Ford Focus road test: a great car that disappoints

Every Focus built since 1998 has felt like a small miracle: a car that gives vast numbers of people all the everyday usefulness they require at a price they can manage, yet still delivers a level of driving polish that’s often absent from cars costing several times as much. By that logic, this road test ought to have been a formality.

It wasn’t.

I kept driving-on every kind of road I could find, and in two different versions-genuinely baffled. For a long while I persuaded myself that Ford simply couldn’t produce a Focus that wasn’t brilliant, and that I must be failing to uncover its magic. But sorry, Mr Focus. "It’s not me, it’s you."

To be clear, I’m not laying into it for the sake of it. This Focus has been engineered for a vast global customer base: Europe, the US, China, Asia, Russia-jab a pin into the map and you’ll land on a place where the same Focus is sold. And for all those people, it’s likely to be bang on. It’s quiet and smooth, comfortable, brisk, economical, safe, packed with technology and visually distinctive.

And, like other Fords, it nails the 50-yard test whether you’re a keen driver or not. You climb in, drive 50 yards, and you’re taken with it even if you can’t immediately explain why. The explanation is that every control-from the door handles to the indicator stalk, from the clutch to the gearlever-is positioned sensibly, works cleanly, and is weighted so it feels perfectly in tune with everything else. Nothing catches, rubs or irritates. It sounds straightforward, but very few cars pull it off.

So what’s the problem?

There are two. And they’re both central to how I-and you, or you wouldn’t be holding this magazine-connect with cars.

Why the new Ford Focus disappoints on handling

First: the way it handles. Is it reasonable to make a fuss about tyre-squealing dynamics in a family hatchback? Absolutely-because Ford has always made a fuss, repeatedly telling anyone who’d listen that handling was the thing that truly separated Focuses from their rivals. With this new Focus, that gap has been closed. It has merged into the crowd of Golfs and Astras.

The outcome is steering and handling that are completely harmless, but short on that flash of inspiration. The steering is precise and nicely weighted, there’s plenty of grip and traction, and body roll and understeer are kept in check. You can thread it tidily through a sequence of bends, fast or slow, open or tight. And then… that’s your lot.

Ford claims it has moved from hydraulic to electric steering without sacrificing feel. I don’t buy it. The feedback has largely vanished. And with it goes much of the old Focus’s lovely sense that you could balance the car with the throttle-lift slightly, squeeze a touch more-to fine-tune your line mid-corner. You no longer feel as though the car is rotating around you. Instead, you tell the front axle what to do with the steering wheel, and the rest of the car simply comes along obediently.

In fact, it reminds me strongly of the new C-Max, which is an excellent MPV, but you expect more involvement from a proper car. On that note, I recently drove an old C-Max in battered rental-car condition, and its steering was still absolutely delightful.

That broader theme-designing the new Focus around the indifferent driver, with little effort to include the obsessives-shows up elsewhere too. Turning off the traction control isn’t a simple button press; it takes six jabs through the menu system. In the left-hand-drive versions I drove, executing heel-and-toe downshifts with the manual is close to impossible, and the gearlever’s movement from second to third is too long.

And with the twin-clutch Powershift automatic, there’s no true full override in either direction: it has a plus/minus rocker, but the car will ignore your request whenever it feels like it. I’m told that’s what they want in America. "Aaargh."

Styling: busy details on an otherwise sound shape

My second complaint is the styling. To my eyes, there’s simply too much going on. The stance and proportions are fundamentally right, but Ford couldn’t resist piling on extra features.

Up front there are too many grilles-most of them blank-plus odd little winglets, and a bonnet that looks as though it’s sitting half-latched. (Curiously, the ST looks much cleaner on both counts.) The zig-zag crease along the flanks quickly becomes wearing, and at the back the tailgate shutline above the lights is fussy and overly complex. Naturally, looks are subjective, so you’re perfectly entitled to disagree.

Apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play? Quite enjoyable.

Engines, ride comfort and cabin quality

A big part of that enjoyment came from driving the 1.6-litre EcoBoost petrol. It’s excellent at 150bhp in the C-Max, and even better at 182bhp in the Focus. That 182bhp figure hasn’t been confirmed for the UK yet, but it feels all but inevitable.

Lower-powered petrol versions weren’t available for us to try, but their torque and economy numbers match, so the 150bhp engine shouldn’t feel far behind. Best of all, for an all-new model the Focus hasn’t gained weight, so its broad, muscular torque spread has no difficulty shifting serious pace-at least until you select the very tall (and therefore economical) sixth gear for cruising. In the lower ratios it pulls eagerly to the red line and feels genuinely quick.

The diesel engines have been updated too. The flagship 2.0-litre produces 163bhp with decent refinement (though, if I’m not mistaken, not quite at Golf level). Compared with the manual petrol, however, I never felt properly in charge, held back by greater turbo lag and that unruly twin-clutch gearbox. The 1.6 diesel delivers 105bhp-hardly feeble-and with idle-stop fitted as standard it emits just 109g/km of CO2.

The ride is one of the car’s major strengths. The main springing isn’t notably soft, but its ability to absorb smaller bumps-and the lack of float-are genuinely impressive. The suspension also avoids sending much thump and clang into the cabin, reinforcing the sense that you’re in something built to a high standard. It’s excellent over city potholes and equally good on long motorway runs, and its composure means it stays calm even when it hits a bump halfway through a corner.

Driver assistance technology and the value proposition

Inside, the theme continues: the design is as busy as the exterior, but here it feels more justified. There’s also a comforting impression of care in the build. Ford has clearly focused on lighting, textures and metallic finishes. The fundamentals-such as seat comfort-are handled well, and cabin space is perfectly reasonable rather than huge; if you want more room, buy a five-seat C-Max.

The electronic interfaces are excellent, which is fortunate given the sheer range of optional technologies. Ford reasoned that, because it would be building so many Focuses globally, it could afford to develop a dizzying suite of systems in the expectation that economies of scale would keep them sensibly priced.

It’s unfamiliar territory to see so many driver-assistance features offered at such attainable prices. Whether you need them-or even want them-is another matter. Some appear to legitimise inattentive driving. Then again, if you’re threading through the disorder of Beijing, perhaps you’ll take all the help you can get. There: a tidy paragraph containing hints of Luddism, snobbery and national prejudice.

A forward-facing camera enables a bundle of aids: motorway lane-keeping support delivered via nudges at the steering wheel; a drowsiness warning if you repeatedly drift out of your lane; speed-limit sign recognition shown on the dashboard; and automatic switching between main beam and dipped beam. The speed-limit reader is a bit hit-and-miss, but the other functions perform well.

If the computer-vision pack isn’t enough, there’s also a laser-based setup that applies the brakes if you don’t, aiming to reduce low-speed rear-end shunts in town. Together, the vision and laser systems cost £750-options that would be priced in the thousands on an Audi. You can also specify radar-based active cruise control, side radar for blind-spot monitoring, and an ultrasound-driven self-parking system.

Ford has clearly thrown huge effort-and the kitchen sink-at the new Focus. Yet I can’t remember the last time I drove such a capable car and came away feeling quite so disappointed.