World RallyCross Champion Tanner Foust spent a day at the Homestead-Miami Speedway last week testing Ford Racing’s latest turnkey-ready race car, the Focus ST-R.
Not only was Foust on hand to sample the Focus ST-R, he was also there to give the Ford Racing engineers further development advice that will help to shape its fortunes when it makes its competition debut. Foust was also keen to emphasize how much effort Ford Racing has been putting into the Focus ST-R to make it competitive out of the box.
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For many manufacturers, entering a race-going version of a production car can often mean 12-months of on track development before the vehicle is competitive. By getting the likes of Foust in to help with development, Ford is hoping to help ensure that the Focus ST-R is competitive from the get go, helping to raise the reputation of the brand and boost sales of the street-going versions.
Foust sees Ford’s emphasis on developing the Focus ST-R as trying to help shed the somewhat staid image of the compact car segment and entice US drivers to look to some of Ford’s smaller cars for the fun factor and sports cred. As Foust argues, it is often the 2.0ltr turbo cars, or hot-hatch versions of economy models, that are the popular performance cars in Europe and around the world.
Foust also emphasized the strong links between the race-ready ST-R with its street heritage noting that many of the components remain drawn directly from the street-going version of the car. However, Focus ST-R also gets performance coil-over adjustable dampers, upgraded sway bars with adjustable end links and 320-milimeter two-piece rotors and race pads. It also picks up Anthracite 18-inch wheels and Hoosier race tires and addition to a race-tweaked EcoBoost engine.
The Focus ST-R is retailing from $99,000 with the US race teams and enthusiasts set to get a taste first, before it starts shipping out to various global markets.
