SMH Small car review - MISLEADING FOCUS INFO

[Stugots]

From the Sydney Morning Herald.

The reviewer is obviously an anti-Focus moron.

Small gathering

Ford Focus

The Ford Focus is one of Europe's top-selling cars but, when introduced to Australia to replace the diminutive and much-loved Ford Laser in late 2002, the car got a lukewarm reception.

The new name and new look didn't catch the attention of buyers and the first-generation Focus tallied modest sales. When the all-new, second-generation Focus was released locally in mid-2005, Ford Australia renewed its efforts on its struggling small car. Sales of the new model surged by 63 per cent between 2005 and 2006 and the Focus continues to sell well. Sales are up 18.7 per cent in the first four months of this year compared with the same period last year.

The appeal? Unique styling, a roomy cabin, generous cargo space, reasonable fuel economy and secure handling.

For those who want to make the most of the Ford's 107kW of power, it is one of only four cars in this group with an automatic transmission with manual override (the others are the Kia Cerato, Mazda3 and VW Golf 1.6).

But, for all its attributes, the Focus isn't perfect. Despite having more power than all but one rival, its acceleration was near the back of the pack. In our laden uphill 0 to 100kmh test, the Focus stopped the clock at 17 seconds. Only the 1.6-litre VW Golf was slower.

The secure grip in corners comes at the expense of ride comfort; the Focus transmits bumps more than other cars in this class and the suspension and tyres are comparatively noisy. Only one child seat anchor bracket is fitted standard (in the middle of the back seat) but there is provision for the fitment of three child seat anchor brackets - the customer can purchase additional brackets if required. The spare tyre is a skinny space-saver.

Some interior materials, such as the dash, are soft to the touch and have a quality feel, while other surfaces have the same grain yet are made from hard plastic and feel cheap.

Headroom for rear seat passengers is relatively tight but leg room is good. Minor annoyances include the fiddly wiper controls and, while the Ford deserves a tick for having convex mirrors on both sides, the mirrors themselves are quite small. The audio system has no auxiliary input and the crease in the dash reflects badly in direct sunlight. (WTF?!)

However, the lack of important safety equipment weighs most heavily against the Focus. It scores five stars out of five in independent crash tests by Euro NCAP, when the car is equipped with six airbags. In Australia, though, standard equipment on the base model Focus includes only two airbags. Anti-lock brakes (standard on most rivals) and seat-mounted side airbags are a $1290 option pack and head-protecting curtain airbags and stability control are not available locally. Trivia: the Focus was designed and engineered in Germany but the funny Ghost-inspired Ford ad doesn't tell you that the standard Focus is made in South Africa.