Do I know you?
Focus meets a fast Ford. By Curtis Moldrich
This month saw a chance for the Focus ST to meet a very distant cousin, a Clive Sutton-modified CS800 Ford Mustang. On the surface there are couple of similarities: both cars fall under the brand’s Performance umbrella, and both glow with Ford’s outlandish Orange Fury paint – but that’s about it. While the Focus ST is beginning to prove itself as a practical all-rounder, the Mustang is a single-minded sledgehammer.
The figures tell most of the story, the Mustang packing an 808bhp supercharged V8 under its carbonfibre bonnet. Sutton’s people claim the power is usable but unless you’re going to the moon, driving this car is mainly about tiptoeing. Even in the best possible conditions, unleashing a fraction of the Mustang’s potential feels like lighting a Saturn V rocket.
The gearbox is built to withstand serious forces, so changing gear requires a strong arm. In any other car, yanking a cueball-shaped gearknob would feel unrefined – here it makes perfect sense.
After a few days taming the Mustang, jumping in the Focus ST again feels oddly reassuring. Where the modified muscle car is like a football boot, the Focus ST is your favourite pair of Air Max 1s: snug, familiar, comfortable – and easy to go fast in.
Time in the Mustang has made the ST’s strengths shine a little brighter. Its steering is light but accurate and its effortless gearchanges are a world away from the visceral rev-matching you have to do in the ’Stang. The Focus is the car you can immediately drive harder and more confidently – even if it’s not as fast on paper.
But the Mustang – even in stock form – shows Ford Performance is still capable of producing powerful, entertaining cars. While the ST is now the fastest Ford hatch, the V8 Mustang still keeps the Blue Oval in the mix. It’s not the high-tech, all-wheel-drive hybrid the RS would’ve been, but its brute, analogue power holds a different kind of charm.