2023 Ford Focus ST Facelift Review: Fun Car, Serious Pricetag

[@CarObsession]

Good evening everybody! Apologies for the later upload, I only finished the edit today as this week has been...unpredictable. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the video! Chapters: 0:00 Channel Intro 0:17 Video Intro 1:18 Engine Performance 2:43 Ingredients of a hot hatch 3:22 Drive Modes 3:53 Adaptive Dampers/Ride 4:55 Torque Steer/Chassis 5:27 Sports Seats 7:57 Pedal Weight 9:13 Handling 11:02 Price and Specification 12:24 Ford Sync 4 13:47 Conflicted views 16:11 Conclusion

[@drsmileyjedi]

A very good and honest review. I ordered mine in January 2022 before all the chaos. Still waiting for delivery but hopefully not too much longer. I was lucky to get it fully spec’d plus panoramic roof for under £36k with a good deal on my current car. Inflation has added nearly £5k to the price this past year. Would I have bought it at the current price near £41k; nope. I guess I was one of the lucky ones. Keep up the great work. Best wishes, Edd

[@cecil4485]

Damn, ordered one last month and it's expected in may

[@Chris-hw4mq]

@@cecil4485 how many months did it take for your car to arrive ?

[@cecil4485]

@@Chris-hw4mq I think 3-4 months

[@simonalexander3738]

Brilliant review. I just swapped my 2022 Fiesta st2 for a 2023 Focus st estate as I needed more room and practically. Though I prefer the Fiesta as a drivers car, the Focus is just brilliant as an overall package. Re cost, there is nothing else really comparable for me as an estate and after a generous dealer discount and 0% financing through Ford, it’s cheaper to finance than an i30.

[@CarObsession]

Hi Simon, thanks for watching and thanks for sharing your experience.

[@kevinwall795]

Nice, comprehensive review. Thanks. I have the 2013 Focus ST. Bought it for £20k new (well, with 70 miles on the clock). Having to pay almost double 10 years later for a replacement is hard to swallow.

[@CarObsession]

Hi Kevin, thanks for watching 👍🏽. Yes, inflation has gone a bit mad, hasn't it?!

[@Chris-hw4mq]

@kevinwall795 its the ST Edition thats expenssive you can have a ST X with the 2.3l and thats cheaper

[@MrJimbobrude]

Brilliant review, I agree with everything you said especially on the price, I was lucky enough to get my order in before the s**t really hit the fan with the car market, and my dealer kept their side of the deal even though they could of sold it for more by the time it was delivered. I would not of paid the current asking price 🥵 I’ve added the Mountune M330 remap and it’s an absolute beast now. I’m really happy with it and will be keeping it for as long as possible. I’m not interested in electric so can’t really see me swapping it when the pcp deal ends.

[@CarObsession]

Thanks for the great feedback mate, and thanks for watching 👍🏽

[@diamus1004]

Got the M330 on my orange fury mk4. Completes the car I think. With hindsight, very sadly I think Ford shot themselves in the foot. When ours came out the Mk4 RS was still anticipated so they detuned ours unnecessarily. For such a cheap upgrade, the M330, Ford could have done this themselves for half the sticker price and the mk4 ST would have blown away the competition in the class. If I were to now be buying the mk4.5 I would go straight ahead and get the M365 with its hardware and put it on the car straight away.

[@dehv]

It's a lovely car and I would argue the price is consistent with some other NEW performance cars. It should however be closer to the 35K mark. It's a sad fact that everything is getting more and more expensive relative to incomes.

[@mariemccann5895]

That's all by design to get cars off the roads. Prices will not be coming down.

[@johnwhite2143]

Yep the way things are going after 2035 only the rich will be able to afford nice looking electric cars, where as normal people will be driving crap looking electric cars like the Renault Zoe, or nissan leaf or mg zs, or just try to keep there old petrols or diesels on the road but probably be £4 a litre by then an won't be allowed in big city's unless you have full electric,plus I think by then petrols an diesel cars will end up having pay per mile they drive like 20 or 30p for each mile driven, future for car owners is going to be very expensive and grim indeed, only the rich will manage, the rest of us be using public transport or push bikes😅

[@johnwhite2143]

Lovely car especially in mean green or orange colour, I think the ford performance seats look much better than the recaros, the ford performance seats look amazing, great job 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@CarObsession]

Hi John, thanks for watching and thanks for the great feedback 😀

[@dotnetdevni]

I had the 2018 st for a while handed back under vt but wwhat I found with that was that I was being beating by the rs and the golf tdi is that the same for this model and also is the cabin noise still simulated with the ford st

[@jason147h6]

You're spot on when you say Ford have priced themselves out of its normal hothatch customer...Cmon Ford...almost £40k for a Focus ST with more hard plastic than Katie Price😡🙈

[@robsmall6466]

It's the FOMO bull plan. Limited number/high cost. What they should be doing between now and the enforced EV switchover is produce as many exciting cars as they can at a reasonable price. Just like pre pandemic. They are back filling EV R&D costs and pandemic black hole sales. It's creating bad blood but they are not the only ones I suppose

[@peterleighton279]

😂😂

[@cdg3818]

Very fair review. Car on its merits is really excellent.

[@jacobstafford1146]

Ordered one in mean green with performance pack. Offer from Carwow for 33,500 which i though was very good

[@adewb]

With this newer model being very expensive, would you say the MK4 Focus ST for 23-25k is worth it?

[@CarObsession]

Well, it depends, what's the condition of the car? Mileage? etc.

[@adewb]

@@CarObsession for less than 25k you can get a great example with less than 20k miles, 69 plate and the performance pack. I’m currently driving a MK7 Fiesta ST and I’m undecided between an M140i, MK3 Focus RS or MK4 Focus ST. 3 very different cars and I’m yet to test drive any of the 3

[@CarObsession]

@@adewb In which case, I'd say it's an avenue worth going down - thanks for watching.

[@jamesbrowne7601]

Charging Golf R - GTI clubsport money for a Ford a lot of loyal Ford owners have moved to other brands there was a fully loaded focus st at a dealer in Gravesend for £45k was on fords site for months

[@CarObsession]

Hi James, thanks for watching. Yeah, the price is a little eye-watering to say the least!

[@vMaxHeadroom]

Loved my Focus ST MK3 but this new one is a bit too much on the price front and it just does not stand out as a hot hatch should. YEs it certainly seems to be really well put together and the interior is a huge step up from the MK3 as well as the bump in performance and no doubt it will be a great hot hatch. I tested the MK4 Focus, the i30n and was close to pulling the trigger but then tested the new Megane RS and in the end went for the road less travelled in the Megane RS 280 Cup and extremly happy...Yes they are maybe not as nice inside but from a driving and handling perspective every bit as good as the new ST, i30N and even stands up well against the mighty Type R...and finally not many about..oh and used low milage versions are a steel! Okay, I am biased as I went for the Megane!

[@brianiswrong]

If only ford had gone with recaro for the seats and Brymbo for the brakes and akrapovic exhaust tips and the flavour of the month wheel maker (oz anyone?) £40k for a rs focus,needs a bright colour and brand names and badges. But then iam old enough to remember the first xr3 and my house cost £21500.👴

[@meangreenst3]

Starting at €61k here in Ireland, it’s a massive no because there’s better cars with better quality on the market for the same price and even less. Which is a shame as I’m a massive Ford fan and would love to have one of these in my garage.

[@64kram]

I would rather have physical buttons that I can easily adjust without looking than a huge touch screen. Too many fiddly distractions.

[@DaveDVideoMaker]

Fortunately, the Focus ST MK4 facelift is offered in Romania. It rivals the Hyundai i30N in their market.

[@kofib3]

Since they no longer use Recaros, wouldn't you think the price of this ST would be slightly cheaper as they're designed direct from Ford. Or is that nit picking?!

[@mariemccann5895]

The cost of the car relates to a lot more than the seats. Recaro is just a brand same as Ford and prices are only going up, not down.

[@Birmingham_racing]

Love it apart from the price

[@CarObsession]

As always, thanks for watching pal!

[@performanceworld02]

That’s my car 😊

[@performanceworld02]

Just to add it’s got a dream science 330bhp map and dream science 3” exhaust on it now 🤩

[@balintk.9373]

I think the Focus completely lost its personality over the years. Nowadays is just another dull meh car on the road. I really miss the MK2 Focus RS with its 5 cylinder petrol engine. That car was unique in its own ways. Also the pricing of the Focus ST is ridiculous, at least here in Central-Europe. I would take a Yaris GR all day long instead of this car. The Toyota is already a classic collector's car which cannot be said about the ST.

[@Insertnamehere3000]

No way would I pay 40k for this. The build quality just isn’t good enough.

[@CarFocused]

Pricing is ludicrous these days. So much so that I’ll never buy a new performance car again.

[@robsmall6466]

Hopefully common sense will prevail. Look at Renault with their new Megane. Ok, it's an EV but their traditional Megane customers are not going to be buying that car at £30k plus. So, who is ? BMW, Audi and Merc customers. I doubt it. They want the "prestige" badge. No harm in going upmarket but you need to remember who your customers are

[@mariemccann5895]

@@robsmall6466 These prices are here to stay thanks to the EV revolution.

[@robsmall6466]

@@mariemccann5895 Not much of a revolution then is it ? 😅. It takes 5mins to look around and see what the majority drive in the real world. If car companies fail to wake up then they might as well close down now. Vast majority are volume sellers. Not going to sell many at £30k plus a pop and that will affect the second hand market, servicing, parts. They need to get a grip otherwise it doesn't look good

[@Insertnamehere3000]

Yuck those front seats! What happened to the recaros

[@CarObsession]

Ford Performance is now using its own seat, probably to save costs.

[@joegough2207]

As a petrol head Ford everyday sorry Hyundai but you don't live up to the hype

[@CarObsession]

Hi Joe, thanks for watching, Have you actually driven the Hyundai?

[@marvinambeaujr2692]

She had a pare of gean's on so fast,... 6192

[@CarObsession]

?

[@jamescollins408]

Too expensive!

[@mariemccann5895]

A car for boys with big paper rounds these days.

[@CarObsession]

Hi Marie, what do you mean?