Fast and furious Focus

Ford’s hot hatch has come over all grown up and mature in its latest incarnation. Damien O’Carroll finds out if it is still a good steer?

Like the Megane, the Focus ST is available with an automatic transmission for the first time, and while the Megane is available as a five-door for the first time, the ST is only available in that particular body style.

The auto is the only transmission that Ford will offer in New Zealand, which is a shame, but then no-one buys manuals here any more, so it is not surprising. Although offering it as a special-order option would be nice.

Still, the automatic transmission is a truly spectacular thing, with a superfast DCT-like shift action and a telepathic ability to be in the right gear at the right time for most of the time – downshifts can be a tad sluggish at times, and it does betray some very occasional harshness at lower speeds, but the ruthless efficiency of upshifts at speed is a truly wonderful thing.

While you don’t get the hoarse barks and pops that the likes of the VW Golf GTI or Hyundai i30 N emit during shifts, the ST is still an evocative sounding thing, with a feral roar that is unsurprisingly like the last RS and the Mustang 2.3-litre High Performance that shares a variant of the 2.3-litre turbo unit.

There’s no shortage of compelling competitors in the hot hatch segment these days, starting with the oldest and most iconic – the Volkswagen Golf GTI.

At $56,990 the GTI is due for replacement soon, but still represents a superbly complete package of thrills and practicality.

Then there’s the other seriously quick Euro-hatches from Renault (Megane RS, $59,990 manual and $62,990 auto) and Seat (the $57,900 Leon Cupra), while Japan and Korea also get into the game with the superbly quick and more powerful, but visually challenging $59,990 Honda Civic Type R and the thoroughly superb $54,990 Hyundai i30 N.