ford focus st 2013

Exterior: 
Wide open maw, angry LED eyebrows over the top of HID headlights, and a serious panel gap where the hood meets the bumper up front. On the way to the back you'll find nice simple lines sitting fairly low over a set of 18's wrapped in mild performance tires. Once you get to the back you get a gander at my favorite angle: the big curvy taillights, a nice aggressive take on the classic Focus hatchback spoiler, and centrally located exhaust.

Interior: 

 Pour yourself into the seats and you know it's not your average Focus. The leather covered Recaro seats have large bolsters that hold you in place but don't tire you out on long drives; adjustable lumbar support would make these seats flawless. The steering wheel feels good and has controls for nearly everything. The boost gauge is fun to watch spike up and the cluster it is in on the top of the dash adds a unique line. There is a little plastic piece in the sunglasses compartment to hold your glasses in place; a neat little detail (I'm easily impressed).
Build quality is questionable; the headliner feels flimsy, the clips on the back seat don't hold the best when the seat is folded down which exposes the foam underneath, and the dash rattles in 3 different spots.

Acceleration: 
 With 270 lb.-ft of torque and 252 HP you will get from stand still to 60 in 5.9 seconds. You can drop the clutch and take some miles off tires if you'd like and, if the mood grabs you, can do it again with a hard shift into second gear. The owner's manual states it only requires 87 octane but running premium is definitely the way to go for best performance. Watch that redline; it seems to sneak up on you pretty quickly in first. Hold tight on the steering wheel when taking off; a heavy foot is a guaranteed trip to Torque Steer city.

 Braking: The brake dust is everywhere. I understand you can put low dust pads on but my god the rims were black by the end of the 3^rdday. They stop the car quickly and the pedal feels good and firm. The handbrake pulls up about 36 inches and looks kind of weird when fully engaged but that's not so much anything to do with braking.

 Ride:Stiff enough to let you feel the road but not so stiff to wear you down. The drive home from the dealership was 180 miles on roads constantly under construction and I could feel they were rough but it didn't bother me.

Handling:Entrance ramps are fun with the Focus ST. I haven't pushed it to the edge yet but the performance tires do a great job holding you to the road when you're throwing it back and forth.\

 Audio: 
 I haven't stood behind it and had someone hit the pedal but from the inside it has a pretty decent note. The car has a feature that is essentially a port from behind the dash to the engine bay. Under spirited acceleration a valve in the port opens and pipes more engine noise into the cabin. I originally thought I was being tricked with engine noises played through my speakers… I feel better about this trickery.
The entertainment system is Microsoft based "My Ford Touch" and sounds pretty good. My car is optioned with a small woofer in the back which adds a little bump in your "trunk". The 16 year old boy in me enjoys this.

Gearbox: 
 The ST comes as a 6 speed manual. It's positioned well and feels good in your hand. Shifts are relatively quick. The shift light will drive you insane if you let it. Ford's EcoMode calculates Eco Ratings based on three categories: Shifting, Anticipation, and Speed. If you don't follow the shift lights you will certainly get 0/5 flower petals in shifting. The problem is the shift light doesn't give a shit what is happening in front of you, it just looks at your RPM's and where your foot is on the gas. Ignore the light and you'll be fine. Your Eco rating is likely to look something like this nearly all the time.