Different enough to startle, the styling of the ’98 Focus took a while for the British public to accept. But accept it they did, sufficiently to make the car the nation’s best-seller for much of its life. Given this, it’s perhaps no surprise to find Ford emulating VW’s Golf strategy, by modernising the good idea it had originally. So, the new Focus is undeniably a Focus, although that means it holds no surprises. However, it looks entirely contemporary, is very tidily detailed and it remains attractive. That’s still more true inside, where a concerted effort to upgrade interior quality – the weakest area of the old car – is headed by a new soft-feel fascia moulding whose finish is worthy of cars costing thousands more.
Key to the first-generation car’s astonishing ride and handling balance was its ‘control blade’ independent rear suspension. Both the VW Golf and BMW 1-series now have similar rear-ends, but Ford’s chassis engineers have consistently proved that they not only know how to fine-tune a great chassis, but that they can also tailor it to cope with UK roads.
Working with a body structure that is 10 per cent stiffer than before, the front and rear suspensions have been heavily revised. A stronger front subframe allows significantly uprated dampers to provide better control at the front, while the control blade rear layout is now equally robust. Uprated bushing has been tuned to remain rigid under lateral loads and yet remain compliant fore and aft, benefiting the ride. The result, Ford claims, is significantly better than the old car.
Variable valve timing makes its first appearance on a 1.6-litre Ford petrol engine in this Focus. Producing 113bhp and 114lb ft of torque, it should form the basis of a cracking powertrain working in conjunction with the new Durashift five-speed gearbox. With the inexorable shift to diesel, will the promise of a sewing machine-smooth petrol motor that’ll rev to 7800rpm persuade people to shun derv?
