Ford Focus ST-3 Estate: PH Fleet

Can an estate really be a good hot hatch? We're about to find out...

The Focus ST has become the doyen of the hot hatch class over the course of the last year. Its blend of low price, playful chassis and characterful engine have gifted it a special place at the top of many a group test. It even earned a nomination in our Car Of The Year awards. And, as we’ve discussed on these pages, it offers one thing many other hot hatches don’t: a rather quirky estate derivative.

Will a big booty spoil the fun?

Ford says a quarter of all ST sales so far have been estates; indeed, the combination of a brawny engine with the practicality of a big box on the back at this price level is a niche it has all to itself. And there are those who’ll argue that, in estate form, the ST is a better-looking beast than as a hatch, that elongated rear end going some way towards mitigating the gaping mouth up front.

Of course, the big question is thus: can a hot hatch... estate... um... thingy... be as much fun as its hatchbacked counterpart? Indeed, does it make a better case for itself than the hatch? Those are questions that can only be answered by spending some time with the ST Estate. Which is why one’s just joined our fleet.

A better looker than the hatch?

So say hello to our latest long-termer. Though, not our newest; EF12 HFP joins us not fresh from the factory, but having already served a long and distinguished career as a part of Ford’s press fleet. Which is one of the reasons we’ve had to settle for Ford’s specification, rather than choose our own – and that, in turn, is the reason EF12 HFP’s price tag, with options, comes in at a rather paunchy £29,055.

Pricey, eh? The reasons for that become apparent in the breakdown: HFP is an ST-3, the top specification, which gives it a host of delightful, if a touch unnecessary, equipment. Heated electric leather pews, xenon headlamps, LED DRLs, and keyless entry are the main highlights. To this, Ford’s added the optional top-spec DAB stereo and navigation system with a reversing camera, the Driver Assistance Pack, privacy glass, and its rather neat automatic door protectors. Add in metallic paint, and you get that near-M135i/S3pricetag.

Wood trim optional. Not really. We put that there.

It should be pointed out here that a decent ST Estate can be had for much less. Given the choice, we’d have specced an ST-2, in Panther Black, and with the optional cruise control and ST Style Pack, giving us darkened wheels and red brake calipers. We’d have kept the neat door edge protectors, mind. Such a spec would have given us an altogether more reasonable £25,730 car, and one that still retained all the qualities for which the ST has been lauded.

But our car’s spec does at least give us cause to ask the question: a fully-loaded ST with all the trimmings, or a basic M135i with no options at all? Tough decision for some; perhaps not for others. Nevertheless, our time with the ST should help us to answer the question. It’ll also help us to define how it fits into the market alongside our Megane 265 Cup, which is still with us for another couple of months, and is itself a £28,000 car. But most of all, it’ll help us to find out whether the qualities that made the ST such a favourite on its initial test drives can sustain its popularity through several months of daily use. And you know what? That’s a mighty fine-sounding proposition.

FACT SHEET
Car: Ford Focus ST-3 Estate
Run by: Scrof (and Dan when circumstances allow)
On fleet since: April 2013
Mileage: 6,291
List price new: £29,055 (Basic list of £26,595 plus £750 for Sony DAB Navigation System with Rear View Camera, £900 for Driver Assistance Pack, £200 for privacy glass, £85 for door edge protectors, £525 for Spirit Blue Metallic paint)
Last month at a glance: Our ST Estate arrives, groaning under the weight of its spec and price tag

[Images: Prime Exposures]

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Kitchski

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