Monday Motoring Classic: Ford Focus ST170

David Ross, Editor
Mon, 05 Jun 2023

Think of a fast Ford and you'll probably be drawn to later generations of the Ford Focus ST and RS.

Unfairly so, because the first generation Ford Focus was the best of the bunch. It dismissed any lingering memories of the Ford Escort, which only became half-decent when the Mk5 became the Mk6.

The Mk1 Ford Focus made everyone else sit up and take notice, because it drove like no other compact hatch, yet was just as practical and usable as its rivals. It also looked pretty out there, which was a big step for Ford.

When the Ford Focus ST170 arrived, expectations were high given how well the bog standard version steered. Perhaps a little too high. Contemporary reviews said it was good but not great and when the Ford Focus RS arrived it was a little forgotten.

But we're here to tell you why it deserves more attention. For starters, it was a proper tuning job mostly carried out by the British Special Vehicle Engineering team, so it was sorted for the unique challenges of UK roads.

The 2.0-litre Zetec engine was already decent, but it received lightweight aluminium pistons and forged con rods, as well as uprated valves and springs. It was the first Ford Focus to get a six-speed gearbox too.

The suspension was upgraded with stiffer springs and uprated dampers, thicker anti-roll bars and suspension bushes and the brakes were uprated too. All the right stuff.

173PS might not seem like a great deal these days and 200PS soon became the benchmark, but it could hit 60mph in under 8 seconds and run on past 130mph.

It wasn't the blazing-hot superhatch that soon became the norm, but it was more than quick enough and retained the peerless handling that made the Ford Focus such a favourite in the first place.

The tricky part is that it wasn't on sale for that long, but thankfully its relative rarity in the first place (and the fact it was frequently overlooked in favour of something with more flash and dash) means there's plenty around.

We found a dozen examples without looking very hard at all. How about a 2003 Ford focus ST170 five-door with 90,000 miles and 11 months MoT for £1500?

You can even have it as a wagon, although they are understandably rarer. We found another 2003 model with 150,000 miles for £2750.

Rust is unfortunately an issue for the first-gen Ford Focus, so you'll need to have a good luck underneath. We'd steer clear of modified examples too, although that's not to say you won't want to tweak it yourself.

The internal hardware means you can have plenty more power - 200PS is achievable without going mad, or 240PS if you do.

And of course, it's a Ford, so you'll find specialists and spare parts just by tripping over your own feet, so keeping it going won't be a headache.

It also treads the fine line of being discreet enough to not attract too much attention but recognisable so those who know, will know. Just how we like our everyday classics. Find a Ford Focus for sale.

Ask HJ

Why will my insurer not cover my new car?

I've just bought a Ford Focus ST-Line X 2020, and when I tried to insure it with my current car insurers, they just replied we don't insure that type of car with no explanations, so we went else where. But why do some insurers not insure this type of car, when I thought that it was only cars that were too expensive to fix, or stolen too much that were the common reason for refusing, but I wouldn't have thought that this car comes under those criteria, or does it?

Insurers use a wide variety of data to calculate premiums, but this data can vary between insurance companies, as well as the criteria they use to determine the risk profile of a vehicle and the party being insured. We would not expect this generation of Focus to attract a higher degree of risk than equivalent hatchbacks, but it may be that for this particular insurer this vehicle is high risk. This could be because of repair costs, likelihood of theft or frequency of claims that it attracts. The fact that the Focus is a very popular car may count against it - the more of one type of vehicle that is on the road, statistically the more likely it is to be involved in a claim.

Answered by David Ross

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