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ST Octane Academy. Ford performance school, founded 2014.<\/i><\/p>\n
Classroom: Miller Motorsports Park, Salt Lake City, Utah.<\/i><\/p>\n
Spring semester curriculum: Racing 101, Professor Ken Block.<\/i><\/p>\n
Course description: Students will master handbrake turns and high-G handling in a Ford Focus hot hatch, then apply in an urban autocross and 2.2-mile race course environment.<\/i><\/p>\n
If all schools were this much fun, we would never leave.<\/p>\n
The academy is open to buyers of Ford STs \u2014 the sport models of the popular Focus and Fiesta sedans. Tuition is free. Room and board extra. The school is both a perk for ST buyers and an opportunity to bond with their new steeds in an extreme track environment. As an embedded journalist, my participation in the academy was a chance to explore the limits of the 2014 Focus ST \u2014 the turbocharged, 252-horsepower Tasmanian Devil that has been terrorizing imports since its introduction as a 2013 model.<\/p>\n
Like the SVT (Special Vehicle Team<\/a>) badge that graces muscle-bound Mustang Cobras and F-150 trucks, ST (Sport Technologies) brings performance to Ford\u2019s compact lineup. It\u2019s a savvy move for a number of reasons: 1) It adds a sports halo to the Ford brand, 2) lures top engineering talent to the\u00a0company \u201cThis car is a gateway drug,\u201d said new convert Matt Anderson, a professor at West Virginia University who attended the academy after buying an ST. \u201cI loved it so much I wanted to learn more about racing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bored with his Volvo, Anderson\u2019s eye wandered last year to the asphalt-chewing, hot hatch Mazdaspeed3. But while cruising Mazda owner forums, Anderson found online missionaries recommending the Focus ST.<\/p>\n \u201cI had never considered a Ford before,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew Ford by the stereotype of not very good quality. But the Focus was cheaper than the Mazda so I thought I would try it. When I test-drove it, it blew me away.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s music to a marketing chief\u2019s ears.<\/p>\n The 2014 ST is one focused Focus. It takes the base model\u2019s natural athleticism to the Kronk Boxing Gym. This muscular bantamweight can dance around a ring\u00a0and\u00a0<\/i>deliver a serious punch. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.<\/p>\n Standing on four soft 235\/40R-18 tires and nearly half-an-inch lower to the ground than a stock Focus, the ST looks ready to pick a fight. Like a gym rat in a sleeveless neon T-shirt, the Ford advertises its toned bod with color options like Tangerine Scream, Performance Blue and Race Red. Though the ST\u2019s face bears the Ford family\u2019s Aston Martin-like features, the corners of its mouth are unsmiling. Its headlights seem to narrow. Its big, meshed maw snarls.<\/p>\n \u00a0‘Hoon-Stick’ tricks<\/strong><\/p>\n Under the hood, the snarl gains volume. Ford has equipped the ST with a 2.0-liter Ecoboost engine that spits out a staggering 252 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. The ST may be a bantamweight, but outside of the 263-horsepower Mazda it outmuscles everything in its class, including the 200-horsepower Honda Civic SI and the\u00a0210-horsepower Volkswagen GTI<\/a>. Indeed, at $29,000, the fully loaded Focus invites comparisons to $35,000, all-wheel-drive, 300-horsepower gorillas like the Subaru WRX and Golf R.<\/p>\n But at the ST Academy, it\u2019s the Focus that\u2019s looking over its shoulder \u2014 at its playful, 197-horsepower, little brother Fiesta ST.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/images.intellitxt.com\/ast\/adTypes\/icon1.png\")
<\/a>, and 3) attracts motor head missionaries that will proselytize Ford to the unanointed.<\/p>\n