What’s the worst thing about owning a hot hatch? Probably the fact that when your mate (who owns an enormous V8 sedan) comes for a ride with you, they’ll be underwhelmed by the relative purr that your car makes compared to theirs. Ford Australia has you covered with its new hatchbacks, which actually come with speaker kit designed to amplify the engine noise made by your diminutive sports hatch.
Ford Australia announced the new Ford Focus ST sport hatchback for Australia yesterday, but by far the most interesting thing about the announcement was that Ford’s sound symposer will be bolted onto the cars.
Ford describes the symposer as a device that takes noise generated from the car’s air intake system and funnels them straight into the passenger compartment so that your car sounds fierce as you duck and weave around the streets. The sound tube valve on the Focus is controlled by the driver’s engine speed, accelerator pedal position and gear selection.
The Focus ST sports a 2-litre, 184 kw engine complete with green-friendly Ecoboost features that means it sips 7.4 litres per 100km. The car will go on sale locally in October.