Ford Focus Estate

It's really hard being part of a talented and popular family. Regardless of your own attributes, there’s a danger of being overshadowed. And that’s what has happened to this car.

The latest Ford Focus range is hugely capable. Top seller is the hatch, while the C-MAX compact MPV is the most practical and the hard-top CC the most glamorous. There’s now even a rugged off-road version, in the shape of the recently launched Kuga.

So, where does that leave the Focus Estate? A true unsung hero, in our view! It costs £850 more than the hatch, and is also £350 pricier than the equivalent C-MAX. But we think it still has a lot to offer.

It can’t match the other variants for style. Even though the recent updates to the Focus range give the front end a sharper look, in profile, the load-lugger simply isn’t as attractive. From the C-pillar backwards, the square shape looks workmanlike rather than stylish. Of course, the trade-off for this is the vast amount of luggage space it frees up. There’s a huge 475 litres with the seats in place. This extends to 1,525 litres with them folded – 79 litres and 267 litres bigger than the hatchback respectively.

On paper, the C-MAX looks the most practical choice – it has 473 litres with the seats up and 1,633 litres once they’re down. But it’s not as clear cut as that. While the MPV’s bigger load area is brought about by its taller dimensions, the estate has a longer and more flexible floor space. And to get the maximum capacity in the C-MAX, you have to remove the heavy individual rear seats – and then find somewhere to store them.

This isn’t necessary in the Focus Estate – it has a traditional set-up, so you simply tumble the rear seatbases against the front seats, then flip down the backs, and you have a totally flat load space.

It’s also worth remembering that no matter how smart the C-MAX looks, not everyone wants to own a compact MPV– especially as the entertaining driving experience of the standard Ford hatch is carried over better to the estate than it is to the C-MAX. This is largely thanks to the load-lugger’s lower centre of gravity.

So, it’s not as fashionable as the rest of the family, and doesn’t pretend to be a ‘lifestyle’ model as many modern carriers do. Instead, the Focus Estate simply does what it says on the tin – and because there’s nothing wrong with a good, old-fashioned estate, it’s refreshingly capable.

Details

Price: £17,895
Model tested: 1.6 TDCi Zetec