[youtube]http://youtu.be/oI9UYFrusuY?list=PL_AQadacLqzmS4mmF_47lOBePDgkSGWzo[/youtube]
I’m always ranting on about the “Forbidden Fruits” of the automotive world and diesels seem to wind up in this category quite often. Who doesn’t love the load of torque available that usually come naturally with diesels? The Ford Ecoboost engines have a very “diesel like” torque delivery as is, now add that to actual diesel torque feelings with the ST chassis and you end up with something quite special.
The mid-cycle refresh of the Focus ST adds a bit more chiseled design cues which are fairly attractive. Now add the ST Estate Diesel in the mix and things get very interesting, but is it better than the regular Ecoboost ST?
Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar pitted the two against each other to see if the diesel ST could be a viable option. Check it all out in the video above.
Is the Ford Focus ST Estate Diesel better than the Ecoboost ST?
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I can't imagine the turbo diesel would make a better performance engine than the ecoboost.
But I'd like to have had the chance to buy the wagon ST.-
Add propane injection, tweak the wastegate to stay closed…oh, they can be enhanced for performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RerSZLacmF4
Propane does the same for diesels. More power, lower EGTs, MOAR BOOST!!!!!!-
I guess I was looking at it from the "under warranty" side.
Any more torque to the front wheels is going to need a real diff. I still feel torque steer when shifting around 50mph.
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Diesel torques + extra MPGs = what's not to love?
Sure, right now, diesel fuel is about 40% more expensive than 87 octane unleaded gasoline, but give it until May 7th., or so.
FWIW, locally, diesel is about $2.30/gallon, 87 octane about $1.65. This will likely be over before driving "season" starts. -
This reminds me of enthusiast discussions about diesel in Ireland/UK ten years ago, and nowadays, thanks to european CO2 targets and widespread adoption of diesel, you have a situation where, for example, can't buy a petrol subaru in Ireland apart from the BRZ, which is a little sad. Thankfully it's sort of going full circle now as people are starting realize the many practical downsides of diesel, though I wonder if the new breed of small capacity turbo petrols will bring their own issues.
Cars like ST diesel are, nice for a diesel, but not a replacement for a good petrol in anything relatively lightweight and enthusiast oriented when you take into account stuff like throttle response. You have to remember the context as to why performance diesels exist and a large part of that is people who choose one as a company car (all sorts of boring tax reasons we won't get into) and the fact that diesel is cheaper relative to Gasoline here.
They're very suited to anything heavy though, so if diesel were cheaper in the US, I am sure no SUV or truck would bother with anything else.
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