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2014 Ford Fiesta ST

Concentrated ST Formula Proves Just As Potent
I'm not the jealous type... usually. But I will fully admit to being somewhat of a Pouty Polly when I read executive editor Chris Paukert's report after driving the then-new 2013 Ford Focus ST through the impossibly pretty southern French Alps region last June. I feel like a broken record saying this yet again, but hot hatchbacks hold a special place in my heart. And while I'm always giddy to drive any sort of small, turbocharged three- or five-door at home in Detroit, my jealousy was indeed piqued after hearing Paukert tell about the challenging yet breathtaking roads he encountered while driving the flamin' yellow Focus. You know, the sort of roads that, from above, look like carelessly drizzled lines of icing on the frosted Alpen caps.
Several months later, I found myself piloting a Focus ST just west of metro Detroit, pitting it head-to-head against one of Autoblog's perennial favorite cars, the Volkswagen GTI. It was fantastic - enough so that I fully stand behind my statement that in terms of balls-out performance, the Focus ST cannot be beat as far as today's front-wheel-drive hatches are concerned.

Ford Focus ST diesel estate in track showdown with Focus ST hatch

Diesel hot hatches are still a concept that's gaining ground. Obviously, there are none for sale in the US, but European buyers have the choice of at least the Volkswagen Golf GTD and Ford Focus ST Diesel. What better way to find out how the new, high-performance oil-burner really stacks up than for Ford to stage a race against the gasoline-fueled Focus ST? On paper, the ST Diesel is at a big performance detriment here. Its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder makes 182 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque compared to 247 hp and 266 lb-ft for the gas version in this race. However while not a factor for this race, the oil-burner does offer better fuel economy and produces less CO2, which makes a difference for European buyers. Ford skews the race results by giving the ST Diesel Estate a two-second head start for this one-lap battle around the Castle Combe Circuit. Also, this is a video from the Blue Oval, which is going to further minimize the appearance of weakness for its vehicles. Still, both STs really get to show off their strengths, and it's worth seeing how the sibling rivalry shakes out at the finish line.

Ford Mustang hit by Moore' Oklahoma's EF5 tornado lives to do another burnout

Oklahoma recently saw the destructive power of an EF5 tornado, but in the aftermath of the devastation, we've also been witness to the incredible resilience of the human spirit. Moore, OK resident Jack Haden survived the storm but found that his 2003 Ford Mustang wasn't quite as lucky. As you can see in the image above, the tornado's 200+ mph winds did quite a number on the car, but while most people would have likely called their insurance company and scrapped the car, Haden had other plans.
After finding the car and seeing that its V6 still fired up, Haden spent a couple hours getting the car, um... roadworthy(?)... by removing the doors and front clip, cutting off the roof and putting on some new wheels and tires. He noticed that driving it around brought some comic relief to an area that needed a reason to laugh and smile. Check out the KSBI TV news report video below showing before and after pictures of the tough 'Stang, as well as a video showing the newly lightweight coupe doing a smoky burnout.