FROM rallying to refined sporting estate, the Ford Focus ST has built up an enormous following.

The Ford Focus ST has become "the" car of choice for thousands of drivers who enjoy their motoring and the brand has been carefully enhanced and developed over the years but it's also become much more refined as in the latest ST-3.

From its WRC beginnings in 1999, the hot hatchback carrying the Focus badge has packed performance with practicality and the latest expands its offering with a loadspace exceeding 1,500 litres max from the usual volume of 476 litres.

So, if you have an active lifestyle or simply need to regularly carry big loads but still want to have some fun behind the wheel, the Focus ST-3 Estate is the version to go for.

It comes only in the higher trim level of the three available and that gets you Windsor leather powered sports front seats as well as Recaro rear offset split back seats, bi-xenon lights and bespoke 18-inch alloys.

This car was also fitted with the worthwhile driver assistance pack including city stop, departure warning and lane keeping aid, traffic sign recognition, and auto high beam for £850 together with a high quality sound system, enhanced navigation and reversing camera for £750.

With these and a few other bits and pieces it came on the road for just over £29,000.

And for what you get that is money well spent when you look at competitive cars which actually give you less in terms of luxury, refinement and performance.

The former five-cylinder 2.5-litre engine has been superseded by a throbby four-pot power house with delightful exhaust note and when matched with the six-speed manual gearbox it has plenty of punch, but you pay for that in the fuel consumption.

The 250ps engine gives smart acceleration, pulls well, and cruises quietly while country roads can be enjoyed with every light and direct gearchange, a delightfully weighted steering with good turning circle and reassuringly powerful but progressive brakes underfoot.

The handbrake holds on steep hills and the wipers clear a big area of windshield and much of the back window, which got very dirty very quickly. Powerwash headlights are a useful standard fit on the Focus ST-3.

The bi-xenon lights are very powerful with a long, broad beam and the pack includes auto-dip and turning assistance.

With the bright lights and big wipers you can confidently press on in bad weather because the traction control sensors cut out front wheel slippage.

Secondary controls are close to hand, well sized and work smoothly while the instruments are fairly clearly marked and you have a useful multi-function computer in the middle.

Heating and ventilation is straightforward and worked well throughout the car, backed by powered windows, and the oddments room was good.

A low boot floot with a sensible shape behind made light work of weekend shopping, moving boxes and sports kit and the ability to fold the back seat down in varying percentages was very useful with longer loads.

Access was excellent throughout and once seated the room was very generous for five. Front seats had plenty of adjustment space and their heating elements proved popular on cold nights. Support was good in the front or back.

For a sporting estate, the ride quality can be a challenging compromise, but in the Focus ST-3 it was a triumph for everyone.

Lightly loaded it was not hard or bouncey, put in some weight and it still rode well and all the time the handling was failsafe and confidence building.

It covered ground easily, quickly and smoothly. My only concern was that even trying to be economical with fuel I could not better 32mpg at any time. My previous ST regularly returned 34mpg and often more with a larger engine.

Having said that, there is little to touch the Ford Focus ST-3 Estate at this price and it provides a roomy sporting drive with spaciousness.