Acceleration tests, exhaust sound, plus drag races. Paul Maric puts the Ford Focus ST automatic up against the manual version to see which is louder and quicker and then the winner goes head-to-head against the Volkswagen Golf GTI. We are calling this series the Dragparison!
It's a comparison at the drag strip. Let us know if you like it and what else you'd like to see. But, until then, watch the 2020 Ford Focus ST automatic drag race against the 2020 Ford Focus ST manual and then watch the winner take on the 2020 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Watch to find out who wins!
Performance times:
Focus ST automatic:
0-100km/h: 5.8 seconds
1/4 mile: 14.3 seconds at 162.9km/h
100km/h – 0: 35.3m over 2.6s
Focus ST manual:
0-100km/h: 6.4s
1/4 mile: 14.7 seconds at 161.8km/h
Volkswagen Golf GTI Performance:
0-100km/h:
1/4 mile: 14.9s at 161.9km/h
100km/h – 0: 39.8m at 2.8s
Read the full story: https://www.carexpert.com.au/video/ford-focus-st-automatic-v-manual-v-volkswagen-golf-gti-drag-race-comparison/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=drag-race&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=drag-race
Skip Ahead:
Dragparison: 00:00
Performance Specs: 00:45
Acceleration Test (Focus ST Auto): 03:07
Acceleration Test (Focus ST Manual): 05:26
Focus ST Drag Race: 10:05
Focus ST v Golf GTI Drag Race: 11:30
Verdict: 13:32
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
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It's a comparison at the drag strip. Let us know if you like it and what else you'd like to see. But, until then, watch the 2020 Ford Focus ST automatic drag race against the 2020 Ford Focus ST manual and then watch the winner take on the 2020 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Watch to find out who wins!
Performance times:
Focus ST automatic:
0-100km/h: 5.8 seconds
1/4 mile: 14.3 seconds at 162.9km/h
100km/h – 0: 35.3m over 2.6s
Focus ST manual:
0-100km/h: 6.4s
1/4 mile: 14.7 seconds at 161.8km/h
Volkswagen Golf GTI Performance:
0-100km/h:
1/4 mile: 14.9s at 161.9km/h
100km/h – 0: 39.8m at 2.8s
Read the full story: https://www.carexpert.com.au/video/ford-focus-st-automatic-v-manual-v-volkswagen-golf-gti-drag-race-comparison/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=drag-race&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=drag-race
Skip Ahead:
Dragparison: 00:00
Performance Specs: 00:45
Acceleration Test (Focus ST Auto): 03:07
Acceleration Test (Focus ST Manual): 05:26
Focus ST Drag Race: 10:05
Focus ST v Golf GTI Drag Race: 11:30
Verdict: 13:32
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you! #dragrace #ford #focusst #vw #golfgti #volkswagen #dragparison
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. Behind me is the Ford Focus ST and the Ford Focus ST.
00:04 They're different colours though, and they're also different gearboxes.
00:07 One is a manual, and one is an automatic.
00:09 Today we're at the Drag Strip, and we're doing a comparison,
00:12 so we've decided to call this series the Dragparison.
00:15 I think you guys enjoyed the last one that we did with the A35 and the A45,
00:18 and if you haven't seen that yet, you can click on the link up there.
00:22 Today we're going to do a number of tests.
00:23 We're going to start off with a performance comparison,
00:25 and a quick look at the gearboxes.
00:27 We're going to do a sound check, acceleration tests,
00:30 and finally, a drag race between the two.
00:32 If you are impatient, you can skip ahead using the time codes up there,
00:35 or scroll down to the description where you'll find the links.
00:37 And if you haven't done so already, make sure you hit subscribe and press the bell icon,
00:41 because that's going to tell you every time we do another Dragparison.
00:45 Before we get into it, let's go over some performance numbers,
00:47 just so you get an idea of what's powering these cars.
00:49 They both use a 2.3 litre, four-cylinder petrol turbocharged engine.
00:54 This is pretty much the engine out of the previous generation RS and the Mustang,
00:57 just with less power.
00:59 The manual is a six-speed manual, the automatic is a seven-speed.
01:02 This actually starts life as an eight-speed, but they removed second gear,
01:06 because second and third were too close together, so it is now a seven-speed.
01:09 The manual has launch control, the automatic doesn't,
01:12 but beneath the skin, both of them have what Ford calls an ELSD.
01:16 So it's a mechanical limited-slip differential with an electronically controlled clutch.
01:20 It can vary torque between zero and 100% using that clutch pack.
01:23 Be keen to see whether that helps at all here on the drag strip.
01:26 I know the previous generation Focus ST was a little bit wild,
01:29 with torque steerer to be all over the place.
01:30 Now, getting all of that torque to the pavement is through these front wheels.
01:34 They both use the same setup, so 235mm tyres all round, 19-inch alloy wheels,
01:39 a Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tread, and then the brakes.
01:42 330mm rotors up the front with a floating caliper, and then 302mm at the rear.
01:48 Okay, it's time for a sound check.
01:50 Before we start, both of these cars have been warmed up.
01:53 We're going to do a stationary sound check starting with the automatic,
01:56 the automatic's the blue one, and then we're going to do a rolling sound check as well,
02:00 so we can hear what they're like when they're going.
02:02 Got my colleague James in the car.
02:03 Fire it up, give it a few revs, and this is in Sport mode.
02:06 Okay, so it's got a limiter there at about 5,000 rpm,
02:14 and this is what it sounds like once it's moving.
02:17 (engine revving)
02:19 Eh, sounds okay, but I don't know, it's just missing that crackle and pop that I was expecting,
02:33 because you get that from an i30 N.
02:34 What about the manual?
02:35 Okay, fire it up James, give it a rev.
02:45 That sounds absolutely nasty!
02:48 I love that, that's got that i30 N note to it.
02:51 Let's see if it makes all of those noises while it's rolling as well.
02:54 That sounds much, much better than the automatic.
03:05 Let's move on to some acceleration testing.
03:07 Okay, so, automatic, Ford Focus ST, official claim is 6 seconds, 0-100,
03:13 but what I want to do is go through each of the modes.
03:15 So right now I'm in Comfort, I have Stop/Start on,
03:18 I'm just going to pound the throttle, and we'll see what happens,
03:21 and see how close we get to the claim.
03:22 So, here we go.
03:24 (laughs) Lot of wheels slip.
03:32 So, traction control lighting up there.
03:35 Alrighty, just hit 100.
03:38 Let's see how we went there.
03:41 6.5 seconds. Not bad for everything in Comfort mode,
03:46 and with the amount of wheels slip that we had.
03:47 Let's give that another shot.
03:49 Okay, next up is Sport mode.
03:51 I'm going to leave all the stability controls on.
03:53 So, one click of that puts it into Sport mode.
03:55 I'll load it up a little bit, and then just pound the throttle,
03:57 and we will see what happens.
03:59 Here we go, loading it up.
04:00 Little bit of wheels slip, but properly stuck into it,
04:08 into second as well.
04:10 Ooh, and there is 100.
04:13 Okay, how are we looking?
04:14 6.5 seconds again. Hmm, okay.
04:18 I think it's time for us to step up the ante here.
04:21 Next up, it is Sport mode, but I'm going to put it into ESC Sport,
04:24 which I think is like a limited stability control mode.
04:27 It should let it get a little bit of slip off the line before we shoot off.
04:30 So, let's see if it makes any difference.
04:32 Here we go.
04:38 Okay, there's a lot more wheels slip there.
04:40 Okay, 80, and then 100 k's now.
04:44 Okay, that is much better. 6.2 seconds.
04:48 Okay, final run here for the Focus ST Automatic is Race mode,
04:53 but I'm going to switch off Stability Control altogether.
04:56 So, you just push and hold, it comes up with a message there.
04:58 Okay, that is off.
05:01 Let's see if we can get a better time now. Here we go.
05:05 (TIRES SCREECHING)
05:07 Okay, that feels better. That feels really nice, actually.
05:13 All right, and there's 100.
05:16 Oh, that is better. 5.8 seconds.
05:19 That is really impressive.
05:20 So, 5.8 seconds in Race mode with Stability Control off.
05:26 Okay, we are in the manual Focus ST.
05:29 We're going to do the same thing here. This has a number of modes.
05:31 I'm going to start off just in the plain Jane mode.
05:33 I'm just an average driver, by the way. This is a manual transmission,
05:36 so I'm kind of replicating what you guys at home are going to be able to do.
05:39 I can't do anything special here.
05:40 There's also a flat shift mode, which I'll show you later on.
05:43 But let's give this a shot just in the standard mode.
05:46 Here we go. I'll rev it up a bit and then just slip the clutch and we'll take off.
05:50 (TIRES SCREECHING)
05:52 A little bit of wheel slip.
05:56 Okay, 8 seconds.
06:02 And there's 100.
06:04 Okay, so we did 0 to 100 kilometres an hour in 6.7 seconds.
06:09 That's with everything on, all the Stability Controls.
06:12 I did realise something during my run there.
06:14 In second gear, it just nudges 100 k's an hour.
06:19 So, I reckon we can probably eliminate a shift into third,
06:23 which is going to speed things up a little.
06:25 So, next run I do, I'm going to try and just leave it in second.
06:28 We'll clip the limiter.
06:29 I know it's abuse on cars, but we'll see if we can get it any quicker than our first run.
06:34 Okay, next up is Sport mode with Stability Controls all left on.
06:39 And I'll just let it grab the limiter in second.
06:42 We'll see what happens there.
06:44 (TIRES SCREECHING)
06:46 Feeding the throttle.
06:52 Alright.
06:57 Alright, we just grabbed the limiter there.
07:00 6.5 seconds. It doesn't really feel all that different.
07:03 I reckon we're probably better off just going into third,
07:06 because it's sort of like the way that peak torque and peak power works.
07:10 Once you get that peak, it all falls off from there.
07:13 And I think the time you spend shifting into third gear,
07:16 you're probably going to gain, because it'll come back into its peak torque and power band.
07:19 Okay, this time around we're doing Sport mode with Stability Control into like a limited stability setting.
07:25 I'm also going to flat shift.
07:28 So flat shifting is where you don't lift off the throttle.
07:33 And this car has a flat shifting built into it.
07:35 So all I need to do is stab the clutch, grab a gear, but just stay in the throttle.
07:39 It'll be daunting, but we'll give it a shot.
07:41 So here we go.
07:43 Oh, that feels weird.
07:51 It feels really weird.
07:54 There's 100 km/h, and we're down to 6.4 seconds.
07:58 So marginally improved.
08:00 Now let's try Launch Control.
08:02 So you can use Launch Control in Race mode,
08:04 but Race mode partially disables Stability Control, and it just fries the tyres.
08:08 So I'm going to put it into Sport mode with Stability Control on, and then Launch Control.
08:13 So you enable it by clicking Launch Control there.
08:15 You get some flags.
08:16 Put it into first gear.
08:17 Hold the throttle flat to the floor.
08:19 It will hold revs at 3000 rpm, and then you just let off the clutch, and away you go.
08:23 I'm going to flat shift here as well.
08:25 So there it is holding the revs there.
08:27 Alright, bogs down a little.
08:35 Flat shift into second.
08:37 And third.
08:40 Okay, 6.7 seconds.
08:44 So it's actually pretty slow there with Launch Control on.
08:47 So partially because it bogs down, but when we tested it earlier with Race mode and Launch Control,
08:52 all it did was fry the tyres.
08:54 So that is really going to be the quickest way.
09:00 The final thing we're going to do now is Race mode, everything off.
09:04 And it'll just come down to my lack of skills to get it off the line and much closer to that 5 point something second mark.
09:10 Okay, Race mode, we'll flick that on with Stability Control off.
09:13 So that's a long push and hold here.
09:15 I'm going to try and just walk this off the line this time around.
09:18 We'll see if we can just get it off a little bit smoother.
09:22 Hopefully we'll be able to get closer and I won't keep embarrassing myself.
09:26 Here we go, so I'll build it up a bit.
09:28 Alright, feels good.
09:39 Alright, let's have a look at that.
09:42 6.4 seconds.
09:44 So that is about as quick as it's going to get for me.
09:47 So remember, I'm just a normal driver.
09:49 If you had maybe a race driver behind the wheel or someone that was willing to punish the car a little harder,
09:54 you'd probably get a faster time.
09:56 But as it stands, the Auto is quicker than the Manual, despite them saying that the Manual is quicker than the Auto.
10:03 Okay, so quarter mile drag race.
10:05 I'm in the Auto now.
10:06 Mike, my colleague, is in the Manual.
10:08 I don't know what's going to happen here.
10:09 I'm really keen to see because the Manual is actually evidently pretty hard to launch on this sort of surface.
10:13 It's unprepared, it's a bit sketchy.
10:15 So let's give it a shot.
10:16 We're going to try this in the fastest mode we had it in last time.
10:19 And let's get our countdown.
10:20 Good to go.
10:21 3, 2, 1, go.
10:24 Alright.
10:29 Still wheel spinning.
10:31 Holy crap.
10:32 Okay, I've just got to pin to the board.
10:34 120, 30, 140, 150, 160.
10:41 Bang, there it is.
10:42 Quarter mile.
10:43 Okay, let's see how we went.
10:46 14.5 seconds.
10:48 How'd you go in the Manual, Mike?
10:50 14.7 seconds for a 402 metre.
10:54 So, that is like pretty much a dead...
10:56 G'day everyone.
10:58 Yes, I'm not in the car at the moment.
11:00 Unfortunately, our camera stopped working.
11:02 We didn't realise until after we left the drag strip.
11:05 So what happened there?
11:06 The automatic Focus ST was quicker, only just.
11:09 And I think that comes down to that surface and the Manual being a little trickier to launch,
11:13 despite the fact it is technically quicker according to Ford and you can flat shift it.
11:17 But what we wanted to now do was put the faster Focus ST, the automatic,
11:22 up against one of the segment favourites, the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
11:27 So here they go, head to head.
11:29 Okay, this is the one I've been waiting for.
11:31 Golf GTI, it's kind of the default choice for a lot of people when it comes to hot hatches.
11:35 Let's see whether the new Ford Focus ST is quicker.
11:38 That Golf GTI is the performance, so it has the mechanical limited slip differential,
11:43 has the 2.0 litre turbocharged petrol engine, it's got a dual clutch gearbox,
11:46 it's been run in as well, it's warm, everyone's ready to go, we just need to do it.
11:49 So let's get our countdown.
11:51 3, 2, 1, go!
11:55 Okay, there's a lot of wheel slip there.
12:02 This surface isn't amazing.
12:04 There's 100.
12:06 Let's go.
12:07 140, we're ahead of him, we're pulling away so slightly.
12:10 160.
12:11 Bang, there's 170.
12:13 He was catching us just near the end there.
12:17 So 0-100 in 6 seconds flat, and the quarter mile in 14.4 seconds.
12:23 Can't you see how he went?
12:25 James, what time did you get there?
12:26 14.9 at 161.6.
12:29 Okay, so we were quicker by pretty much half a second.
12:35 So, the new Ford Focus ST, in automatic at the very least, is quicker than the Golf GTI Performance.
12:41 But keep in mind there is a new Golf GTI coming, so obviously it will be quicker again,
12:46 but really impressive job here by Ford with the Focus ST.
12:49 Okay, it is time for our brake test.
12:52 Let's see how the Golf GTI and the Focus ST stop from 100km/h.
12:58 Here we go.
12:59 Holy moly, that is a big difference.
13:05 Okay, so this stopped in 2.6 seconds in 35.3 metres.
13:11 James, how did you go?
13:12 So that was 2.8 seconds in 39.8 metres.
13:16 Wow, so there is a big difference there.
13:18 So about 4 metres difference.
13:20 So Ford said with the brakes on this car that they've engineered them for track days and that kind of thing,
13:24 and it kind of shows because we have stopped a long way before the Golf GTI,
13:28 so that is seriously impressive.
13:30 So there you go, that was a drive test.
13:32 That was really impressive.
13:33 So there you go, that was a dragparison, a comparison at a drag strip,
13:37 and it turns out the Focus ST was quicker.
13:40 Now we were pretty surprised actually that the automatic was quicker than the manual,
13:44 even though on paper the manual should be quicker.
13:46 So full declaration, we're not race drivers, we're just normal drivers like most of you guys watching.
13:50 So we gave this quite a few shots, and you've got to remember as well that this drag strip is unprepared,
13:55 so it's going to be a little tricky to hook up, especially in a front-wheel drive car with a fair bit of torque.
14:00 But pretty impressive those results, and it shows that this car is quick,
14:03 and we're also surprised that it was quicker than the GTI across the quarter mile.
14:07 There is a new GTI coming, so that may change shortly, but pretty impressed nevertheless.
14:11 You can see our full review of the Focus ST by clicking up here.
14:15 You can also check out our playlist with our other dragparisons by clicking up there,
14:20 and let us know in the comments below whether you enjoyed this video.
14:23 What else would you like to see involved in a dragparison?
14:27 If you did like it, don't forget to hit the like button, follow that with the subscribe,
14:30 and also press the bell icon so you can get notified every single time we make one of these fun videos.
14:34 Until next time, see you later.