A SHARPER FOCUS Philip Nolan
Twenty years on and Ford’s model is only getting better and better FORD FOCUS
IT’S hard to believe the Ford Focus turned 20 this year. On its debut, it was a bit of a gamechanger in the blue oval world, replacing the ageing Escort (my dad had one in a hideous sludge brown) with a car that looked fresh and contemporary.
Of course, with all that has come since, the design cues of that first Focus are long gone, and this all-new fourth generation of the car once again reinvents the C-segment superstar.
The new silhouette, Ford says, is the most aerodynamic in its class, with a long bonnet and beefy rear haunches. Each of the trim lines is slightly different – there are satin aluminium details on the Vignale exterior; a large spoiler and open front apertures on the ST-Line version I tested; and contrast silver front and rear skid plates on the forthcoming Active.
The ST-Line has the sportiest look, inside and out. There’s a special body kit with dual chrome exhausts, ST-Line scuff plates, and a flat-bottom steering wheel and sports pedals.
The engine in my test car was the threecylinder 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol, long a favourite of the jury at the World Engine Awards. It’s sparky and lively, and it takes the Focus from 0-100kph in a tidy 10 seconds. One thing that hasn’t changed is the ride and handling of the car, always a Focus strength and now even more improved. For the first time in a Focus, I detected a real go-kart feel, a sense of being utterly at one with the car, not least because of a new steering set-up that feels extra responsive when you leave the main roads and open the engine up on country lanes.
When you’re coasting on the motorway, the car deactivates one of the cylinders, saving on fuel and emissions, and it seamlessly and unnoticeably kicks back in when you need a power boost. All very impressive.
This also is the best-connected Ford to date, and while almost all the additions are playing catch-up with technologies we’ve seen before on rival models, they’re still very welcome to the party. In particular, you can opt for FordPass Connect onboard modem (free for three months, then €19.99 a month, or €125 a year, with Vodafone), turning the vehicle into a mobile wifi hotspot with connectivity for up to 10 devices. The system also offers live traffic updates on the satnav. With the FordPass mobile app, you also can easily locate your car if you park in an unfamiliar location, or even in the airport car park when you get back from Spain and can’t remember where you dumped it. You can lock and unlock the car from your phone too, check fuel levels, and even actually start it.
For compatible phones, there’s also a wireless charging pad and Bluetooth connectivity for your Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. And, as an option, there’s also a new 675-watt B&O PLAY sound system.
Inside, the car feels less cluttered and more spacious, thanks to an extra five centimetres of space between the front and rear wheels compared to the outgoing model. That allows for class-leading legroom for rear seat passengers and an additional six centimetres shoulder space. My test car came with an optional sunroof that greatly added to the feeling of airiness and light, and the cabin materials are much improved (the ST-Line has carbon fibreeffect finishes and red stitching on the upholstery).
Advanced driver assistance technologies available include adaptive cruise control, stop and go that automatically brakes the car in city traffic, speed sign recognition, lane centring, adaptive front lighting with predictive curve mode to maximise illumination on bends, lane marking monitoring up to 65 metres ahead, glare-free high beam for night driving, active parking assist, driver attention detection and, a first for Ford in Europe, optional head-up display.
The addition of a lot of these systems added over €7,000 to the base price of my test car – the eight-inch touchsreen with navigation is €550, the head-up display €530, and so on. To be honest, if you have the money, spend it – you never can shell out too much for safety.
All in all, this easily is the best Focus to date. Everything that was good has not only been retained but enhanced, and everything that’s new is confident and assured. After 20 years, some carmakers might take their eye off the ball – Ford, thankfully, has retained a very clear focus on what matters and made it all better.