Ford Focus TDCi 2007 Review

What we liked
>> Diesel talks the torque
>> Great driving dynamics
>> Seriously competitive pricing

Not so much
>> Tyre noise
>> Space saver spare wheel
>> No auto for diesel, only four-speed for petrol

Overall rating: 4.0/5.0 (Diesel)
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 4.0/5.0
Safety: 4.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.5/5.0
X-factor: 4.5/5.0

OVERVIEW
Remember that saying about today being the first day of the rest of your life? Well, carmakers have those days too. It most recently happened for Ford with the local release of the latest (LT series) Focus.

Flanked by the 'doing-quite-nicely-thank-you' Fiesta and the soon to be reborn Mondeo (fourth quarter '07), the revitalised Focus becomes the central member of Ford's three-pronged influx on the increasingly vital small/compact/medium sector. Besides stimulating sales, this trio is charged with firmly and finally changing the public's perception that Ford Australia is still essentially the Falcon Motor Company.

To give that strategy a leg-up, the refreshed Focus will be on the thick end of the biggest-spending promotional campaign Ford has ever outlaid on an imported model.

Gaining market share and penetration is the name of the game, and Ford wants more. Measurably more, because the small to medium segment is action central for the car market as climbing fuel prices and consumption concerns increasingly influence buyers' decisions.

Reducing prices certainly doesn't hurt a car's prospects either, especially when a range grows to more model variants with fuller specification and equipment levels including new front bumpers, restyled wheels and other mainly cosmetic detail changes. So where Focus previously presented seven iterations, the count has now grown to 10... Or 16 including manual and automatic sub-species.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
The Focus range again opens with CL sedan and hatch, shaved by $1000 to $19,990 manual, plus $2K for automatic. In addition to standard dual airbags, anti-lock brakes and brakeforce distribution, the CL offers an optional safety pack with front-side airbags, curtain bags, stability system, traction control and emergency brake assist.

That lot ordinarily lists at $1600, but like other Focus's safety packs will be half-priced until September 30 to further sweeten the deal. However, the temporary discount doesn't apply to the CL's $1400 Smooth Pack option which adds 15-inch alloys, power mirrors, cruise control and leather steering wheel. Prestige paint is $310 throughout the range.

The from-$23,990 LX sedan and hatch are also $1000 less than before while adding front-side airbags to the standard fare and offering optional curtain bags, ESP, ETC and BAS for $650 or $1300 depending how quick you are.

Apart from having the full safety kit except optional $200/$400 curtain airbags (shared with the Ghia), the from-$26,490 Zetec not only saves a grand over the previous price, but now comes in sedan as well as hatchback form.

Asking $29,490, the high-spec auto-only Ghia is $1500 less than before, and instead of being a four-door only, does a Zetec by offering both bodies. The other pre-existing model is the queue-constrained XR5 hottie which continues at $36,490.

However, the Focus family gains an important new offspring in the manual-only $27,990 TDCi. That's Ford-speak for turbodiesel.

In equipment level the TDCi parallels the petrol LX, and shares that model's $650/$1300 optional safety pack.

MECHANICAL
The TDCi Focus is the Ford's first passenger car oiler in this market, and a particularly good one judging from the long and varied launch drive.

Although the TDCi Duratorq engine is a twincam 16-valve 2.0-litre lump like the petrol Duratec, their differences are many. For one thing, the diesel has an iron block (light alloy for the petrol) which helps explain why the TDCi weighs 80kg (approx) more than corresponding LX model.

Where the petrol engine has oversquare bore and stroke (87.5 x 83.1mm) for 1999cc capacity, the diesel's undersquare dimensions (85.0x 88.0mm) yield 1997cc capacity.

Where the petrol job revs to 6500rpm like it's laughin', the diesel pulls the plug at 4500rpm or so. And where the petrol engine makes 107kW at 6000rpm and the diesel maxes with 100kW at 4000rpm, the torque is a different story. The Duratec generates 185Nm at 4500rpm while the Duratorq raises 320Nm at just 2000rpm.

Incidentally, if 320Nm strikes a chord, that's because it's also the torque summit of the 2.5-litre turbo Focus XR5, though there it's spread from 1600-4000rpm.

Besides common rail injection, the Focus diesel features drive-by-wire accelerator control and a variable-nozzle turbocharger for improved performance throughout the rev range.

The engine is certified to Euro IV emissions standards, but the local version does not yet include the exhaust particulate filter fitted for some markets, because Australia does not yet require that degree of cleanliness.

To its credit, the TDCi scores an official overall consumption number of just 5.6lt/100km, and that certainly seems achievable judging from the onboard trip computer readings during the introductory drive.

Fuel economy is all very well of course, but the Focus TDCi is one diesel that's also rationally and enthusiastically persuasive on driving's behalf.

Mind you, it's not quite beyond criticism; there could be better cupholders and more absorbent armrests for example, and most preferably a more effective info display with properly legible, sunnies-proof contrast between the (enlarged) digits and background. Those niggles apart, this is a role-model cabin.

COMPETITORS
There are also lessons for other makers in the $28K Ford's commandingly roadworthy chassis and sophisticated diesel drivetrain. Others? Well, yes, because for less than $30K, or little more, the compact-diesel corner now hosts an assortment of choice.

The possibilities include Citroen C4 HDi and Peugeot 307 HDi which share a five-speed manual 1.6-litre engine with 80kW and 240Nm. Fiat's 1.9-litre six-speed manual Punto Emotion comes with 88kW and 280Nm, while the Golf 1.9 TDI Trendline and Comfortline offer comparatively conservative 77kW and 250Nm, but toughen the decision by supplementing the six-speed manual with an optional six-speed sequential automatic.

Holden's Astra 1.9 CDTi comes in conventional six-speed automatic guise with a milder 88kW/280Nm engine (echoes of Fiat) where the six-speed manual sibling boasts a sporty 110kW and 320Nm. That just pips the Dodge Caliber 2.0 ST CRD six-speed manual's 103kW and 310Nm.

And as if those models weren't enough for the Focus TDCi to contend with, it will from early September also face a Mazda 3 diesel with the 2.0-litre, 105kW/360Nm engine and six-speed manual transmission from the already established Mazda 6.

ON THE ROAD
But regardless of anything and everything else, there's absolutely no doubt the Focus TDCi will give the other compact diesels a very good run for your money. From the time you adjust the driving position to your liking, start the engine, select gear and send the clutch home, it's clear that this is a car made for driving. It immediately feels at one with the road, and with the driver.

Behind the wheel, it soon dawns that this is exactly the sort of drivetrain to give modern diesels a good name. You may pick it as a diesel at idle, but, once rolling, the TDCi leaves behind any rattly clues and remains deceptively quiet about its identity.

Moreover, it's endearingly easy to use. Although the fairly short rev range is quickly spent, there's such copious torque everywhere that lusty response can be summoned whenever wanted, without necessarily resorting to the gear lever.

Not that shifting gears is in any way a chore. Indeed it couldn't be easier or sportier for the lever travels fluidly from slot to slot with rewarding tactility and almost laser-guided precision.

The steering has some such involvement too, giving palpable sense of connection with no lost motion at straight ahead and pointing faithfully when changing direction. With slightly less than three turns lock to lock, and a reasonably adroit 10.7m turning circle, the helm's also nicely wieldy for parking and relatively tight manoeuvres.

The only sour note, far from peculiar to Focus, is the noticeably intrusive rumble of tyre noise on our all too common coarse-chip roads.

If the diesel's handling isn't quite a revelation, it's demonstrably the next best thing. Although detectably a shade nose-heavier than the petrol Focus, the TDCi turns into corners with unsullied conviction and doesn't kneel submissively on the outside front wheel or push into debilitatingly mushy understeer.

Combine its ingrained directional integrity with outstanding sense of balance and the ready power supply (and preferably the optional traction control and stability system) and you have wonderfully driveable chassis at your disposal.

Quite a good riding one too. No-one's pretending the TDCi is a magic carpet bump-blotter on rough roads, where the ride can become noticeably busy and jiggly. But the important thing is that the disturbances are absorbed and largely nullified without grimace-inducing harshness. And at the same time the suspension maintains its properly taut discipline and exercises the body control that complements the TDCi's confidently sure-footed handling.

All of which suggests that if you've ever flirted with the idea of switching to diesel, and want really enjoyable driving as much as thrifty fuel economy, this could well the time, and the car, to arraign such aspirations in sharp focus.

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