Ford Focus ST (Mk3)
Why 8.3: The first proper hot Focus Ford actually sold in North America — no Mk1 SVT successor, no Mk2 RS import, just a 252 hp EcoBoost four available at a Ford dealer. Cheap now, driven hard, the same ownership profile as the Fiesta ST one size down.
Layout
Natural habitat
Ride comfort
Sound
The Sound Symposer pipes genuine induction noise up a tube into the cabin, which is at least honest plumbing rather than a speaker. But the exhaust itself is close to silent from outside, so what you hear is intake, not engine. Character by ducting.
4-cylinder · turbocharged · 6,500 rpm redline · rated 5.2 / 10 for engine sound
Market value
Median asking price, good condition · €20k (2013) → €12k (2026), trending down · illustrative data
Child seats · ISOFIX
Outboard rear LATCH anchors standard; center rear position is belt-only.
No LATCH hardware in the front seat of the US-spec Focus ST hatch.
FMVSS 225 (US federal LATCH mandate, lower anchors + top tether required from Sept 2002) (owner-community sourced, not manufacturer documentation)
The long version
Ford had not sold a proper hot Focus in North America before this one — the Mk1 SVT Focus was as close as the US got, and both the Mk2 ST and Mk2 RS stayed European exclusives — so the Mk3's 252 hp EcoBoost four arriving at ordinary Ford dealers in 2013 was a genuine event for American enthusiasts who had spent a decade watching European road tests. It depreciated the way every mainstream turbo hatch does, steep and fast, which is exactly what put it within reach of the daily-driver-and-track-day crowd that owns most of them today. Doug DeMuro's own numbers rate it a middling 56, the DougScore's usual disagreement with cars that are more fun to drive than to review, and the ownership pattern backs the paddock over the scoresheet: high mileage, real track use, no flip premium. It is the car that proved Ford would sell Americans a real hot hatch if it just built one.