- Ford has announced that its Ford Focus ST-R racer will start at $98,995.
- The car has a bunch of Ford Racing performance goodies, an interior completely outfitted for the track, as well as one-piece 18-inch BBS alloy wheels.
- The car joins Ford Racing's other turnkey racers like the Mustang Cobra Jet and Boss 302S.
DEARBORN, Michigan — Ford has announced that the starting price of its Ford Focus ST-R racecar will be $98,995.
From the factory, the Ford racer will be ready to compete in the Grand-Am ST (Street Tuner) class, World Challenge TC and Canadian Touring Car Series, as well as the Nurburgring 24-Hour race.
The turnkey racecar is equipped with a sport suspension and exhaust, Ford Racing clutch, upgraded brakes and a limited-slip differential. Its 2.0-liter EcoBoost inline-4 is mated to a six-speed manual transmission. It is not known exactly how much more power the car will be loaded with over the Focus ST's stock 247-horsepower figure.
The exterior has the 2012 Focus ST body kit, brake cooling ducts, hood pins and a set of 18-inch BBS cast alloy wheels wearing Hoosier 225/40 R6 race rubber.
Inside are all the necessary racing accouterments, including Recaro seats with a six-point safety harness, FIA-certified safety cage, short-throw shifter, custom carbon-fiber switch panel and a Ford Racing steering wheel with quick release.
The ST-R is just one of the turnkey racers Ford has available for order from any dealership. Its other racers include the Ford Racing Mustang FR500C, FR500S, Cobra Jet, Boss 302R and Boss 302S.
Inside Line says: You read that right — almost six figures for a Ford Focus.
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mustbenuts says:
09:51 AM, 02/05/2012
Actually I hope they sell a bunch of them - when they're a season or two old I can scavenge up the odd bits to put on the street car. Or maybe Ford will release parts through dealers. Ford gets it.
5lv8 says:
07:33 PM, 12/29/2011
stovt001:
Why are you dodging the question? What advantage does the Focus ST-R have over the similarly priced Mustang Boss 302R? Furthermore, if Ford can build a racing version of the Boss 302 for a similar price, why not a Camaro, WRX STI or Mitsubishi Evolution which have prices similar to a Boss 302? Why invest $100,000 in a front wheel drive car when it is clear a similar and more powerful rear wheel drive car can be made for a similar price?
5lv8 says:
07:32 PM, 12/29/2011
homologated:
Why are you dodging the question? What advantage does the Focus ST-R have over the similarly priced Mustang Boss 302R? Furthermore, if Ford can build a racing version of the Boss 302 for a similar price, why not a Camaro, WRX STI or Mitsubishi Evolution which have prices similar to a Boss 302? Why invest $100,000 in a front wheel drive car when it is clear a similar and more powerful rear wheel drive car can be made for a similar price?
stovt001 says:
01:21 PM, 12/23/2011
5lv8 et al: you wouldn't be able to drive those cars in the series this car is homologated for. It isn't for track days. It is for semi-professional to professional racing. Period.
Scott Oldham once asked me why it seems like there are two distinct groups of people here: those who comment on the main page and news articles and those who comment on the blogs. This would be the answer. I don't think I'll be venturing back here again. The head hurts.
duck87 says:
09:16 AM, 12/19/2011
@hooklyn: You don't get it because you don't race and never had to buy anything for your car. See Church's post on the cost of components alone. And then think about how much time is spent shaking down and tuning the car. Think about how much it costs to design and machine one-off components. This is a Grand-AM race car, if you were to convert any of the other cars you listed to race spec, you can expect a similarly ludicrous price. None of those cars are true race cars, and on a race track it won't be long before they overheat or otherwise break down when driven at 10/10ths compared to the several consistent laps that race cars have to churn out.
Even Le Mons $500 beater race cars in actuality cost near $2-3K once you factor in the roll cage, wheels and brakes (and those are low end components).
As to your question as to who would buy it? Race teams, maybe rich privateers. For the rest of us it's spec Miata and Formula Vee.
5lv8 says:
09:05 AM, 12/19/2011
Why is the Boss 302R have a starting price of $79,000? I will take Boss 302R over the Focus ST-R any day even if the fully loaded version is $150,000.
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/ford/2011-ford-mustang-boss-302r-ar108319.html
hooklyn says:
08:35 AM, 12/19/2011
I still don't understand it. Who is buying a FWD $100k Focus track car??
Nismo 370Z - $40k
Boss 302 - $42k
Boss 302 LS - $48k
1-Series M - $50k
TT-RS - $60k
Cayman R - $70k
Z06 - $75k
Exige S260 Sport - $75k
GT-R - $90k
Z06 Z07 - $95k
C63 AMG Coupe Black Edition - 95k
ZR1 - $110k
M3 GTS - $130k
I would be willing to bet that most or all of those are faster at the track in even stock form than this Focus. $100k for car and modifications in many of them would just blow the doors off it.
roscoe108 says:
06:50 AM, 12/19/2011
How can Ford release the price and details of the ST-R but not its power figures? The nerve...
Oh, and PS for zr1man: fuck off and die.
duck87 says:
06:22 AM, 12/19/2011
You people are crazy. This is CHEAP for a race car. If you've ever had to prep anything outside of Spec Miata or Le Mons (where ghetto hacking is par for the course), the cost of taking a brand new car, stripping it down, and then fitting it with competitive racing components is huge. A GT3 class Porsche costs half a million bucks!
nj2481 says:
07:02 PM, 12/18/2011
My estimate was low on purpose because I've never done it and I didn't want to sound like a noob saying "ZOMG it would cost $120K!!!"
I'm glad someone with more experience was able to give us a legit and definitely reasonable estimate. Clearly the people comparing this racecar to regular passenger cars are forgetting that the passenger are also way better because they seat 4-5 people instead of just one!
OMG LOLZ WHUT?