Ford Focus ST (2012 - 2018) 2.0T ST-3 Hatchback 5d Owner Review

This is actually my second Mk3 ST. I previously owned the MK3 ST-3 Estate version which was great but I had to sell due to buying a property so needed the funds. The reason I went back to an ST-3 (this time hatchback) is that the performance and practicality for the money would be very difficult to beat when comparing to the competition. I would say that the face-lift version I have now looks sharper and feels better to drive overall (may just be my imagination). The ride: Overall the ride is on the firm side. You will feel most of the bumps in the road. Having said that, this firm ride improves the feel of the performance when you are thrashing it around a bit so you learn to live with the firm ride as you know you can get some enjoyment out of it. Economy: Not the best if I am honest. I don't drive it hard all of the time and when driving smoothly, I am getting around 27mpg. Most of my driving is to and from work so I am sure this figure will go up if you live for long motorway drives but I can't see it going much passed 32mpg. Practicality: No issues here normally. I say normally as it has just been myself in the car and then the wife every now and again in the passenger seat. However, my son is due to be born any day now and we tested out the baby seat and isofix base. No issues in terms of fitting the base and seat into the ST but you won't be able to sit anyone in the front passenger seat once the child seat is fixed unless your passenger is under 5ft 5. I am 6ft 3 so there is limited to no space behind me in the back resulting in a 5-seater car feeling more like a 2-seater. The recaro leather seats hold you nicely but if you are 'slightly on the larger side', it could be quite uncomfortable. The boot is not too bad. I can get my golf bag and golf trolley into the boot with no issues. No issues in fitting the pushchair either (Buffalo Bugaboo for you parents out there). SPORT MODE!!!! (and handling): If you push the button to turn the ESC (Electronic Stability Control or Traction in layman's terms) off, you will get a message saying traction has been turned off followed by a message saying Sport Mode. Sport mode is the best way to drive this car. It feels so much smoother when accelerating and going through the gears compared to the standard mode. The ride feels smoother compared to normal as the traction control grips a lot in normal mode and can cause unnecessary wheel spinning. The only bad point of Sport Mode is that your MPG figures will pay the price. Under hard acceleration you may find a bit of torque steering but this is also improved when in sport mode. Torque steering is actually a less common issue in the face lift version compared to the pre-face lift version. That or my mind remembers it to be worse in the pre-face lift version. Torque Vectoring Control is awesome in this car. It helps you corner at a greater speed as it sends the power to certain wheels to help you to corner quicker. 0-62mph is achieved in 6.5 seconds from the 247bhp 2.0 litre turbocharged engine. Reliability: No issues at all so far. Only thing I have had to pay out for is a new set of front tyres but I am not sure how old the previous tyres were. Exhaust note: There isn't one really. Sorry to disappoint. When you get to around 3,500 revs, you will get a nice grunt noise come into the cabin which sounds nice but this is all down to the induction as the noise is from the engine and played through the speakers. If the noise from the exhaust or rather lack of noise from the exhaust is a turn off for you, you can de-resonate it for around £50 and this will improve the exhaust note somewhat. Alternatively you can buy a new exhaust system for a better note. Sat-Nav: What to say about the Sat-Nav. It works, is probably the nicest thing to say about it. It is incredibly delayed when you are trying to navigate through the pages and the set up isn't the best in my opinion. You have to keep going back and forth between the letters and numbers pages to key in the postcode. It would be much easier if they were all on the same page/screen. Verdict: So, to sum up; if you are looking for a fairly practical hatchback, within a budget, that can also perform when you put your foot down....look no further than the Ford Focus ST. It is practical within reason, quick and looks fantastic in the right spec. If you want something economical with a large boot, don't buy the Ford Focus ST but I also feel you will not find a 'quick' car that's economical with a large boot in this price bracket.