Unsurprisingly, this 113bhp car didn’t exactly ignite the track. Its 9.8sec 0-60mph time is competent and bang on the class average, and if needs be it will hit the claimed 117mph maximum on the flat. What matters is how useable that performance is on the road.
There’s no denying that gathering and maintaining momentum requires solid work from the driver. This would be a problem if the engine and gearbox weren’t on your side, but they certainly are. If we’ve used a slicker gearshift than this, we can’t remember where. You nudge the lever about for sheer fun, and luckily, the engine’s free-revving power characteristics encourage the exercise.
Spellbinding is one of the few words that can do justice to the way this car covers British bitumen. It’s always compliant, and so beautifully damped it now shames anything in the class above. To find a car that will deal with UK roads as well as this you’ll need a Lotus Elise or Porsche 997.
In the Focus tradition, it’s a firm-riding car. It makes the driver aware of everything for communication purposes, but smooths all the sharp edges away for a comfortable ride. And everything is dealt with in two movements: a compression of damper and spring, and a controlled return movement.
In the face of such exemplary suspension, the steering doesn’t attain the same excellence. Certainly at parking speeds it’s impressively light, and that’s an undeniable asset in town. Where it loses out is under load, as the car begins to settle into a corner. The car turns in quite brilliantly, but where the old car would confirm its position and grip the road with a reassuring firmness through the wheel, this system doesn’t telegraph the message as cleanly. All this sounds ludicrously technical for a family hatch, but it manifests itself most obviously to anyone that drives it. Put simply: in the new Focus you enjoy increased capability, but feel less of what’s going on. Either way, you have the best chassis in the class.
