Focus shows why we’re big on estates

Ford blends space with a sporty drive

WHILE the world, or at least Europe, has fallen in love with the crossover, I remain doggedly loyal to a much more traditional form of family car – the estate.

There’s something very British about it; dogs, picnics in the countryside and seaside holidays.

We used to buy more of them than our continental cousins, and still do.

I’ve owned plenty over the years, from Citroens to Subarus to the iconic and bulletproof Mercedes-Benz E-Class (the W124 model from the late 80s). So we kick off this road test of the new Ford Focus estate in a positive frame of mind.

One of my first cars was an Escort estate and I went on to have several. Attractive they were, too. As is this one.

We’re testing the ST-Line version which looks particularly good with its sexily styled alloy wheels, rear spoiler and body kit. It rides 10mm lower than the other estate models which gives it a more purposeful stance.

The car’s vital statistics are an overall length 290mm longer than the five-door hatchback, but with an identical wheelbase. There’s no extra legroom in the front of the car so you won’t know you’re in the estate version, but rear seat passengers will as there’s a bit more headroom. Of course the whole point in paying your extra £1,080 over the price of the hatchback is to get extra luggage space.

Seats up, the Focus gives you 608 litres – folded, it’s 1,653 litres. That’s more than you’ll get in a

VW Golf estate but still not as spacious as Skoda’s capacious Octavia.

Neither of those cars are as enjoyable to drive as this one by some margin though. Our test car is fitted with Ford’s excellent new 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine which produces 180bhp. It’s the same as used in the Fiesta ST but with 20bhp less poke.

It’s got character, sounds interesting but is quiet at cruising speeds. The six-speed manual gearbox is slick, almost as good as the fourspeed in my old Escort wagon.

Inside you get the same interior as the hatch, which means a neatly organised dash with intuitive controls and a much better touchscreen infotainment system than the one fitted to the previous Focus.

A host of options are available, including a good choice of safety related systems. The quality of trim is not quite up to Audi standards, but it’s close enough. There are a few hard plastic surfaces but they’re tucked away below.

It’s easy to get comfortable in the Focus as there’s plenty of seat and steering wheel adjustment.

The ST-Line’s lowered suspension gives a more sporty flavour of handling compared to the regular estate, with more responsive steering and less roll when going through corners.

But comfort hasn’t been sacrificed. The estate gets slightly revised suspension settings compared to the hatchback to make allowance for the likely heavier loads it’ll be carrying thanks to its bigger boot. But you’d be hard pressed to feel the difference in handling between the two versions.

Our ST-Line test car costs £26,400, which sounds a lot, but because virtually all will be bought through finance that cash price is pretty irrelevant.

Plenty of other trim levels are available including Ford’s posh leather and wood Vignale – and there’s going to be an Active version later.

The ST-Line is the one for me though. It looks great. It’s fast – and it out-drives all its rivals.

It looks great. It’s fast and it out-drives all its rivals