Following on from the popularity of the Ford Fiesta Red and Black Edition, you can now get the Ford Focus with the same makeover, making it a stepping stone on the way to ST ownership.
Of course, you’ll have to be a fan of its two-tone paint job to sign on the dotted line. With black 17-inch wheels and either a ‘Race Red’ body and black roof or ‘Shadow Black’ bodywork and red accents, it makes for a striking sight, which does get a fair bit of attention.
If you find its looks too polarising, you’ll be missing out on a great car. We took the 1.5-litre EcoBoost Black Edition for a jaunt through towns, villages and out onto some challenging country lanes, and it proved itself as an impressive all-rounder.
Based on the Zetec-S and fitted with 17-inch alloy wheels, the suspension is slightly firmer than the standard model, but it still rides with panache. In fact, a Focus ST driven over the same roads later in the day was much less forgiving, despite being a car most people would happily drive every day. Turn into a corner and you’ll instantly notice the responsive steering, which is quick to react and has a reasonable amount of heft to it, making it feel sportier than most rivals. There’s just a hint of body roll, but if anything it feels like it helps the car grip the road, and gives the driver a sense of speed, rather than being a hindrance. Grip is impressive, with no hint of understeer during our drive, despite the wet and cold winter weather.
You also get the impression of lightness, because the 1.5-litre Ecoboost engine is a compact and lightweight engine, which doesn’t place too much mass out in front of the car. Despite its small size, it’s punchy, with 180bhp and 240Nm, thanks to its turbocharger. Acceleration from 0-62mph takes 8.6 seconds and its top speed is 138mph, so while there’s no confusing the Focus Black with a hot hatchback, it’s plenty quick enough for brisk driving and overtaking slower traffic.
This engine’s biggest weakness is a slight lack of grunt at lower revs, but when driven sedately it is at least very refined and quite economical. Press on and at around 3,000rpm the engine emits a subtle growl and takes on a different character, providing a more purposeful shove in the back, to go with the ‘go-faster’ looks. And, because the gearing is quite long, you can hold second or third for most back-lane driving, to keep the small engine in its sweet spot.
Average fuel economy is rated at 51.4mpg, with emissions of 127g/km of CO2, so it should certainly be cheaper to run than the 41.5mpg and 159g/km petrol Focus ST. There’s also a 2.0-litre diesel available with 148bhp which manages 70.6mpg.
Costing from £22,520 its pricing is perhaps surprisingly close to the ST-1, which is clearly a lot more powerful than the Black Edition, but compared with its rivals the Focus’ pricing isn’t too outrageous. Probably its closest rival, the SEAT Leon 1.8-litre TSI FR with 178bhp, costs £21,565 or £22,650 if you add the Technology Pack, while the more powerful Peugeot 308 GT costs from £24,095 with 202bhp.
