Thursday 16th May 2019

280hp Ford Focus ST Wagon revealed

All-new fast estate will be priced from £33,095 - or £30,595 for the 190hp oil-burner

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Who doesn't love a fast estate? Or a fast Ford? Praise be then for the debut of the new Focus ST Wagon (yep, Wagon) which gets a 280hp 2.3-litre Ecoboost motor and a-l-o-t of boot space. Swallowing up to 1,620 litres of stuff with the seats down (or 575 with them up), the ST estate rivals the Leon Cupra ST R for performance and practicality, but at £33,095, it's £4,880 cheaper than the Spaniard. And compared to the slightly cheaper Skoda Octavia vRS Estate Challenge, the Ford has 35hp more on tap.

Unsurprisingly it gets the same kit as its £1,100 cheaper hatch equivalent, including an electronic limited-slip differential, rev-matching technology and ST drive modes - while both six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic gearboxes are offered. Moreover, the Wagon wears ST bodywork and black detailing - to remind us all that no comparable performance SUV comes close - and is offered in only one trim variant, so there's no more worrying about the ST-2 or -3 designation come resale time.

For anyone who prefers their fast wagon to be slower and worse, there's also a 190hp 2.0-litre diesel version which is apparently good for a dreary 59mpg combined. Prices for this version, which comes exclusively with the six-speed manual, start at £30,595, meaning that it is also £1,100 pricier than the hatch equivalent as well. Want one? Sales for both kick off in the summer.

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[Onehp]

Good to have one° hot hatch estate to choose from without the mandatory 4wd, automatic box and the associated 100kg+ weight penalty. The electronicALLY CONTROLLED limited-slip differential (with Ford calibration) is great news too, as are the separated twin exhaust (instead of the center star wars thing). I passed up on the previous one because of the lack of those two... If I would buy today, it's this one. (With a discount, thanks)

°Cupra ST no longer available new as manual FWD, pretty sure this one will handle a lot better again out of the box

Edited by Onehp on Thursday 16th May 10:24

[Onehp]

MagicalTrevor said:

framerateuk said:

Ticks a lot of boxes for me!

The dog could sit in the boot instead of on the (covered, before anyone has a panic attack) backs seats of my Megane.

I wonder if the new exhaust layout (compared to the central exhaust of the old car) means it can actually tow too?

The dealer I spoke to checked the price list and it has a tow bar prep option so he seemed to think it was possible.

Dutch Autoblog.nl mentions 1600kg tow weight

[Onehp]

JulianHJ said:

Four wheel drive would have me reaching for the PCP paperwork. Basically, if Ford made an RS estate I'd be first in the queue, even if it cost Golf R / S3 money.

Wouldn't agree for normal 4wd as there are plenty (heavy) fast 4wd estates to choose from. The RS 4wd system though could make it more interesting. Let's see if there will be a CLA45 in Estate guise again, that would be the only other candidate for a fast 4wd estate that comes in below 1800kg or so and with an interesting 4wd system...

Any word on kerb weight for this one? No mention so far although it should be a trump card compared to all the 4wd offers...