We've seen it 1,000 times: A carmaker puts out a vehicle that has X number of horsepower and 15 seconds later some tuner has hacked into the mainframe and dialed it up to Y horsepower without even trying. Tuners don't have to worry about things like "longevity" "reliability" "fuel economy" or "warranty claims" you see. They just do it.
Ford couldn't just do it with the 2013 Focus ST, but they have split the difference by offering a brief but triumphant burst of torque that extends peak torque from 3,000 rpm to 4,5000 rpm for 15 seconds.
"The turbo itself is specified for sustained, high-output performance, but they've programmed the car's computer to dial in more boost past 3,000 rpm to give it that extra something," says Ford marketing manager / engineer Lisa Schoder. "We limit peak turbo boost to maintain a wide margin of safety and durability over the life of the car, but overboost is cool in that it tweaks more acceleration through the turbo for brief periods for performance-hungry drivers."
2013 Ford Focus ST Gets 15-Second 'Overboost' Feature
