Ford Focus 2011 Review - International

Though the world-car shared model strategy allows modest tweaks for big markets, One Ford mandates that the platform and mechanicals that underpin the new small Ford are used worldwide. Given the, at times, disparate taste of car buyers across the continents, it's no small job to keep all of the people happy all of the time.

And the new car has big shoes to fill. While in the USA, Ford has soldiered on with a cobbled together updated version of the first generation Focus, Australia and Europe have enjoyed the second-gen car. And enjoyed is the right word -- a very capable car, the Focus has been somewhat of a benchmark for handling and steering. In its diesel and sporting forms it was no slouch in overall performance either.

In Australia, the car has been critically acclaimed but has never sold in the volumes Ford Australia would have liked. We categorically blame this on poor launch and ongoing marketing rather than any shortfalls of the car. In launching the new car FordOz will be working hard to ensure the same mistakes aren't repeated.

With a slightly larger footprint and significant upgrades in interior quality and overall refinement, as well as expected improvements in fuel economy and safety performance, the team at Broadmeadows and their advertising agency have great raw material with which to work. No, the new car is not as sharp as the one it replaces, but it is likely to be one whose appeal spreads wider than the outgoing generation.

Two body styles will come Down Under -- sedan and five-door hatch. Insiders say that there will not be a three-door hatch in this generation of Focus. Nor will there be a coupe or cabriolet.

The wagon version of the new Focus will likely be a Euro-only model. In markets like the USA and Australia this role will be filled by the replacement for the Escape/Kuga that is set to be rolled off the new Focus platform in 2012-13.

There will likely be three grades of sedan with an additional sporty grade level for the hatch Down Under. Again Ford will not confirm the details, however, don't be surprised if the current CL and LX variants are joined by a Titanium top-of-the-range model. In the hatch, the sporty version will carry the now established Zetec moniker.

For the record there will be no five-cylinder sports model in the new generation Focus. Ford has confirmed the hot hatch variant will feature a turbo 2.0-litre four and will be dubbed ST in Europe. Locally it could keep the XR badge to match its Falcon counterparts. That argument won't be settled for a while though -- it'll be mid-2012 at best before the ST/XR comes Down Under.

Ford is at pains to point out it has stepped up the quality and equipment levels of the new car. Features that are included in overseas specifications include big-car goodies like blindspot warning systems, rearview camera, front and rear park sensors and even an automated parallel parking system.

Interior LED mood lighting is part of the mix and generally materials and surfacing have been improved -- significantly. Keyless start and entry will be offered on top models, as will adaptive headlamps, auto wipers and heated seats. All Foci use capless fuel fillers.

What won't make it to Aussie cars for the time being is Ford's impressive MyFordTouch II onboard infotainment system. Incorporating luxury car levels of integration and customisation (and powered by software jointly developed by Microsoft), the system is likely to be at least 18 months away. When it arrives it will offer a blend of on -- and potentially, offboard -- services made possible by WiFi connectivity. This will be a first in the class.

Aussie Foci for the moment will use a version of the voice-activated system that is fitted to Mondeo. The system is Bluetooth-compatible for both telephony and audio streaming and uses a wide range of voice commends to deliver hands-free operation of most phone, audio and some heating and ventilation controls.

Comparing hatch to hatch (with allowance for rounding when converting from US imperial to Aussie metric) the differences between old and new are around 8mm in wheelbase (2640 old: 2648 new) and 22mm in overall length (4337:4359).

Ford quotes a width of 1823mm for the new car, compared to 1839 for the current version. This may be the function of a different measuring standard -- the new car seems to deliver more shoulder room than the current version. Indeed, Ford US claims more shoulder room than an Audi A4. Front track is appreciable wider than the old car -- 19mm (1535: 1554).

Though it's lower than the current car, there's no shortage of headroom in the new Focus (using a Ford USA comparison again -- more than Camry). Our suggestion is that Ford has traded off the old Focus' unusually elevated seating position for a more normal H point and extra usable height inside the cabin.

Perhaps a little disappointing are two aspects of the cabin packaging. A negative to the much more sculptured (and attractive) fascia and instrument panel, is that knee room in the front for both drive and passenger is at a premium. The two separate 'cockpits' at least give the impression of being quite tight.

Rear passenger space does not appear to move the game on either. It's better than adequate, however. As a shortish driver I could sit behind my normal driving position but didn't have the room I'd be used to in, say, VW's Golf.

Both hatch and sedan have attractive, higher quality interiors that link well with the themes established in the Fiesta. Soft touch materials abound on the higher spec model we drove, including instrument binnacle, door tops and facings. Even the lower spec variants get the high grade dash material, though they miss out on the door furnishings and IP upgrades such as piano black surfacing.

Special mention should be made of the quality and clarity of the screens Ford has used in the instrument panel and centre stack -- even at lower grades. Though as noted above we will miss out on the large touch screen interface that Ford is making a song and dance about in the USA, the Focus cockpit is nonetheless a class effort. When the full MyFordTouch system arrives, it will likely lead the class.

As you'd expect, the rear seat is a splitfold design on both sedan and hatch variants. There's plenty of stowage space in the hatch and the sedan's attractive, coupe-like silhouette has not eroded its boot space too much either.

Overall, the Focus is essentially a conventional front-wheel drive design. Up front Ford uses a modified version of MacPherson strut suspension and at the rear Ford's trademark Control Blade independent rear suspension is featured. Brakes are four wheel discs.

Two engines will be offered Down Under: a 2.0-litre direct-inject petrol and 2.0-litre turbodiesel. No details on the diesel were available at the US launch. Nor were the oilers available to drive, however European launch stats detail three versions of the TDCi engine with outputs at 85kW/300Nm, 103/320 and 120/340 respectively. Expect the 103kW variant Down Under.

The 2.0-litre DI petrol engine will account for the lion's share of sales locally. It shares its bore and stroke dimensions and bore centres with the old Focus four, but is essentially a new engine getting new block, cylinder-head and ancillaries. In addition to direct-injection, the engine now features variable timing on both inlet and exhaust camshafts. Significant work has been done to minimise internal friction and the compression ratio has been increased.

The end result is more power (117kW at 6500rpm versus 107) at 6000 and more torque -- just. At 197Nm at 4450rpm, the new engine is marginally punchier than the old four's 185.

Ford claimed a US fuel economy figure of 40mpg (approx 5.9L/100km) for the new petrol Focus. At this stage no ECE cycle figures are available for the powerplant, as the Euro petrol Focus uses 1.6-litre and turbo 1.6-litre powerplants. Ford Australia will not release the local economy number, but promises it will be more frugal than the current model. At 5.9L/100km it would be significantly so...

Note the US stat is for the six-speed twin clutch automated manual Powershift transmission. The conventional five-speed manual Focus will be a touch thirstier.

Both transmissions will be offered Down Under. If current trends are anything to go by, however, manual take-up in non sports models will be very small.

As the direct-injected petrol 2.0 litre is no firecracker (see drive impression below), it could be that the 103kW/320Nm 2.0 turbodiesel is the pick of the new Foci. Its claimed fuel economy of 5.3L/100km adds a reason to be cheerful to boot.

There a host of 'smart' systems around the conventional mechanicals of the Focus. An adaptive alternator 'freewheels' when electrical power drain is low, and ahead of the radiator active louvres cut airflow when extra cooling capacity is not required. This system alone accounts for 75 per cent of the seven per cent of aerodynamic drag reduction in this model. At this stage we're not 100 per cent sure Aussie Foci will benefit from these smarts.

Electric power assisted steering is a first for this generation of Focus. This system offers variable power assistance independent of engine speed and also cuts mechanical losses to improve fuel consumption. Alas it has also robbed Focus of one of its standout features -- class leading steering feel.

Other firsts for Focus includes the adoption of an electronically controlled brake differential. Ford calls this system Torque Vectoring. It is essentially the same as VW's EDL (Electronic Differential Lock) and other systems employed by manufacturers like MINI. By braking the inside front wheel, the system approximates the function of a mechanical limited slip differential reducing wheelspin out of tight corners and interacting with the stability control system to tame understeer.

In addition Ford has upgraded the safety systems onboard the new Focus. Passive highlights include Ford's first use of adaptive passenger airbag venting. This technology vents some of the gas from the airbag inflators reducing the retarding force of the bag. This venting is based on the seat position and seeks to better match the 'strength' of the airbag's support, based on passenger size.

The new Focus' driver's airbag is also tailored to improve chest protection. Ford states: "The new airbag uses a reconfigured curve-shaped tether system that pulls in the lower section to create a "pocket" to help lessen the impact of the airbag on the driver's chest and ribs in frontal crashes."

Side curtain airbags are also standard, as are important active safety features such as stability control and antilock brakes.

In the USA reversing camera and front and rear park sensors are all available. It's unclear what will be offered at the launch of the Focus Down Under, but the full suite of these aids including parking assistance will all arrive in the life of the new Focus.

But don't get the idea that this new car is a dolt -- it's far from it. One of my colleagues described the dynamics as moving "towards the middle of the road." And he's right; where once the Focus was a benchmark in the feedback and accuracy its helm offered, now it's more workmanlike... More normal...

There's no torque steer of which to speak and the front end offers plenty of grip, though it eventually understeers at higher levels of commitment -- exactly as Ford's engineers intended, we'd suggest. The steering is sharper than some cars in the segment but a touch less demonstrative at dead ahead and just off-centre. Overall, the effect is no longer as good as the benchmark Golf or even perhaps Mazda3.

The roads of the test route had barely a pimple on them and were beautifully cambered and profiled. Thus it's hard to be exact about how the handling will translate to Australia. At normal speeds the car rode well on both the 16 and 17-inch rubber we drove.

We observed that it bordered on a little sharp in its damping reaction on smaller bums at low speed. This should have meant the car was well tuned for higher speeds but it seems the window in which it was 'just so' was a touch narrow. Upping the pace above a comfortable clip and the car started to feel a little floaty and less than precise. This was never an issue with the last Focus.

More evidence of the dumbing down of this model? Perhaps that's a touch unfair -- in reality most buyers will enjoy the more insulated driving experience. Middle of the road, remember!

Manual gearbox cars account for just a handful of local Focus purchases, says Ford Australia so it's important the auto option works well... And it does -- again, to a point. The twin-clutch automated manual Powershift six-speeded is super smooth and precise with its changes, but it sports perhaps the silliest manual mode operation we've seen yet.

While some grades will get proper shift paddles to use in the Sport setting of the gearbox, the cars we drove had a thumb-operated rocker button on the driver's side of the tunnel-mounted shifter. Suffice it to say, it's not a favourite.

Normal D (Drive) mode is fine for freeway cruising and faster open roads, but tends to hunt up and down the box when the terrain gets tight or tips upwards. This is when you're more likely to opt for the S (Sport, not second) setting that sits below D on the bottom of the shift plane. Left to its own devices it's clever (changing down as you brake for corners) but it does tend to hold to gears too long as speeds rise between the curvy bits. Thus the disappointment of the efficacy (or lack thereof) of the manual shift set up.

Stick with paddles or a separate plane for the shift lever please next time Ford.

This opinion is compounded by the fact the manual mode needs to be used to get the best from the Focus' rather anodyne direct-injected four. Though power and torque figures are up on the outgoing model, the latest car doesn't seem to have the spark of the old model. It takes a good 3000rpm to really get into its stride.

As a counterpoint, in the higher rev ranges it is never strained, but nor does it sound terribly happy. Let's hope Ford's engineers can instill some life and character into the mill for the sporting variants of the Focus -- they need to...

As with all international drives (well, most), our California drive of the new Focus has raised almost as many questions as it has answered, as to how it will translate to Aussie roads. One thing's clear, the changes the company has wrought are focused on broadening the mass market appeal of the car.

As to if that's good news for Ford? Only time and sales figures will tell...

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