Focus st Tdci Estate

We gave up quite a few luxuries when our courtesy car arrived, but did we miss them?

Our Focus is back From repairs to fix the damage caused when someone drove into it last month. Ford kindly loaned us a less generously specced st while our long-termer was away, so i wanted to identify some of the differences between the two. Not the obvious engine differences – our long-termer has the diesel motor, while the ‘short-termer’ had the Ecoboost petrol unit – but more what’s lacking in terms of extras in a less expensive st.

both cars are top-of-the-line st-3 versions, so feature cruise control with a speed limiter, a tyre-pressure monitoring system and blind-spot detection. However, our long-termer has the st style Pack (£450), with 19-inch alloy wheels and rear privacy glass. The latter is really handy, especially as i’m often carrying around a ton of valuable camera equipment. Our car also has the flip-out door-edge protectors (£85), which i haven’t seen on any other car. it’s such a simple idea, but it really comes into its own in the car park at Tesco. There’s also a rear-view

Ocamera (£165), which is handy, and Ford’s ‘sync 2’ infotainment system, with a ten-speaker sony sound system (£400).

at first i wasn’t sold on the standard recaro sports seats, but now i just can’t fault them. They hold you perfectly and are brilliant on long journeys. That they are heated was very welcome during the winter, too, and both the front seats are eightway power-adjustable as standard, which is a luxury you might not expect to find in a Ford.

Then there is the Driver assist Package (£450), which includes active city stop, lane- departure warnings, traffic-sign recognition, a lane-keeping aid, and automatic high-beam headlights that save you having to use any more brain power than is absolutely necessary on a late-night run home.

all these extras make our Focus st feel like it’s in a completely different league to your average Ford. and given all the options fitted to our car, i have to say i’m impressed with its relatively modest total price: it came in at £29,470 when a basic st-3 Tdci Estate was £27,395 (it’s now £250 more). None of those extras is essential, but i certainly missed them while they were gone. Dateacquired Totalmileage Mileagethismonth Coststhismonth mpgthismonth august 2015 15,930 2049 £0 44.1 i’m FORTUNATE TO Have a variety of routes to choose from between evo Towers and my home. so at the end of any given working day, i can choose a journey to suit the time of day, the weather conditions, the car i’m in and my mood. Late and in a hurry? main a-roads it is. Driving a small hot hatch? Nadgety, narrow back roads here i come. in something a bit special? Quiet but quick b-roads all the way.

For front- drive hot hatches equipped with a limited-slip differential, i often find myself drawn to one particular route, for two particular corners that lie along it. The first is a fast, wide, fourthgear left-hander. The second, about seven miles later, is a tight, thirdgear left. Well, actually it’s a flat- out straight that leads into a fourthgear right immediately followed by a low humpback bridge and the third-gear left. it’s a brilliantly technical sequence that’s a key section on my fantasy alternative Nürburgring layout.

i frequently took this route home in my old seat Leon cupra 280 long-termer, just to experience the

Icar’s super-smooth diff in action. but with the civic, i’m choosing this route night. in the Type r, those two corners have become an addiction. The Honda’s diff may not be as technically clever as the cupra’s, but it just does its job incredibly well, getting both front wheels pulling hard, bang on the correct line – understeer nowhere in sight, but no exaggerated pull towards the apex either. seeing how quickly those corners can be taken, and how early i can get on the gas, is a daily highlight, the civic feeling absolutely, 100 per cent in its element.

Pity, then, that evo is about to move to a new home near the bedford autodrome, meaning those corners will no longer be on an obvious route home for me. Hopefully i’ll find some good substitutes quickly. if not, regular detours may be called for. Dateacquired Totalmileage Mileagethismonth Coststhismonth mpgthismonth January 2016 5776 1899 £0 30.8