In rare fuel efficient mode
I love watching the higher number channels on my TV to see the gems of the past. The other night they had an old BBC programme where those in the trade give secrets away on all sorts of topics. My knowledge banks are full of useful titbits, from putting ice cubes on carpets where furniture has made a dent to hanging a suit in the shower room after a long-haul flight to get rid of the creases.
This week’s show was on the motor industry and starred an eighties fatigued gentlemen who in one of the features provided the insightful gem: 'After jump starting your vehicle following a flat battery, proceed to run the car around in third gear to keep the engine revolutions high'. Apart from thinking about how people try to construct posh sentences when on TV it got me worried about my driving style in the ST.
Poised for some track work
My battery must be so rammed full of charge I am surprised I don’t see electrons jumping out of the bonnet along with their atoms and attempting nuclear fusion on the heated seats. I always have the Focus in a steady rate of responsiveness for anything ahead and this isn’t helping my fuel economy, nor probably the way this car should be driven.
Currently I am averaging 22.1mpg on the city crawl to work and back, but cruise up a motorway and you can easily see 30mpg with a modest speed – probably helped even more by the Focus ST not having cruise control. The engine is so immensely responsive at 1,500 revs - with all of its 320Nm of torque available low down the range - that my usual turbo spinning high rev style isn’t needed. It certainly feels more like a V8 GT car than a small hot hatch, especially along with the wholesome soundtrack burbling through the exhaust.
Dirty fun at Bedford Autodrome
Apart from the ST’s thirst for fuel the car has been running without fault, but it has developed some quirky niggles. A small mouse has been installed on the clutch pedal and a reassuring squeak is heard every time a gear is being selected. Also the map in the satellite navigation system has a tendency to fail to start, usually at the beginning of a journey when you most need it, and a ctrl-alt-delete – or turn off, lock car and open again - is needed to get it all working again.
The other problem with the car is the Ford EasyFuel capless refuelling. Its intentions are amiable - stopping me accidentally picking up the dirty black nozzle at the pumps and trying to ram it inside the fuel filler. But unfortunately it doesn’t lock when the car is alarmed and with a long hose, a quick suck and some simple gravity siphoning, the fuel tank can be easily emptied – no drilling holes in tanks required for this car.
These little niggles do not distract from what a great engine and chassis combination Ford has come up with. The driving experience is incredibly rewarding as soon as you hit any twisty road and the feedback the car gives leaves you confidently pushing into the next bend. So to truly test the car at speed - well in a more legal environment than the A169 across the moors - I decided to take the car on track.
MSV’s Bedford Autodrome, with it’s flat tarmac and massive run off areas, is the ideal place to push the ST. A little rain had fallen throughout the day, and as the sun lowered in the sky, the evening track session was going to be great fun. The ST lacks the Torsen differential from its older RS brother, which leaves the inside wheel of the ST scrabbling for adhesion whenever the weight transfers from it. Though, like the RS, you can apply a bit of left foot braking to keep the car balanced and power balanced through the apex which helps it shoot out of the corners.
The rear end is amazingly stable and even idiotic driving would leave the pilot still pointing the correct way. Any lift-off results in the back end sliding to meet the same arc as the front wheels but never does it try to continue past them. The only way to get the back end to step out is by turning in on the brakes, but it does it in a controllable way that helps turn-in. A straight wheel and power back on means you are propelled down the next straight, with no sign of brake fade either.
I can safely say I haven’t lost the love for the ST in the months it has accompanied me round the country. The fuel economy maybe hurting my pocket but as prices drop it means I can still track the car without requiring a government bail out. I am not sure that I have mastered the frugal driving technique quite yet, so tonight I will be surfing the nether regions of the programme schedule to find some more trade secrets – well at least enough so I can keep that engine noise going.