Ford Focus
You get two types of people in the world. VW people and Ford people. My dad is a Ford man. His dad was a Ford man. No prizes for guessing that I’m a bit of a Ford man myself.
The reason I bring this up is because I don’t see many options in the mid range hatch back market that will provide anything that isn’t in a Golf or a Focus. Which therefore means the minorities like Renault don’t really get a mention. Anyway if you’re looking to waste your precious cash on what I feel is a Citi Golf in a fancy dress outfit then go buy the Golf 6. It’s overpriced and under-named even if it is an exceptional car. If it’s good value you’re after, stick around to see what’s what.
Ford have always had a bit of cult status thanks to some winning performances back in the 60’s and 70’s from their racing department. Starting with the Mk 1 Escort which dominated not only the World Rally Championship but also claimed a fair number of production car titles.
What was great about Ford is that everyone could have one. And in fact everyone did. It was the working class yobo’s giving the finger to the aristocratic German manufacturers. The 80’s and 90’s weren’t so much fun though as the cult followers had very little to follow thanks to an unsuccessful stint in motorsport with the likes of the Cosworth powered Escort RS. After which Ford sort of fell off the map a little.
Until the Focus came along that is. A touch of daring styling mixed with the likes of Colin McRae behind the wheel and the cult followers were back in their droves. Ford were back on the radar and this meant people started buying their cars again. With good reason too because while Ford fans may be a bunch of boy-racer yobo’s, the Focus is actually a bloody good car.
So it goes without saying that the new one is too. In any of its various forms, be it the 1.6 Trendline through to the lumo orange ST the Focus provides great value for money and driving dynamics that will rival any hatch on the market.
My test vehicle was the 2.0 litre TDCi, which for those of you who aren’t interested in stupid car anagrams means it’s the turbo-diesel. Along with this it was an automatic. Now if there was any combination of things that would go to ruin a hatch, an automatic diesel would be top of the list. Despite this the Focus stayed true to it’s roots and proved to be just as dynamic as its predecessors albeit slightly sluggish in and around town.
On the styling front nothing much has changed. It’s more a face lift than a full blown remodel with slight alterations to the headlights and various other body panels. And fair enough, I don’t think there was much need for a new shape as the changes just went to give the Focus a fresh and more modern appeal.
The interior has had few changes as well, most noticeably the centre consol. Unfortunately this change is for the worse as fake carbon fibre never looks the part. I think Ford would’ve been better off sticking with the old consol and saving precious resources given the current economic climate. Although I guess the 5 cents they bothered spending on the design wouldn’t go very far anyway. Another gripe I have was with the enormous control for the radio that is located just behind the steering wheel – other manufacturers stick such things on the steering wheel to avoid such ghastly eye sores. I’m not entirely sure what Ford were thinking with this one, if they were thinking at all.
Fortunately none of this goes to ruin what is for the most part a good mid-range hatch. Personally I wouldn’t get the auto diesel as it didn’t quite lend itself to my driving style. But as an everyday runabout you won’t find much that will do everything with quite so much ease and so little fuss.
Price: R 269 750
Engine: 4-cylinder DOHC 16V
Power: 100 kW
Torque: 320 Nm
Acceleration (0-100 km/h): 9.6
Top speed: 200 km/h
Fuel consumption: 6.2/100km
Verdict – Everything you’d ever want in a hatch.
Miles Downard
Photo Credit: Quickpic