FOCUS ON THE NOISE

I HAVE a 2012 Ford Focus ST. It’s the best car I have ever owned, and I’ve owned a few. I have had more than 100,000km of troublefree hard motoring.

It’s funny, in my experience the Focus is under-rated, as I’ve had no problems staying with various WRXs, a BMW 335i, Holden SS ute and even a Lexus IS F. The ST in practical terms seems much faster than tests indicate, and it surprises quite a few people. Two of my friends have Golf GTIs, and when they get in the ST it’s: “Holy crap!”

However, the reason I’ve written in is because journalists keep saying the Focus ST has audio-generated engine sound – it’s irritating. I think you’ll find the intake sound has been piped into the cabin, a different thing entirely.

You’re half right, Roger. Originally the Focus ST did have the engine noise piped into the cabin, but since its update last year the note is augmented through the speakers as well. As for its performance, we managed 6.18sec 0-100km/h at Bang For Your Bucks last year, 0.3sec faster than Ford’s claim, so it’s a speedy jigger.