Mere days ago, a report out of the United States suggested that the next-generation Ford Focus ST would be powered by a highly tuned version of the Blue Oval brand’s turbocharged 1,5-litre three-cylinder engine. But now a fresh take from the United Kingdom says Ford will actually upsize its hot hatch to a 2,3-litre four-pot.
According to Autocar (which interestingly in 2017 also reported that the new Focus ST would use a 1,5-litre powerplant), Ford will drop the current model’s 2,0-litre engine in favour of a version of the 2,3-litre EcoBoost unit from the Focus RS. In the next-gen Focus ST, the four-cylinder mill is expected to offer a little more grunt than the current model’s 184 kW, while the vehicle itself will weigh less.
The British publication says Ford is “understood to have chosen” the 2,3-litre unit over the 1,5-litre turbo-triple used in the new Fiesta ST since the three-cylinder “would have to be run close to its reliable limit in this guise”. Interestingly, Autocar also reports that this new front-wheel-drive Focus ST will be offered exclusively in six-speed manual guise, with no plans for an automatic transmission.
While that earlier US report suggested we’d see the new Focus ST in production form before the end of 2018, Autocar reckons the reveal has been pushed back to early 2019.
So, who do we believe? Well, the safest bet is to simply wait and see…
