all this wondrousness, and that becomes obvious when you show the Focus a speed bump. Or a pothole. Or a cat's eye. Or indeed anything else you usually find on the public road. The ride was already a bit firm, but the Track Pack makes the ST incredibly stiff, particularly at low speeds. It's just about tolerable most of the time, and motorways are no bother, but deeply scarred asphalt makes life quite unpleasant.

Value

The Focus ST isn’t a cheap car these days – prices start at just under £37,000 – but then nor is anything else in this class. If you want a VW Golf GTI, you’ll get just £85 change from £38,000. Nevertheless, adding the Track Pack (and nothing else) to the Focus takes the price to just shy of £40,000, and that feels like an awful lot of money. But at least you get plenty of kit. Matrix LED headlights, heated seats and a heated steering wheel are all standard, along with satellite navigation and a rear-view camera.

Verdict

At £3,000, the Track Pack is an expensive option, but it isn’t outrageous. Most customers won’t need the extra performance – a stock Focus ST is more than lively enough – but for those who do the occasional track day it might make some sense. Even if it takes the price to near enough £40,000.



James Fossdyke - 26 May 2023



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2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack. Image by Ford.2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack. Image by Ford.2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack. Image by Ford.2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack. Image by Ford.2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack. Image by Ford.

2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack. Image by Ford.2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack. Image by Ford.2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack. Image by Ford.2023 Ford Focus ST Track Pack. Image by Ford.







 

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