How quick is the Ford Focus ST automatic?

How quick is the Ford Focus ST? Well, I’m glad you asked. Ford claims its hottest hatch – fitted here with the seven-speed automatic gearbox – hits 0-100km/h in 5.7sec, but we want a bit more data than that.

Specifically, we’ll record 0-97km/h (60mph give-or-take for our overseas readers), attempt to match that 0-100km/h time and also attempt a quarter mile, 80-120km/h overtaking acceleration and 100-0km/h braking test.

The Focus ST’s 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine produces 206kW and a muscular 420Nm; that’s a lot to send through just the front wheels but an electronically controlled limited-slip diff does its best to put the power to the ground.

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Unlike its six-speed manual twin, the automatic Focus ST doesn’t have any form of launch control, so it’s up to the driver to extract the performance.

There are three drive modes, however – Normal, Sport and Racetrack – and selecting the latter sharpens the throttle, weights up the steering and, crucially, stiffens the suspension, reducing the amount of weight transfer off the front wheels to improve traction.

The usual place to start is to stall the engine up slightly, increasing revs by holding the brakes with your left foot and then depressing the throttle until the revs reach the desired point. This can’t be done for very long as it’s not good for the transmission, but with 2000rpm on the clock the brakes are released and we’re off.

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The wheels spin momentarily before the gearbox selects second. Oops, I forgot to put it in manual. Nevertheless, it doesn’t feel to overly affect momentum and the initial results are a promising 5.7sec to 97km/h, 5.9sec to 100km/h and a 14.1sec quarter mile at 164.2km/h.

Manual mode engaged and the start technique repeated results in a slight improvement to 5.5sec to 97km/h, 5.8sec to 100km/h and 13.9sec at 167.4km/h. What’s been edited out of the video above is the next six or seven runs that all netted virtually identical numbers, the Focus frustratingly refusing to yield that final tenth.

At moments like this it’s important to change tack. There’s the old adage about repeating the same thing again and again and expecting a different result, so a fresh approach is needed.

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In this case, instead of stalling the engine up, I just ease the Focus ST off the line virtually from idle. There’s less wheelspin, the front tyres gripping up as soon as second gear is selected and from then on it’s simply a case of remembering to click the upshift paddle at the correct moment.

The result is 5.4sec from 0-97km/h, 5.7sec to 100km/h, matching Ford’s claim, and a 13.8sec quarter mile at 167.2km/h. Overtaking from 80-120km/h takes 3.5sec and braking from 100-0km/h is completed in 36.7m.

So how quick is the Ford Focus ST? As it turns out, one of the quickest front-wheel drive hot hatches we’ve ever tested!