Ford Focus MkII

I’d been anticipating this drive for so long, it felt strange when the moment finally came. Not that the car was weird or anything, I just wondered if it justified all the hoopla surrounding it…

Legacy
You see, my trusty MkI (but facelifted) Focus has done valiant duty for over three years and 115,000 km now, surviving the occasional g-force abuse and repeated snide comments about reliability and resale value along the way. It’s not let me down yet, and needless to say, I love it to bits. The adventurous styling still looks fresh after more than six years into production, the cabin and boot space are right up there with the best, the controls are simply-laid out with flawless ergonomics, and of course, there’s the drive.

Much has been written about the way the Focus rewrote the rulebooks regarding the way a mass-market family car should negotiate bends, so I’ll be brief. You will search in vain for a more finely honed front-drive chassis costing similar money, or for more precise and confidence-inspiring steering, regardless of asking price. Saying it was the class dynamic benchmark was like saying Michael Jordan was a decent basketball player.

But as with all things, it’s not perfect. The clutch has a high-ish biting point that takes getting used to, the low-speed ride is a little fidgety, wind and road noise kick in surprisingly early, and the 99hp engine lacks low-end grunt. Niggles for sure, and one that left me wondering about the follow-up, especially since the competition has closed the gap considerably in recent years.

Re-introduction
Wednesday was my first meeting with MkII. I can’t say it was love at first sight, because in my mind, the original still looks better. Each line and crease had purpose and destination, while the new car is a smoothened chocolate bar by comparison. Oh, and did someone say ‘Mondeo’? We had a chance to see both siblings side by side, and I’m convinced Ford saved a lot of design time by simply shrinking the Mondy’s front and rear lights, and morphing the bigger car to fit the new Ford/Volvo/Mazda chassis. After making cutting edge looks acceptable to the mainstream, this is nothing short of a regression. It manages to be handsome especially on the lovely five-spoke 17” wheels, but the Renault Megane and Opel Astra are far more striking.

Inside things are just as conservative. In an effort to out-Golf the Golf, Ford has gone the whole hog to make the dash look, well, boring. Straight lines and right angles replace swoops and slashes, and only anoraks would be able to see the oval vents as a visual nod to the previous car. The major controls are quite lovely to touch, and the top of the dash is moulded from soft feel materials. But move away from the driver’s personal space and things start turning quite grim. Scratchy plastics on the doors and ill-fitting door handle surrounds aren’t convincing at all.

And what’s this – blank switches? Now while most of you will not be surprised at having buttons in cars that don’t actually do anything, let it be known that my Focus has no blanks at all, and not because it was top-spec either. When a particular function wasn’t available, what the designers did was to combine two switches into one big button, rendering the whole ‘blank’ problem moot. And now… um, I’ve already said ‘regression’, haven’t I?

But my biggest static problem with the new car is the boot. Sure, the sedan is now actually prettier than the hatch (an odd reversal of fortunes compared with the MkI), but with the less frumpy looks there’s only 465 litres of luggage space, compared with the previous 490 litres. And what’s worse, it will not be able to swallow my daughter’s child seat upright, due to the reduced height. The hatch claims the largest boot in it’s class, on the other hand – 385 litres – and while it’s deep, it could again benefit from being a little taller. Blame the inclusion of a full size spare then.

So I walked away that day feeling slightly disappointed. It would need to produce a hell of a drive to impress.

Acid Test
At last on Saturday I got to do more than prod and poke at the plastics. Launch day saw us being ushered into a darkened room with loud music and lots of smoke. And amidst all the rah-rah-ing, the black curtain pulled back to reveal more static cars. Great. I left the others to ooh and ahh, and headed straight for a test drive. Along the way, I struck up a conversation with another current Focus owner, who agreed with my less-than-glowing initial impressions of the car. Sharing the same SE, he hopped into the test car as well when my turn came up. Not a wise move, my friend…

Now it may look different, but the new cabin certainly works as well as the old. If anything, there’s a better all-round range of adjustment for both seat and wheel, so I can avoid the slightly high-perched driving position of my own car. A wheelbase stretch of 25mm to 2640mm also means those at the back are just that bit more comfortable. And the middle rear passenger isn’t subjected to a head massage from the roof lining, an affliction of both the Volvo and Mazda cousins.

The information display between the chrome-ringed dials is a useful step up, telling you exactly which door isn’t properly closed, and thus avoiding those embarrassing circling-and-slamming routines I’ve had to endure. The left indicator stalk lets you fool around with the standard trip computer’s geeky details, while at the same time switches the gearbox’s behaviour between ‘Adaptive’ and ‘Sport’. I left it in the latter setting and hoped for the best.

The autobox allows for manual shifts, as well as the lazy ‘D’. The good news is that the quality of the shifts are excellent – butter-smooth and near-indiscernible. The bad news is that the speed of gear-swapping leaves much to be desired – I guess by ‘Sport’ Ford must have been referring to chess.

Not that the engine helped much. In yet another brilliant marketing move, Regent Motors decided to bring in the weedy 100hp engine variant, as opposed to its high-tech, variable-valve timing 115hp alternative. So between the gearbox’s leisurely responses, powerplant’s lack of power and the extra weight, you could quite rightly conclude that building up momentum isn’t one of the new Focus’ fortes.

But once at speed things brighten considerably. The cabin remains quiet and relaxed, apart from a little engine noise. The new electro-hydraulic steering works well, and being speed-sensitive means that it remains light at parking speeds, while weighting up nicely at higher velocities. Slowing down is not a problem either, the brakes being both meaty and progressive. And very effective – the afore-mentioned Focus owner must have regretted his decision to join me when I did an unannounced ABS test.

And when we entered some corners, the Focus really rolled up its sleeves and dug in. The chassis at once stable and nimble, with fabulous body control, accomplishing whatever you ask of it without batting an eyelid. It comes with ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) as standard, and the system reacts to on-the-limit situations such as a wet road, by easing off the throttle and braking the appropriate wheels where necessary. It works flawlessly but I suspect on a dry road under good circumstances one could do without it, because the balance of the car is so inherently predictable.

I attacked the same corner a couple of times, going faster each round, but the Focus just tucked in and shrugged it off, providing fine adjustability all the way. When the chassis, steering, throttle and brakes work in concert like this, you have more time to think and react to the conditions, instead of fighting the car’s waywardness. And that is why I’ll take active safety over a gazillion airbags any day.

The one dynamic disappointment was the level of absolute grip available - I took on the same bends in my car after the test and pulled through with much less squealing rubber. Okay, I’ll put that down to the comfort-oriented nature of the test car’s tyres and their higher profile (195/65-15 vs 195/60-15 of the MkI). The new Focus looks like a sissy anyway on 15” wheels, upgrade to 16”s or better yet 17”s if you get the chance.

Decisions
The Focus sedan costs $76,900 at launch, while the hatch commands an additional $1,000 premium. At this price, the Megane and Astra are it’s closest competition. Citroen’s C4 should be in the fight, but is absurdly $10,000 dearer, straying perilously close the Golf territory. If one was looking for a hatch, I’d have to bite my lip and go with the Opel. It’s far better-looking than the Focus, is generally better finished inside, and more importantly, has a superior engine gearbox combination. The Renault has the most comfortable ride of the bunch and the most toys, but the shortened wheelbase compared with the saloon robs it of valuable space.

However,there isn’t an Astra 4 door (yet), so if a sedan is needed then the choice is between the Focus and Megane. Here the French car wins the space race, especially in the boot, which is positively massive. The Focus though is not just wheeled transport, it’s a driving tool. And for keen drivers you still cannot find a better car in its class. The newcomer has been honed to achieve a refinement the MkI lacked, and yet its dynamic attributes are as precise as ever. I know I’d pick the Focus, but it wins only by a razor-thin margin.