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Thread: Ford Focus Road Test by Motorsportnerd

  1. #1
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    Ford Focus Road Test by Motorsportnerd

    FORD FOCUS ROAD TEST

    Recently I spent a month in New Zealand on vacation and seeing family and friends. During this time I hired a car to get around. The good folks at Hertz gave me a Ford Focus 2.0 hatch. I was glad they didn’t give me an old shape Corolla. The Focus is a car I was keen to drive, so I was happy with what they gave me.
    The example I picked up was silver and had just over 3,000 km on the clock. I added another 3,600 km during the four weeks that I had it.

    In New Zealand, the Focus comes standard with a 2.0 litre 16-valve DOHC Duratec engine producing 107kW@6,000 rpm and 185 Nm@4500 rpm . It costs NZ$31,995 and comes standard with air conditioning, trip computer, leather wrapped steering wheel, power front windows, power mirrors, cruise control, front and side airbags, ABS and a two-speaker stereo with single disc CD player. The car is also meant to come with remote locking. However, when I found the car in the Hertz car park, I noticed that I hadn’t been given a remote locking fob. I assumed that remote locking it wasn’t standard equipment and just used the key. However, when I returned the car I checked with the Hertz representative and was told that a previous hirer had some lost the key. Not bad going for a car that had only been registered for a month when I first picked it up.
    The NZ range includes the sporty Zetec hatch, which gets low profile tyres, alloy wheels and sports suspension and the luxury Ghia hatch. There is also a wagon, available with either the 2.0 litre Duratech or the a turbo-diesel engine.

    The 3,600 km that I covered during the time I had the car included a range of driving conditions from city use, to freeway motoring, lots of miles of NZ’s twisty and badly maintained B-roads and even some miles on unsealed roads.
    The first thing that I noticed about the car as I left the airport is the nicely weighted steering. Being a near new car, I also noticed that the gearbox was still a bit sticky – this freed up with the miles however. Other first impressions were that the tyre noise became rather intrusive as soon as the road surface was less than smooth. However, it the chassis seemed taut and responsive, the engine willing enough, the seats comfortable and it looked like it would swallow plenty of gear – necessary since the car was used to carry lots of gear for family members between Auckland and Kaitaia in the far north of the country.

    When loading the car up with various bits of luggage and junk that was to be taken from my relatives place in Auckland up to their small beach house near Kaitaia, I noticed that the Focus certainly has plenty of luggage capacity and storage compartments – especially with the back seats down.

    I also fiddled around with the trip computer before setting out to Kaitaia. The Focus has electro-hydraulic steering. There is an option in the trip computer settings to adjust the steering setting to either “standard”, “sport” or “comfort”. I selected the sport setting initially. A couple of days later I changed it to “standard” and after deciding that there is very little difference between the two settings I returned it to the “sport” setting and left it there. The “sport” setting allows for fractionally sharper turn-in, but the difference is marginal at best. The adjustment for the steering feel is nothing more than a gimmick in reality, and as Jeremy Clarkson noted in a review of the Focus XR5 on Top Gear, its just something to go wrong.

    Weighing in at 1,327kg, the Focus is not a particularly light car. Road tests suggest that it will run from 0-100km in a bit under 10 seconds. It certainly doesn’t feel that fast. More importantly, the engine struggles to provide sufficient torque in the right parts of the rev-range to allow for easy overtaking. Throw in the fact that New Zealand is a very hilly country and most passing lanes are on steep inclines, and the engine’s lack of low-down and mid-range torque meant that overtaking was often an exercise in frustration.
    The Duratec engine is willing enough enough to rev up 5,000 rpm. The last 1,000 rpm are a waste of time though – using them just results in more noise, not more urge. The engine did free up noticeably during the time I had the car. However, it never became a fireball. The Duratec is not a particularly smooth or flexible engine.
    On flat roads, the performance was adequate – provided the engine was kept in the right zone (in the 3-4,500 rpm rev range). On hills, it was less than adequate. The turbo-diesel with far more low-down and mid-range torque would be a far better engine for New Zealand’s roads and driving conditions. Either that, or the Focus needs to go on a diet. If it weighed less than 1,100kg, it would have far better performance.

    While the Focus’s performance was barely adequate, the most annoying thing about the car was its relative lack of refinement. The Duratec engine is more audible than necessary and doesn’t even make up for this by sounding good. At cruising speeds, it is fine, but not under acceleration.
    However, much worse was the tyre noise. On smooth surfaces, there is decent suppression of tyre noise. The car also rides quite nicely on smooth surfaces. However, smooth surfaced roads are in short supply in New Zealand. On anything other than a smooth surface, the tyre noise is inexcusably loud and sets up an intolerable din throughout the cabin. I’ve driven other cars which are just as bad (the Mazda6 springs to mind). However, at least the Mazda6 made up for its poor tyre noise suppression by being an engaging and sporty drive. Thanks to its lacklustre engine, the Focus is hardly an engaging or sporty drive, thus making the tyre noise even more inexcusable. By all accounts the Focus’s main rival in NZ and Australia – the Mazda3 – suffers from tyre noise even more. I’ve only driving a Mazda3 briefly, but that was enough to suggest that it would be an unbearable companion noise-wise on New Zealand roads.

    Its not all bad news however. The Focus does have generally good chassis dynamics. One has to keep in mind that this car is not meant to be a sports hatch. That role is left to the XR5 Turbo, which is to be released in the NZ market in early 2008. Allowing for the fact that the base Focus’s role in life is as medium size urban commuter capable of inter-city trips when needed, the car has pretty good dynamics.
    The steering is particularly impressive. Not feather light like some Japanese rivals (the Corolla and Civic spring to mind), the steering will seem quite heavy to some drivers. However, keen drivers will appreciate this extra weighting, which provides a sense of firmness and directness. The steering provides decent levels of feedback, relatively sharp turn-in and is generally crisp and nice to use.
    The chassis itself is commendable stiff and the handling surprisingly adjustable. The Focus has relatively neutral handling, but it will understeer in typical front-wheel drive fashion when pushing harder through corners. However, because the car is very responsive to the steering, understeer can be kept easily kept under control. The car is quite fun in very tight and twisty cornering, once allowances have been made for the comfort settings of the suspension.
    Unfortunately, its not all good news on the dynamics front. The chassis is let down by low-grade 195/55 R16 Goodyear tyres which lack grip and by poor damping. On uneven surfaces, the car will pitch and bounce, which upsets the car’s balance and turn-in. Bumps mid corner will also upset it quite badly. Since the car sits quite high, there is also more body roll than is desirable. Better tyres, a lower centre of gravity and improved damping would sort all this out. I have no doubt that the sporty Zetec with its sports suspension and 205/50 R17 tyres would eliminate these criticisms and would exploit the Focus’s chassis potential far better.
    It must also be pointed out that the Focus has a quite comfortable smooth ride on good roads. However, as with tyre noise and general refinement, the ride tends to be noisy and a little choppy on anything other than smooth roads.

    The Focus is quite big for a small-medium car. It is certainly wider than I remember any of its rivals (I’ve driven the Astra, Civic, Mazda3 and Corolla over short dealer-test drive routes). The seats are firm, but quite comfortable for long distance motoring. The instruments are easy to read. However, the switchgear is scattered and initially confusing. I don’t really like the steering wheel audio controls – which sit on a “wand” sticking out from the steering column. The wand looks like an afterthought and feels flimsy.
    Fit and finish is to a high standard, with no rattles and tight panel gaps. This is a relatively cheap car, and this is noticeable in the expanse of hard-wearing, coarse feeling black plastic. It looks very hard wearing and should last, but its not exactly high quality in appearance or feel. The centre consol has a silver surround that also looks cheap and will be easily scratched.

    By far the best thing about the Focus was its impressive fuel economy. I finished up recording figures of 7.4L/100km (31.8mpg) for the 3,600km for a combination of 70% open road/30% city driving.

    To sum up, the Focus is a practical, comfortable hatch with reasonable dynamics that needs to go back to school for refinement lessons.

    RATINGS
    Practicality 8/10
    Performance 5/10
    Engine 6/10
    Economy 8.5/10
    Handling 7/10
    Steering 8/10
    Ride 6/10
    Comfort 8/10
    Refinement 3/10
    Quality 5/10
    Overall 5/10

    Likes: steering, handling, space/practicality, economy
    Dislikes: refinement, tyre noise, barely adequate performance
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    Last edited by motorsportnerd; 01-14-2008 at 02:08 AM.
    UCP's biggest Ford Sierra RS500 and BMW M3 E30 fan. My two favourite cars of all time.

  2. #2
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    Cheers mate, always nice to read a candid review of the cars that people actually buy. From an UCP point of view.. which of its class would you buy?

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    nice review...
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    It feels odd to see a 2-litre Focus (the top of the line petrol, ST excepted) in such a low spec.

    Good review, by the way.
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    I wrote up a group test of cars in the $15,000 range (About £31,000, no sarcasm this time) for the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, Arkansas. This was with the old-shape Focus us Yanks had in 2007. Your review confirms my suspicion that the previous-generation Focus was the better driver's car.

    You write well. Best of luck to you.
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    Quote Originally Posted by LandQuail View Post
    I wrote up a group test of cars in the $15,000 range (About £31,000, no sarcasm this time) for the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, Arkansas. This was with the old-shape Focus us Yanks had in 2007. Your review confirms my suspicion that the previous-generation Focus was the better driver's car.

    You write well. Best of luck to you.
    Er... I believed you used the wrong operation. To convert from dollars to pounds, one must divide by 2.

    So.... $15K = £7500
    I'm dropping out to create a company that starts with motorcycles, then cars, and forty years later signs a legendary Brazilian driver who has a public and expensive feud with his French teammate.

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    ^ no no, divide by zero.
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    Quote Originally Posted by kingofthering View Post
    Er... I believed you used the wrong operation. To convert from dollars to pounds, one must divide by 2.

    So.... $15K = £7500
    Actually things are awfully expensive in the UK, so he was right.
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    Considering A) the way in Which NZ roads are renowned for being a bit driver-friendly and B) the reputation the Focus has for handling excellence, it's quite disappointing to see you weren't pleased with the vehicle.

    Lucky you didn't buy one :P
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    Quote Originally Posted by clutch-monkey View Post
    ^ no no, divide by zero.
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    Quote Originally Posted by pimento View Post
    Cheers mate, always nice to read a candid review of the cars that people actually buy. From an UCP point of view.. which of its class would you buy?
    Back in June 2007, I was seriously considering buying a brand new car in this class. In fact, I almost bought the Focus Zetec. As it turns out, I'm glad I didn't.
    However, at the time I drove the Honda Civic, Holden Astra, Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 as well as the Focus.
    I preferred the Civic and if I had decided to buy a car in this class I would've bought a Honda Civic VTi-L. The reason? I preferred the Civic's big car ride and refinement levels compared with the others. Yet, in the short drive from the dealer's it still seemed to have decent dynamic capability.
    However, while my head was telling me to be sensible and buy a smaller car, I tend to prefer large cars, so I decided to buy a used luxury spec family sedan instead - a 2003 Ford Fairmont.
    If I was repeating the exercise today, I'd be interested in the new Mitsubishi Lancer range - particularly the VRX. If I ever drive one I'll let you know if I prefer that to the Civic.
    UCP's biggest Ford Sierra RS500 and BMW M3 E30 fan. My two favourite cars of all time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by IBrake4Rainbows View Post
    Considering A) the way in Which NZ roads are renowned for being a bit driver-friendly and B) the reputation the Focus has for handling excellence, it's quite disappointing to see you weren't pleased with the vehicle.

    Lucky you didn't buy one :P
    Yes, lucky. I do think the Zetec version with the sports suspension would've solved my quibbles over the base car's dynamics. After all, the base car had a decent chassis, just it was slightly flawed. However, the Zetec would not have been any more refined, so I doubt I would've changed the final conclusion much.
    UCP's biggest Ford Sierra RS500 and BMW M3 E30 fan. My two favourite cars of all time.

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    I think you'll find many people are willing to forgive a little NVH issues for a sporty drive.

    For proof, Simply look at the popularity of the Mazda3, essentially a similar car, similar problems, MUCH better sales.
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    Quote Originally Posted by motorsportnerd View Post
    Yes, lucky. I do think the Zetec version with the sports suspension would've solved my quibbles over the base car's dynamics. After all, the base car had a decent chassis, just it was slightly flawed. However, the Zetec would not have been any more refined, so I doubt I would've changed the final conclusion much.
    what turbo diesel was on offer? the 1.6 TDci?
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    Quote Originally Posted by IBrake4Rainbows View Post
    I think you'll find many people are willing to forgive a little NVH issues for a sporty drive.

    For proof, Simply look at the popularity of the Mazda3, essentially a similar car, similar problems, MUCH better sales.
    Thats moreso because the vast majority of Ford dealers are only interested in you if you want a Falcon (a little thing called marketing never hurt either i suppose). The local products generate more profit for them and theyve got more to move on with the price. The Focus has seemingly always been plaqued with supply issues as well, be it the original European sourced models or the later South African sourced models. You'd hope both would be gone after 2011 when they start producing them locally.
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