Styling points start becoming a bit tricky to sort out when we move into the two cabins. The Focus ST definitely wins some brownie points with those slick Recaro leather sport seats, but then falls flat when you realize that the steering wheel is a standard Focus wheel with an ST logo at the bottom, and that the rest of the interior cabin is devoid of any real differentiating features other than a shift knob and pedal covers.
   2013 Ford Focus ST. Click image to enlarge |
The Focus ST sticks with the usual MyFordTouch infotainment system that, while not perfect, proved to be much less glitchy than it was during my dreaded experience with the Ford Escape. I’m still not sold on it as an operating system, but I’ll go so far as to say it didn’t give me too many reasons to hate it this time around. The only real glaring flaw in the ST’s interior other than a lack of character was the tailgate floor cover and Sony subwoofer setup. The floor panel that covers the spare wheel is clearly not properly finished, and doesn’t provide a solid and flat surface. You would think this would be a no-brainer by now, but clearly this is a spot where they figured they could cut a corner or three. Pun intended. The Subwoofer does perform adequately, but could someone tell Ford that the ‘90s called and they want their audio gear back?
  2013 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Click image to enlarge |
The GTI does a bit better as far as interior styling goes, but much like the exterior it remains rather quiet and conservative. If you are a fan of simple control layouts rather than sharp angles and oddly shaped vents, then you are in luck. VW’s infotainment setup is pretty straightforward, though it could use a bit of a refresh at this point – a similar complaint was noted in our recent compact diesel sedan comparo between the Volkswagen Jetta TDI and Chevy Cruze Diesel.
 2013 Ford Focus ST. Click image to enlarge |
If you look closely you may notice that the base components for the system are actually from the same supplier Kia has been using as of late, which isn’t a bad thing. Our tester this time around came as a Wolfsburg Edition, which means those absolutely ridiculous plaid “Jacky” Cloth seats. Apparently some VW enthusiasts have a real soft spot for the plaid fabric, but it definitely doesn’t earn any bonus points with yours truly. Fortunately you can opt for leather seats if you want to shell out an extra $4,000 for the leather package, which changes the 18-inch wheel design and some sharp contrasting red stitching. Having spent some time in a non-Wolfsburg GTI last winter, I can easily say that the proper GTI interior is quite sharp, and just feels more appropriate for a hot hatch than the ST’s.
That being said, if this was the battle of the driver’s seats the ST would win the competition hands down. Those Recaros are just padded enough to make daily commuting tolerable, all while providing tons of support when you’re seeing how much lateral grip the little hatch can muster.
Power and Handling
This is another fairly hot-button topic when comparing these two hot hatches. As our fellow contributor James Bergeron found out during his week with the Focus ST, it does suffer from a bit of turbo lag, so it definitely keeps you working to pull all 252 horses out of the little four-banger. Once you’re in the sweet spot, though, it just hauls. Power in the ST comes on hard at around 2,500 rpm and just keeps coming.
