Ford Focus

A recent facelift has seen the Focus back near the top of the class. The blue oval family favourite now adds desirability to its exceptional driving dynamics.

Auto Express Car Reviews

Rating:
Latest deal price: from £11,559 to £20,146
On the road price: £16,995 - £23,995
For : + (For) Stylish facelift, ride and handling, impressive diesels
Against : - (Against) Average retained values, cabin still looks dated

Styling/Image

The second generation Focus lost the sharp lines that made the original so eye-catching. Thankfully, the facelift has remedied that, bringing a subtle and sophisticated new look. The Coupe-Convertible lets the side down with an ill-proportioned rear end, but the estate remains handsome as well as practical. There is also a four-door saloon, but the hatchback versions offer more versatility for the same price.

Interior/Practicality

Ford has simplified the trim line-up, with Style, Studio, Zetec and Titanium models making up the bulk of the range. The entry-level Style offers great value if you can live without air-con. But we’d recommend the mid-range Zetec, which has all the kit you’ll need. Inside, cabin space is class competitive, although it lacks oddment stowage. Opening the tailgate reveals a 385-litre boot on the hatch, while the estate is capable of packing in 1,525-litres.

Engine/Performance

For most, the excellent diesel engines will represent the best choice. The 1.6 TDCi the best of the bunch and successfully mixes zest, fuel economy and refinement. There’s also 1.8 TDCi with 113bhp and a punchy 134bhp 2.0-litre oil-burner. Petrol fans have the choice of five units. The 1.4- litre feels underpowered, the 1.6 and 1.8-litre petrol engines give adequate performance, while the 2.0-litre is surprisingly rapid. The flagship Focus ST gets the characterful 222bhp 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo, which allows it to scorch from zero to 60mph in 6.8 seconds.

Driving experience

The Focus tops the class when it comes to driving enjoyment, with a composed ride, agile handling and well-weighted steering. The Zetec adds sports suspension, which features stiffer springs to sharpen the handling even further. Sadly the CC convertible can’t match the rest of the range for driver enjoyment, as its bodyshell suffers from too much flex. A new dual-clutch transmission, dubbed PowerShift, is available with the 2.0 TDCi and is well worth the extra cash.

Ownership Costs

A mixed bag here, with decent running costs offset below par residuals. After three years, the Ford will be worth around 35 per cent of its original value, lagging behind the VW Golf and Honda Civic. On the plus side, you should be able to negotiate a healthy discount on the list price. Better still, Ford has a vast dealer network and servicing costs are inexpensive.

Safety/Environment

Ford’s ECOnetic technology made its debut on the Focus. Thanks to an aerodynamic bodykit, low rolling resistance tyres and taller gear ratios, the 1.6-litre oil burner will return 65.7mpg and emits just 115g/km of CO2. However, the standard car with same engine is hardly eco-unfriendly, delivering 62.7mpg at the pumps and 119g/km of CO2. However, plump for the ST and you’ll struggle to get fuel economy above 25mpg. Electronic stability control is standard across the range, as is the five-star EuroNCAP rating.

Our Choice: 1.6 TDCi Zetec

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3 Comments

Yaaaawwwwwnnn

Dress it up however you like - it's still a boring car driven by boring people with no imagination.

By Scampscat on 22 September, 2010, 4:07pm

AGREE

Its ugly and the news dos'nt look much different thats why ive just bought the new astra sri. Ford really do need some young people to design there cars instead of the old fogees there using now!

By asho44 on 15 October, 2010, 12:35pm

Rattlin 1.6 TDCi Diesel Titanium Estate 2006 60K miles

I jumped into a 1.6 Diesel TDCI TItanium Estate that belonged to a friend, she has always driven it with the radio on, so she never heard the engine rattling. I got in, turned the radio off to be able to talk to her and my god it sounded like the rockers were about to jump out of the cam cover, especially power on !

Unfortunately I was half way across France when I took over driving this car, so gently back to the nearest port and after getting off the ferry it only made another 150 miles.

The cam bolt snapped and the cam chain tensioner jammed in the cam chain and the Cam belt pulley dropped off the camshaft. Oh what a mess, at 60K this engine should not be like this, more especially as it was serviced in line with expectation and had only recently undergone a full service.

Now after Ford's determined that a new engine was required, I find that the new engine won't run correctly either, it too rattles, and we are not talking Diesel knock here. So, off to the Ford Main agents that fitted the new engine and they tell us its OK.

No its not, the noise is getting worse, so it goes back to the Main Agents, they tell us it needs new injectors, £ 2200,00 plus.

So not believing them I take the car to specialist injector engineers, guess what we have experimental injectors fitted not listed by Ford's.

So now we go back on the history of the car ajnd find that it was a Ford owned car that did 9000 miles in its first six months, one has to think by now that Ford's have let a car out on to market to get rid of it, unfortuantely they didn't tell the Main Agents that it was non standard.

Now I have had to pay good money to find this out and my next step of course is to let everyone know that my friends hard earnt was orginally spent on what lookefd to be a nice ex demonstrator and now another £4380.00 on a reconditioned engine and now it seems another £ 2200.00 on injectors, plus of course every time you change bits there is a further cost.

The car is a 2006 car just under a year outside warrantee and with a major set of faults like this I have to take the Retailer to Court for not selling an item that was fit for the purpose.

Will Ford's reimburse the dealer? For fear of losing their Franchise the poor dealer won't even ask, I suppose, what a terrible set of circumstances.

The big loser of course is the retired lady that owns it, she has no way of recouping her money and as an OAP with no income, she now has to drive the car into the ground and get more than her money's worth out of it, is this fair?

Absolutely not.

Step up Ford's put this lady out of her misery. You caused the problem, so fix it.

By RACEMECHANIC on 16 November, 2010, 6:31pm

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Pictures

Ford Focus