2012 Ford Focus ST gets 297bhp

Those clever chaps at SuperChips have given the 2012 Ford Focus ST a bit of an ECU tweak to deliver 297bhp and an extra 85lb/ft of torque.

When we reported last week that WTC outfit Arena had in roped Ford’s tuner of choice, Mountune, to give the new Ford Focus a makeover, we were a tad disappointed to discover that they were tweaking the rather journeyman Focus Zetec S.

That meant the Zetec S got 200bhp – a handy jump – but we bemoaned the fact that they hadn’t fiddled with the Focus ST to give us a car to fill the void left by the absence of a Focus RS in the current iteration of the Focus. But SuperChips have come to the rescue with exactly what we asked for.

The SuperChips tweak to the Focus ST yields an impressive 297bhp – up from the Focus ST’s normal 246bhp – and a handy lump of extra torque – 68lb/ft to be precise - between 2-5,000rpm for much more flexibility and grunt. There’s also new throttle mapping for sharper response. Perfect.

What’s even better is that the SuperChips upgrade for the Focus ST is a real bargain at £455.00 and, because it comes in SuperChips’ handy little BlueFin handset, you can just plug it in on your drive at home and get the software on your ST. And you can undo it just as easily if you need to.

SuperChips doesn’t release performance details for their upgrades, but we reckon 297bhp in the new Focus ST would give the old Focus RS a bit of a spanking, as well as improved economy and flexibility when you’re not blatting.

And at under £500 on top of the Focus ST (which costs from £22k), it’s a lot cheaper than the Focus RS was (or will be, if it ever arrives).