Ford Focus

There's a big smile on my face. And with good reason! A bright blue addition has been made to the long-term fleet, and I've been given the keys. The newcomer is Ford's Focus ST - one of the year's most exciting models, and the winner of the Best Hot Hatch award in our New Car Honours 2006.

It has claimed plenty of other plaudits with Auto Express already, including a road test victory against both the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Vauxhall Astra VXR in Issue 882. But will spending the next 12 months with EK06 OHF do anything to wipe that smile off my face? Of course only time will tell... although, on the evidence of the past few weeks I'd be surprised.

Modern cars are often described as lacking in character, but the ST has bags of the stuff - and you can thank the 222bhp 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder engine for that. Put your foot down and a real, hard-edged rumble enters the cabin, which sounds similar to the Audi Quattro rally cars I remember watching in the Eighties.

Now that I've covered 2,500 miles and the engine is fully run-in, it's difficult to resist exploiting the noise to the full. But a word of warning to any potential buyers - do this and you'll feel the pinch. Hard driving sees fuel economy drop to about 22mpg, while the overall average returns of 27.1mpg fall behind our Golf GTI's 30.4mpg.

Aside from its insatiable thirst, the ST is great in pretty much every other way. The steering is full of feedback, there's plenty of front-end grip and the Recaro seats are absolutely superb, supporting my 6ft 3in frame better than any other car I've ever driven. Nevertheless, it's a shame they couldn't have been mounted a little lower for a truly sporty driving position.

Unlike many fast Fords of the past, the Focus isn't too extreme to look at. There are subtle side skirts as well as spoilers at the front and rear (although I reckon the VW Golf GTI still wins in terms of image). And the basic practicality of the five-door body helps make carrying passengers and their luggage an easy task.

I've already had to get a tyre repaired after I ran over a stray nail, and the only other points that might take the smile off my face are the notchy six-speed gearbox - this should improve with some extra miles - and the more direct steering rack and lack of lock makes parking tricky.

Second opinion
I took the fast Ford for a trip to Cornwall. Covering some 700 miles, I got economy up to a reasonable 28.7mpg. My fuel bill was still quite high, but the long, winding roads simply flew by. Despite the number of Focuses I passed along the way, the ST felt special as I spotted only one other example on the road. And it happened to have the same Performance Blue paint as our long-termer!
Gary Lord, production editor