All the traction one could want
Surely the tyres should be squealing? The Ford Focus takes the treacherous tight corners of a winding mountain road. But the car manufactured in Cologne shows no sign of nerves, staying precisely on course. This kind of traction is partly due to the standard ‘Torque Vectoring’ system. “It works like an electronic differential blocking, compensating for the differing torque of the two front wheels,” explains Helmut Reder, Head Engineer of the Focus model range. The suspension of this Golf rival is also no disappointment. The auto holds the road firmly, without being too hard, the steering is direct but not too light. The motorization is well suited to the agile build, the new EcoBoost turbo engines having an output of 150 horsepower (110 kilowatts) or 182 horsepower (134 kilowatts). The motor is responsive with little ‘turbo lag’ effect at low revs and has all the push the Focus requires. Only at very high revs is there a feeling that the engine has reached its limit. Ford claims fuel consumption for the Focus of six litres for every hundred kilometres driven.
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- The Cologne car makers have been clever about stowage and in the back between the seats and the doors there are compartments and cup-holders.
Short on space, long on features
The new Focus is 21 centimetres longer than the previous model, but narrower and lower. In the back there is not a lot of headroom or knee space for adult passengers. In the five-door model there is space for 386 litres of load up to the roof. The sedan can take 475litres and the estate version 490. The cockpit conforms with the C-Max standard and is dominated by a chunky central console, unfortunately reducing the knee spaceon the left for the front seat passenger. A further drawback is the complex array of knobs and buttons on the multi-functional steering wheel and on the console itself. But the Cologne car makers have been clever about stowage and in the back between the seats and the doors there are compartments and cup-holders.
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- The camera which is part of the lane departure warning system feature also recognizes speed and overtaking restriction signs, and feeds information to the display of the on-board computer.
Assistant systems of all kinds
They are optional extras but Ford offers a wide range of assistant system packages. With the lane departure warning system a wobble of the steering wheel alerts the driver if he seems to be leaving the lane without using his indicator. The camera which is part of this feature also recognizes speed and overtaking restriction signs, and feeds information to the display of the on-board computer. The driver can set for himself the speed at which an acoustic signal should sound, giving him a margin over and above the applicable speed limit. The earlier Focus model had electro-hydraulic steering but this has now been replaced by an electric servo system which enables automated parking at the touch of a button, as in certain VW models. The driver only has to control the accelerator and the brakes. The Low Speed Safety System was jointly developed with Volvo. This results in an automatic application of the brakes to avoid collisions in city traffic at speeds below 19 miles per hour. Further options are a high-beam automatic control and speed control depending on the proximity of the car ahead. In the course of this year the car maker will introduce the “Sync” and “MyFordTouch” systems. These will offer the driver not only Bluetooth hands-free telephony and audio streaming but also voice command and wireless internet. To enjoy this last feature a broadband mobile modem is required, to be plugged into the car’s USB socket. Then the Focus becomes an autonomous mobile WLAN hot-spot, allowing the passengers to use their iPhones and similar devices to surf the web.
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- Many of the optional extra packages cannot be added to the entry model at any price, which will lead many buyers to opt for the ‘Trend’ or the top-of-the-range ‘Titanium’ version (priced from 21,350 Euros).
An almost identical USA version
The new motto of the concern is “One Ford”, and so the Focus will be made available in 120 countries in almost identical form, no longer ‘pimped up’ just for the American market. “Helmut Reder promises that “almost eighty percent of the components will be completely identical”. The biggest variation will be in the motorizations: Across the Atlantic there will be a dimple 2 litre fuel injection version available. And the Americans will have to do without the traffic sign recognition applications and the automatically initiated full braking. But they’ll be saving money, too. In the United States the Focus will be priced at the equivalent of 14,300 Euros before taxes. In Germany drivers will have to pay more. In the past a Ford Focus cost 16,750 Euros. But the new model will start at 17,580 Euros for the 105 horsepower version, and that is 250 Euros more expensive than the entry model four-door VW Golf. But all of these considerations are relative- to have the same 105 horsepower the Golf buyer would have to lay down 19,450 Euros, quite a lot more.
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- The new Focus is 21 centimetres longer than the previous model, but narrower and lower. In the back there is not a lot of headroom or knee space for adult passengers.
Limited standard features
While the Focus entry model is reasonably priced the fitting which come as standard are limited – electric windows, central locking, on-board computer and ESP: There is air conditioning only above the ‘Trend’ model. And many of the extras cannot be added to the entry model at any price, which will lead many buyers to opt for the ‘Trend’ or the top-of-the-range ‘Titanium’ version (priced from 21,350 Euros). For this the owner can expect CD radio, cruise control, two-zone air conditioning, leather lined steering wheel, fog lights and lots of decorative features. The four door sedan cost 500 Euros more than the five-door model. And the state version is expected to be built later in 2011.
