The Next Ford Focus ST Will Use An RS-Derived 2.3 With 250bhp

Contrary to previous reports, Ford's next Focus ST won't use a heavily boosted 1.5-litre inline-three

Remember the report which alleged the next Ford Focus ST would churn out 275bhp from a teeny-tiny Fiesta ST 1.5-litre inline-three? You can forget all about that.

Autocar - the same publication to break the original 1.5 story - reports that Ford is won’t go that route, as the 1.5 can’t reliably produce the kind of power figures you’d expect from an ST. Instead, engineers are understood to have opted for a 2.3-litre inline-four turbo. It’ll have “close technical links” to the Ecoboost engine in the Focus RS, Autocar explains, but that could still mean it’ll be a detuned version of the related 2.3 four-banger found in the Mustang.

It won’t make as much power as either though - the anticipated output will be around 250bhp. That’s only a tiny increase over the old one (pictured above), but the next ST should be lighter than the old one - the new Focus) has dropped 88kg “like-for-like” when compared with the outgoing model, and it’s more rigid too.

The RS, on the other hand, will be significantly more powerful than the current model - it’ll put out a monstrous 400bhp from a hybrid powertrain, rumour has it.

Focus ST render via X-Tomi Design