Ford Focus Review

Ford brought their hugely successful Focus model onto the car scene back in 1998 and since then Ford have sold over 12 million worldwide. With one being built every ninety seconds at eight manufacturing plants around the world Ford are now into their updated third generation. Available as a five door and an estate the facelifted Focus is sportier in looks, the now recognisable trapezoid grille has made its way onto the front of the car with a new bonnet and headlamps.

In 1998 it launched with five powertrains, now it has twelve making it the most fuel efficient line up ever. The choice includes the multiple award winning Engine of the Year, the 1.0-litre petrol EcoBoost and the 1.5-litre EcoBoost, which is available with 150PS and 182PS. We drove the 182PS version and it’s a good, powerful engine, which makes it fun thrashing it around hillside passes and with the six-speed gearbox it also cruises well on motorways.

A 1.5-litre TDCi diesel is also available with 95PS or 120PS and the 2.0-litre TDCi quiet diesel has 150PS available with a manual or PowerShift Automatic tranmission, the latter has the optional steering wheel paddle shifts. The 185PS variant comes as a six-speed manual.

On the roads steering is very agile, there is plenty of grip into corners as the Torque Vectoring Control assists with balancing the torque to the front wheels, so it makes the Focus fun to drive as you’ll feel you can really push it to its limits and have plenty of faith in the grip levels. A revised suspension makes for a stable and comfortable ride, so all in all it’s a vast improvement for the Focus.

Ford claim this is the most refined Focus they’ve ever produced as the exterior has been completely restyled and the interior incorporates a lot of new, advanced technology. Ford have improved road noise in the cabin so it’s now relatively quiet and although the petrol engines can be quite noisy at high revs, the diesels are much more refined.

The cabin has an even better premium feel with added chrome finishes and inserts, seats are very comfortable and easily adjusted.

An 8-inch touch screen dominates the centre console, which now has less buttons and switches and the Focus was the first model in Europe to feature their advanced connectivity system SYNC 2. Voice activated it can link to your smartphone and adjust climate control, play music and assist with navigation. The advantage of the SYNC 2 system is that you don’t have to take your eyes off the road or your hands off the wheel to make everything work, which can only be a good thing.

We drove it in the Titanium trim with equipment that includes Sync 2, a heated steering wheel, keyless entry, 17-inch alloy wheels, partial leather, door edge protectors and a rearview camera.

The Ford Focus feels roomy, rear passengers have plenty of leg and headroom but the boot can only hold 316 litres, that is way less than the Volkswagen Golf which is disappointing. If you still require a bigger capacity then the Focus estate is worth considering as that has a load space of 476 litres, but even that is way off their rivals.

Interior storage is much improved including an adjustable centre bin slider, which is ideal at stopping drinks bottles tipping when you’re on the move. There is room in the centre console for smartphone devices which can be connected through a USB port.

It is priced from £13,995 making it much more affordable than rivals such as the Nissan Pulsar and Mazda 3, which are a few thousand more.

Ford can do no wrong with the Focus, it has been the world’s best selling car for the past few years and looks likely to continue that success.

It is ideally suited to buyers looking for a car that is packed full of driving and connectivity technology, reliability, design and improved fuel efficiency.

Fuel consumption is around the 83mpg mark on the 1.5-litre TDCi with just 88g/km of CO2 emissions so running costs will be really good, go for the 1-litre EcoBoost petrol engine and it will emit just 99g/km of CO2 so there will be no Vehicle Excise Duty to pay.

There are plenty of ways to maximise fuel consumption on the Focus, a visual aid on the instrument panel tells the driver when to change gear and the Eco Mode system assesses driving and gives pointers on how to improve fuel economy.

Ford have really improved the cabin, there is still quite a lot of use of plastics but the look and feel is of a much more modern and higher quality interior.

Ford have struggled with customer satisfaction of the Focus, especially with the previous generation and in last year’s JD Power Survey it didn’t make the top ten in the best brands category, but a recent survey has it coming out on top as the UK’s most trusted automotive brand.

In 2010 it was the most advanced car in the segment and this new generation looks like it will hold on to that title as it became the first car to win four Advanced Safety Rewards for its new safety technologies from the safety body Euro NCAP. With five stars in the tests it has also achieved an accolade as the Best in Class in the Small Family Car category.

Advanced driving technologies come on the Focus including the hands-free Perpendicular Parking which helps you to reverse into a space alongside other cars, Active Park Assist, Cross Traffic Alert, Adaptive Cruise Control and the Active City Stop collision avoidance system, which will help to avoid an accident in slow moving traffic.

Ford Easy-Fuel is a great addition that stops the mistake of filling up the Focus with the wrong fuel as the nozzle simply won’t fit.