[Video] Ford Focus ST Tops Subaru WRX on Track, Skid Pad

The One Ford strategy means the Focus is a much better looking car than it used to be. It’s also better built and has nicer features, which is a given fact of evolution. All these factors are important for the compact to achieve what it was meant to do: sell.

However, there is a Focus that’s not supposed to sell. It’s supposed to become a cult car with racers and weekend gatherings.

Ford knows just what to do to get that message across: race the Focus ST against the establishment, and prove their car is better in every way.

A fight against the underpowered VW Golf GTI or Honda Civic Si coupe almost seems like a foregone conclusion when the ST’s EcoBoost engine makes 250 horsepower. But what about a true a four-wheel drive traction master like the Subaru WRX. Surely, it’s rally breeding means the Japanese will dance all over the chubby American.

Well, no! On the track, with two professional drivers behind the wheel, the Focus ST has the traction advantage in the corners, while on the skid pad “it grabbed hold of the inside line and never let go.”