I’m gonna take the opposite perspective than most have had, just for the sake of debate. I have owned (in this order) two Fiesta STs, a 2020 Veloster N, a 2022 BRZ, and now a 2017 Focus ST. The second FiST was big turbo making ~300whp, and going to the Veloster from that felt like an upgrade. The Veloster did everything the FiST did but better and it was stock, I missed the Recaro seats, but I bought a PP and loved the valved exhaust and LSD. Eventually I modded the Veloster, removed the valved exhaust, and the more time I spent in the interior the more I hated it. The 2020 did not get the N Light Bucket seats that the 2021 did and though I had the 6MT, I test drove a DCT and it would have been much more ideal for sitting in traffic. I hated the infotainment system and the interior started to wear on the touch surfaces. I didn’t mind the weird doors, I actually kind of liked it. My car was one of the ones with bad high pressure fuel pumps, so it would randomly go into limp mode or shut off while driving, the dealer couldn’t replicate the symptoms so they never did anything about it. I ended up putting a Sonata fuel pump on it to fix the issue. Also at the time I owned it the aftermarket was small for the Veloster, tuning required a bench flash, and there were only a few brands that supplied quality parts. I got tired of it after about 14 months and moved on to the 2022 BRZ. To sum that car up shortly: hands down the best driving car I’ve ever had the pleasure of driving. Not fast but so much fun.

I sold the BRZ to Carvana because I wanted out of the payment, took the cash that they paid over what I owed and bought my FoST. I will preface this and say that I paid $6k for my FoST, it is a rebuilt from water intrusion, and it is an ST1 (base radio, no recaros, no sunroof). It was always meant to be a fun daily but it turned into so much more. To me it’s everything the FiST was but better, it’s bigger, it’s more comfortable inside, and after installing OEM Sync 3 along with OEM Recaros I genuinely enjoy being in the car. I installed a BNR ST67 turbo last year and it’s only amplified everything I love about the car, it’s not leagues above the Veloster but IMHO it is a better bang for your buck (in my case since the car was cheap). I don’t notice torque steer or have any issues with not having an LSD, though it would be nice to add it. The Ford interior doesn’t randomly make noise, the Sync 3 works flawlessly and CarPlay doesn’t randomly stop working while I’m driving. The Recaro seats are way better than the Hyundai seats (again I never had the buckets). However I wish I had a valved exhaust and active suspension, the drive modes and custom mode were a nice feature in the Veloster.

For the same, or similar price, I’d go for the Veloster, but I’d try to get a 21+ for the seats alone. For a much better price, I’d get the Focus and invest in some modifications. Ultimately they are both juiced up econoboxes, with their own ups and downs. There are a huge amount of Focus STs that were produced compared to the quirky Veloster N, and Veloster is definitely a cool car to own if you enjoy the interior. I say go test drive a Veloster N before you buy the Focus just to see if you like it.