The Focus ST Has A Diesel Brother - Cue The STD Jokes

As you may or may not know, the Ford Focus has recently undergone a little facelift to keep it fresh with the competition. After all, the current generation is now four years old; prehistoric in the tough hatchback segment.

A few months later, the ST has now been shown to the public and it's far from radical. In fact, you really need to see the old versus new side-by-side to really see the differences. Only then will you be able to see the light clusters have shrunk at both ends of the car, the huge mouth has been reshaped slightly and there is a bloody great vent at the back. The engine is unchanged though, which is a good thing. The 247bhp remains there, being as potent as ever.

But it seems the ST's sibling wants a slice of the hot hatch pie...

Only problem is, this sibling is not the RS (hopefully that'll arrive next year). This is a Ford Focus 2.0L TDCI wearing an ST badge. Oh dear. But hang on, modern diesels are pretty refined these days, and the Golf GTD already exists, so maybe we should give it a chance.

As you can see, it does look the part. In fact, it looks pretty much identical to the petrol ST, albeit the obvious paint difference. The problem is, if it looks like an ST, it has quite a lot of pressure suddenly on it's shoulders. With those looks, it should make rude noises and be pretty quick. Does the STD (giggidy) do that? Er, no.

With 182bhp on hand, it will hit 60 mph in 8.1 seconds, and creep up to 135 mph. That is barely even warm hatch territory. On the flip side though, it does come with 295 lb/ft of torque, which should at least give you a good surge under full load. Still though, that exterior is writing a cheque that the engine can't cash.

I was really expecting the STD to maybe be a few tenths slower to 60 than the normal ST, but being nearly 2 seconds slower is madness! To put it into another perspective, 8.1 seconds and 135 mph is pretty much identical to a 9-year-old Vauxhall/Opel Astra 1.9L diesel that was never badged as a sporty car.

If this car didn't wear the ST clothes, then this car would've been met with some respectful nods. After all, 182bhp is hardly amazing these days.

Mmm, 5000rpm redline...

So because of a 'look at me!' look, this seems like it may be one of the most disappointing cars so far this year. And that's a shame, because I bet it's a real good cruiser. Ford have tried to change the diesel's personality from cruiser to sports blaster, and I just can't see that working.