Test Ford Focus ST Track Pack: ‘at a lonely height in an almost extinct segment’

What do you notice about the Track Pack?

All my instincts are screaming for me to be patient a little longer. I have just been sent into a ‘medium’ turner at 80 km/h and no matter how fast the nose has rotated, the moment to unleash the 280 horsepower on the front wheels has not yet arrived in my opinion. Then the car would normally go too quickly to the outside of the bend again. However, I am in a Ford Focus ST with an extra tightened chassis; curious as I am about its limits, I force my right foot down. Instead of the Focus losing traction, as my instincts tell me, the electronically controlled limited-slip differential (which works with hydraulic clutches, not brake intervention) lets the front tires claw into the tarmac even more eagerly than on the regular ST. Even with the wheels turned in, the bright green Ford continues to follow the course set on rails – a sign that I am not yet at the limit, no matter how fast things go.

Has the engine of the Ford Focus ST also been addressed?

When I then ‘open’ the steering wheel when exiting the corner and thus relieve the front tires, I feel the electronics take their hands off and I am shot out of the corner like a cannonball. In no time the digital needle of the tachometer moves towards the maximum 6,500 rpm and the speed shoots well above 100 km / h. The manual gearbox can be rammed quickly and accurately into the next gear. Fortunately, if it were to take too long or if the revs drop too far, the turbo four-cylinder tends to sink in for a moment and you end up in a turbo lag. In its ideal working range, from a sloppy 3,000 rpm, the 2.3-liter continues to drag along cheerfully. The wonderful engine feeling and the accompanying roar plus exhaust bang (in sport mode sometimes even a bit too dominant) are well known. After all, the Track Pack does not include any changes to the powertrain. However, the surplus of grip and sharpness that the package offers, makes the engine shine extra.

So how does the Ford Focus ST Track Pack get so hardcore?

The recipe? An adjustable coilover kit from KW Automotive with up to 50 percent stiffer springs and a 10 millimeter lower vehicle height. If desired, the car can be brought an inch closer to the asphalt with the supplied tool kit and some key skills. In addition, the electronically controlled, variable dampers have been replaced by more robust, race-derived ones whose input (bump) and rebound (rebound) strokes are manually adjustable.

What is the use of manually adjustable dampers?

This also requires more time than for an average Formula 1 pit stop. At the front, you have to remove the plastic cover above the strut domes under the bonnet to access the 16-way rebound adjustment, which is attached with numerous fiddly clips. At the back you have to loosen the plastic of the wheel arches. We’d say leave all that upholstery at home if you’re going to a track day, because it’s fun to experiment a bit with those mufflers. The handbook contains recommended settings for normal use, hilly back roads, regular, tightly asphalted circuits and the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. With a few ‘clicks’ more or less you can then fine-tune the chassis to your own taste. More damping on the rebound, for example, provides better control of the carriage movements, but increases the risk of loss of grip. The bump adjustment (12-fold) is located at the bottom of the dampers and is therefore slightly easier to reach. With a harder bump you increase the steering precision, but it potentially makes the car more nervous. You can also influence the dynamic balance. For example, if you only make the rear dampers harder, the butt will become a fraction ‘looser’. You can also achieve the latter by lowering the vehicle height at the front alone and thus keeping more pressure on the front wheels.

Is the Track Pack sharper than the normal Ford Focus ST in everything?

We drive the upper Focus in basic setup on the winding, hilly roads of the Auvergne. Even more than the aforementioned traction, it is striking how incredibly accurately the car can be aimed into the corner. That is also possible in the regular ST, but the Track Pack throws a good portion of sharpness on top. The grip build-up is beautifully progressive and the steering response incredibly linear – you can feel how the nose responds almost every millimeter of input. Where the rear follows neatly and only rarely has the tendency to press the front on understeer. With minimal wrist movements, the ST can therefore be directed from corner to corner at a rapid pace and you will be whipped up to increase the speed further and further.

How does the Track Pack perform on bad road surfaces?

Incidentally, keep to the lesson, the chassis is so hard that you better keep your molars a bit apart on bad asphalt if you love your fillings. Fortunately, it only stops with thumping and bouncing, because the absorption capacity of the dampers is just enough to keep all four feet on the floor. Agreed, occasionally the ST lifts the inner rear wheel when entering tight hairpins, but that is only illustrative of the amount of grip at the front plus the firmly damped rebound. Also be careful on poor road surfaces for the increased amount of torque steer, which sometimes causes the front wheels to react violently to bumps and irregularities.

What does the Track Pack cost?

Anyway, apart from that, thanks to the Track Pack you no longer long for the RS that doesn’t come; It doesn’t have to be any more intense than this as far as we’re concerned, maybe given the increased adhesive strength only a few extra horsepower would be welcome. But even without it, the Ford Focus ST Track Pack, along with the Honda Civic Type R, stands alone in the dying front-wheel-drive hot hatch segment. That does have a price: the Track Pack is delivered ex works for €3,575.