The hot hatch of the year has finally been released and we couldn’t wait to get our hands on one.  In stock form this 250 horsepower hatch is pretty impressive. Strong looks over the standard Focus make it stand out a little more. Nice 18 inch wheels with nice sticky rubber, aggressive rear valence with a center exit exhaust. We are going to have fun with this one! Immediately, one of the great things about this platform is how well it actually turns despite being a front wheel drive car. The Electronic diff does a great job of helping to rotate the car around a turn while effectively putting the power down to the ground.

Interior:

If we are going to talk about the handling you can’t help but to love the Recaro seats found in the ST2 and ST3 package. Nice tight bolstering to give you a good race seat feel but does offer a reclinable seat back and some height adjust-ability. Big Thumbs up here!

Engine Intake:

The power comes on at sub 3k rpm and feels good to about 5.5k. The quick spool makes the quick blasts up through the gears a enjoyable experience. The intake “symposer” is kinda cool gimmick but most would rather hear the intake in the flesh, not a mute snorkel piped into the car like a faux hookah. A free flowing air filter with a dual cone will be a good upgrade for the car and our ears while accelerating. It is likely this will be our first point of attack on our car. Typically on a speed density car like the ST you will not see huge gains on the stock car with an intake but it sure does make a it sound better.

Exhaust:

The exhaust is also pretty quiet as well, the large cat in the downpipe this is a big part of why. There is definitely some power to be found by removing the cat in the downpipe.  The factory catback features 2 huge mufflers so lets bet removing 2 of the 3 items will impact the exhaust note department in a favorable way. We can’t wait to start digging in and get busy with the ST! With the SCT Ecoboost tuning Suite on the way. We are ready to start getting into the soul of this young spirited monster.

Thanks to Raj (www.mdrproductions.com) for the great pictures!