These are golden years on Planet Hot Hatch. The Megane RS and Golf GTI are maturing to a fine vintage, the new Astra VXR has just dropped... and today we can give you the definitive verdict on the new Ford Focus ST.

And we mean truly definitive. The sort of verdict you can only deliver if you"ve, say, taken the Focus ST on 3,300-mile monster cross-continent mission, our most ambitious/stupid road trip ever.

You can read all about that voyage in the July issue of TopGear magazine, out on June 20, but here"s the potted verdict: the new Focus ST is astonishing. Sublime. Minty-fresh magnificent. It"s the sort of car you can drive 20 hours a day for a week (really), and still want to jump back into for a thrash around the block.

It"s lost a cylinder, but you won"t miss it. The old ST"s 2.5-litre five-pot is replaced by a less exotic 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo, a beefed-up version of Ford"s familiar Ecoboost unit. So there"s less warble but, on the plus side, more power - up from 221bhp to 247bhp - with economy and emissions improving to nearly 40mpg and just 169g/km of CO2. The power hike is good for a 0-60mph of just 6.2 seconds, and a slug of mid-range power vicious enough to dispatch sports cars of twice the price.

Unlike the new Astra VXR, the Focus manages without a mechanical differential, relying instead on a smart torque-vectoring system that uses traction control software to brake a spinning wheel. The result, slightly improbably, is the most phenomenal grip. I have no idea how a front-drive hot hatch without an LSD resists understeer, but the ST does, burying its nose ever deeper into corners no matter how hard you push, refusing to wash wide even when your passenger is begging for mercy as the centrifuge smears them across the side window.

The ST"s steering, in particular, is fantastic: a variable-ratio system that quickens at the extremities of lock. That means it"s nice and stable around centre - great for easy motorway cruising - but brilliantly eager into a sharp bend.

Yes, there"s a wriggle of torque steer when you really boot the throttle in first or second gear. But it"s entirely manageable - remember Ford (just about) managed to channel 350bhp through the front wheels of the Focus RS500, so 247bhp is a doddle - and hey, don"t you want a bit of torque steer from your hot hatch, a reminder you"re dealing with a proper sledgehammer-thump of power?

The new ST retains the old car"s magical pliancy, the ability to deal even the nastiest ruts and ridges without resorting to clang nor squidge. Some hot hatches are set so hard that you"d need a bootful of replacement spines to tackle a mammoth road trip, but the ST feels far more... elastic: organic rather than brittle. We feared Ford might have lost its chassis magic with the uncharacteristically inert MkIII Focus, but we"re delighted to report it"s still there. This is a car touched by genius.

Criticisms? Not many. The lack of a three-door ST - Ford hasn"t even shown a three-door standard Focus yet, so a hot version is way off - will deter some buyers, but on a cross-continent road trip you want all the doors and space you can get.

The new ST is even a bit of a bargain, something we"ve not been able to say about many recent Fords. Prices start at £21,995, against £25,650 for the Golf GTI and £26,995 for the Astra VXR. The Vauxhall might be a couple of tenths quicker around the track, but for everyday, every-road driving, this must the best hot hatch on sale. In fact, it might be the best do-everything fast car in the world...

英文看着可能有点累，转一篇爱卡车友scarykid比较准确的翻译：

对于掀背车来说，这几年正是它们的黄金年代。梅甘娜RS，高尔夫GTI已经足够成熟，但却稍显老气，新的雅特VXR才刚刚问世……今天我们将带来新福克斯ST的终极测试报告。哥们我是说真的，这确实是一份终极测试，因为这是我们开着这台新福克斯ST走过了约3300英里跨洲际的路程—— 我们有史以来最雄心勃勃也是最愚蠢的公路之旅后给出的一份报告。
你可以在6月20号出版的TOP GEAR六月刊上看到这篇完整的测试报告，用一句话来总结，那就是新ST让人震惊、 新鲜无比且让人心生崇敬（=.=）。你每天花20个小时去开这辆车都不嫌够，完了还想跳进驾驶室出去再狂飙一下。
一台新的2.0四缸涡轮增压发动机取代了旧的ST上的2.5五缸发动机，虽然去掉了一个缸，但是你不会想念去掉的那个缸的：）这台新的发动机也是福特ECOBOOST发动机家族里的一个加强版本。排量小了，但是马力却更大了——从221匹升至247匹——并且燃油经济性改善至40英里/加仑，二氧化碳排放量也降低到169克/公里。达到0-60英里/小时只要6.2秒，但是ST的价格只需同类性能车价格的一半。
和新雅特VXR不一样，ST并没有配备机械差速锁，而是依靠一个智能的扭矩矢量控制系统来控制打滑的车轮。这样的结果是，带来了一种非凡的驾控感受。我不知道一个没有限滑差速器的前驱掀背车是如何克服转向不足的，但是ST做到了，不管你多快入弯它都会把鼻头紧贴弯心，也不管你的乘客都被离心力甩到车窗上向天祷告了，ST也不会冲出弯道。
ST的转向实在太棒了：可变转向比会让方向适当变轻或变重。这意味着当车高速巡航时方向盘会变的很沉稳，而当你想过急弯时，方向又会很轻盈。
的确，当你在1、2档大脚地板油时车头会偏移。但是这完全木有问题，你要知道福特已经搞定了福克斯RS——这可是一台350匹的前驱车，所以对于247匹的ST来说这只是小case。而且哥们，你难道不想有这么点偏移，来提醒你正在开的是一台暴力小钢炮哦？
新ST的悬挂也保留了前代车的韧性，不至于在过那些讨厌的小沟小缝时，避震咔咔作响。有些钢炮车避震太硬，以至于你开长途时恨不得带上一副备用的脊椎：）但是ST 就有弹性多了，不至于都硬的发脆。第三代福克斯显得与前两代不太一样，我们很害怕福特会在这一代车上丢失那种经典的操控魔力，但是没有，我们很高兴的告诉你，这是一台天才之作。
有批评吗？不太多。或许三门版的缺失算一个吧。福特目前压根还没想过推三门ST。所以会流失掉一部分三门车爱好者的潜在买家。但是一台五门车仍是居家旅行的必备良驹。
新ST是台很便宜的车，起价21995，比25650的GTI和26995的雅特VXR都便宜。Vauxhall会比ST快那么点点，但是就日常行驶来说，这可能是市面上的最好的掀背车了。事实上，它应该是世界上最快的一台面面俱到的车……

附TG网址：www.topgear.com/uk/ford/focus/road-test/st-driven