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Ford Focus ST vs. VW Golf R and…Subaru BRZ in MT's Head2Head

What are the criteria for comparing one car against another? Well, basically, they should belong to the same category; have similar performance stats and, perhaps more importantly, be close in price.

The new 2013 Ford Focus ST and the soon-to-be replaced VW Golf R that are featured in latest episode of "Head 2 Head" from Motor Trend are a match in two out of these three criteria: they're both compact hatchbacks and each gets a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 256hp in the VW and 252hp in the Ford.

Hot hatches are the Swiss Army knives of the automotive world in that they can do almost everything. Their humble underpinnings mean that they are as practical as any hatchback in everyday use, their tuned chassis and powerful engines can scare a sports car or two on twisty roads and they are, comparatively affordable.

There was a time, not so long ago, that putting anything more than 200-horses on the road through the front wheels was considered a recipe for terminal power understeer. Things have certainly changed and, as Chris Harris points out in the video that follows, front-wheel drive hot hatches have really become very competent.

In the first nine months of the year, Ford’s earnings in North America were US$6.47 billion before taxes, more than it had made in the region in all of 2011. Its operating margin in that period was 11.2 percent, more than double the 5 percent that’s the norm in the industry.

Now, however, the Blue Oval says that its profit margins are shrinking and the reason is that new car buyers in North America are downsizing, turning their backs on trucks and opting for smaller passenger cars such as the Fiesta and the Focus.

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a hybrid, plug-in and all-electric vehicle war raging in the U.S. new car market right now and Ford is one of the parties engaged in it.

Attacking Toyota and its Prius range claiming that its own hybrids are superior isn’t the only way the Blue Oval plans to boost the sales of its “green” fleet that by early 2013, will include the hybrid and plug-in (“Energi” in Ford-talk) versions of the C-MAX and the Fusion, and the pure-electric Focus EV.

From the first day we get to sit behind the wheel of an automobile, we are all told to check our mirrors and look over our shoulder before attempting to change lanes. As simple as this may sound, some drivers continue to have a problem grasping the concept…

From what we can tell by looking at this video, the person operating the tour bus in Taiwan's Hsinchu City didn't even turn on his blinkers when he abruptly entered the middle lane forcing the driver of the silver Toyota Corolla to lose and spin out of control.

It has been almost two months since Ford published the third episode of its "Focus ST Sessions" web on August 29, only to remove the video a few hours later, without ever explaining why it did so.

Now we see that the Blue Oval has re-launched the clip under the new title "(Abandoned) Block Party", again featuring the Focus ST versus the VW Golf GTI Mk6 with professional drivers Ken Block and Vaughn Gittin Jr. taking the wheel. Obviously, you will be wondering if Ford changed anything in the latest clip.

The conversation in this video may sound Greek to you, but that’s only because…it is Greek. Apart from an exorbitant debt, which may or may not kick started the Eurozone crisis that's knocking even on Germany's door, the Mediterranean country has quite a lot of mountains, too.

Its new car market may have sunk near the bottom of the Marianas Trench and fast cars are naturally not a priority for a large part of the population, but this doesn’t mean that car nuts or motoring journalists have vanished from the country.

Local publication Drive has taken advantage of one of those mountain passes to stage a hill climb fight between a pair of front-wheel drive hot hatches powered by 2.0-liter turbocharged engines separated by just 15HP.

Having prepared UK cops through the big screen and the use of a new Focus ST hatchback as the unmarked car of Flying Squad detectives Regan and Carter in the crime thriller "The Sweeney", Ford is now catering to the needs of real-life police with the unveiling of a patrol package for the Focus ST Wagon. Read more »

Ford Prepares Five New Focus ST Sport Hatches for SEMA Show

We were anticipating that Ford would bring several tuned examples of its new Focus ST hot hatch to the upcoming SEMA Show and now, the Blue Oval has released teasers and initial information on its offerings.

Joining the four 2013 Fusion concepts at the automaker's Las Vegas booth will be a total of five modified Focus ST project cars.

Carbon fiber is up to five times as strong as steel, twice as stiff, and one-third the weight, which is why it has been widely used in aerospace applications and in the construction of racing cars.

Production models make use of this material as well; that is, if you consider a McLaren MP4-12C, a Pagani Huayra or a Ferrari Enzo a regular “production car". Carbon fiber is very expensive and takes a lot of time to produce, but those companies can afford to price their products accordingly.

The problem is that, so far, no manufacturer or supplier has managed to reduce its cost to a level that would make it suitable for regular, mass production vehicles.

Carbon fiber is up to five times as strong as steel, twice as stiff, and one-third the weight, which is why it has been widely used in aerospace applications and in the construction of racing cars.

The problem is that, so far, no manufacturer or supplier has managed to reduce its cost to a level that would make it suitable for regular, mass production vehicles.

The fact that Ford did not have an available 2013 Focus ST press car didn't discourage Edmunds' InsideLine from testing the hot hatch in the U.S., as the online magazine went ahead and spent $29,185 to buy a Tangerine Scream example from a local dealer to add to its long-term fleet.

After completing a quick break-in to settle in the mechanical components of the car, InsideLine then took Ford's 252-horsepower hatch to the track.

Russian dashcam videos never cease to amaze us. Just when you think you have seen it all, along comes an incident that defines the word 'strange'. And guess what; the driver is not the one to blame here…

The man seen in the video driving the previous generation Ford Focus hatchback, was going his way when all of a sudden, the car's front end clipped a street trolley wire that had fallen onto the road.

You would assume that all drivers with a valid license understand the concept of roads and lanes.

Nevertheless, you will always find a motorist who thinks he (or she) is cannier than the rest and does not need to obey the rules of the road.

Take this Ford Focus sedan driver, for instance. Instead of waiting in line, he decided to overpass the traffic by driving on the unpaved part of the freeway, which worked fine and dandy for a few miles until he failed to see the rail guard rising from the ground…

According to Ford, the latest generation of the Focus compact is the world's most popular new car scoring more than a half million deliveries in the first seven months of 2012.

More specifically, the Blue Oval said that it has sold 522,821 Focus models (74,688 units on average each month) including 153,400 in Europe from January through July this year, which puts it ahead of the Toyota Corolla and the Volkswagen Golf in terms of global sales.

For the third round of Ford's "Focus ST Sessions" web series, the Blue Oval called in professional rally driver Ken Block and Team Mustang drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr. to compare the brand's new hot hatch against the current iteration of the car that gave birth to the category, the VW Golf GTI.

After winning a game of rock, paper, and scissors, Ken Block chose the 252hp Focus ST leaving Vaughn Gittin Jr. with the 200hp Golf GTI Mk6.

For many years, Ford and GM's Opel and Vauxhall brands have been battling it out in Europe's hotly contested sport hatchback segment.

Now, both automakers have come out with new proposals based on their highly popular Focus and Astra compact models.

Whereas Opel offers its Astra OPC (sold as the Vauxhall Astra VXR in the United Kingdom) exclusively as a sporty-looking, three-door hatchback, the Blue Oval's Focus ST is available only as a more practical but less fun to look at, five-door body style.

Auto Parts

Ford Focus ST vs. VW Golf R and…Subaru BRZ in MT's Head2Head

Chris Harris Puts Ford’s Focus ST Against Opel Astra OPC and Renault Megane RS

Ford Margins Shrink as Buyers in North America Turn to Smaller, Less Profitable Cars

Ford Triples Number of Dealers that Can Sell EVs and Plug-In Hybrids

Reckless Taiwanese Tour Bus Operator Causes Two Car Accident on Highway

Pfff…Ford Redoes 2013 Focus ST vs. VW Golf GTI Video, Takes Gittin Jr.'s Mustang Out of the Picture…

New Ford Focus ST Hits it Off with a VW Scirocco R on a Hill Climb

Ford Prepares Focus ST Wagon Interceptor for UK Police Force

Ford Prepares Five New Focus ST Sport Hatches for SEMA Show

Ford Prepares Five New Focus ST Sport Hatches for SEMA Show

Ford Shows Prototype CFRP Bonnet, Wants to Introduce Carbon Fiber to Mass Production Cars

Ford Shows Prototype CFRP Bonnet, Wants to Introduce Carbon Fiber to Mass Production Cars

Edmunds Tests 2013 Ford Focus ST, Finds it Slower but with Better Handling than MazdaSpeed3

Edmunds Tests 2013 Ford Focus ST, Finds it Slower but with Better Handling than MazdaSpeed3

Watch a Ford Focus do a 180-Degree Flip after Getting Caught on a Trolley Wire!

Watch a Ford Focus do a 180-Degree Flip after Getting Caught on a Trolley Wire!

This is What Happens When You Try to Pass Traffic from the Side of the Road

Ford's New Focus is the Best-Selling Passenger Car in the World in the First Seven Months of 2012

Ken Block and Vaughn Gittin Jr. Race it Out in 2013 Ford Focus ST and VW Golf GTI

Ford Focus ST vs. Opel Astra OPC / Vauxhall Astra VXR in New EVO Track Test

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