FirstDrive/Ford Focus:The new Ford Focus retains its impressive driving ability, but now it has had its long- awaited make-over, writes Paddy Comyn.
The Ford Focus has been an outstanding success in this country. Since the model arrived in 1998, 78,775 of them have sold here and for many of those years, it has been the biggest-selling car in the state. The reasons for its success were pretty straightforward.
It looked better and drove better than any other car in its class. Then, in 2005, it saw the second-generation of the Ford Focus arrive and there was criticism from some quarters that Ford played it a little too safe with the design.
While this may have been true, what was improved was the already impressive driving dynamics and the model currently on sale is still streets ahead of any of its rivals when it comes to pure driving ability.
With the arrival this year of the new Ford Mondeo, itself destined to be a top-seller in 2008, Ford has taken the opportunity to give the Focus a little bit of a refresh.
On the exterior, only the roof panel carries over from the original Mk II design, with the car gaining the new "kinetic design" language, which includes a trapezoidal front grille and swept back headlamps.
At the side there are large wheel arches and at the rear, there is newly shaped rear glass and contoured tailgate as well as new tail lamps and rear bumper.
There are newly-designed tail-lamps too, which now come with the option of LED technology.
Inside the improvements continue. While the models we were driving at the European launch were high-spec titanium models, all grades see changes. These include newly-designed instruments that are easier to read and there are improvements to the controls for the audio and air-conditioning systems.
There was a lot of silvery plastic in evidence in the models that we tried, which looked a little gaudy, but these are unlikely to feature on the more basic models. As ever, it is easy to get a good driving position in the Focus and the cabin is spacious and comfortable.
The Budget has forced Irish buyers, and indeed the car firms that sell to them, to pay greater attention to the CO2 emissions of engines and Ford are pretty well-placed with their engine line-up for the new car.
The engine line-up is not all that different than before, but what we will see in Ireland is a move away from the traditional big-selling 1.4-litre 78bhp to the 1.6-litre diesel engine with 88bhp, which delivers CO2 figures of under 120g/km.
This means it will be subject to the lowest rate of vehicle registration tax and road tax from July 2008.
Other engines in the range will include a 113bhp 1.6-litre petrol, 113bhp 1.8-litre diesel and 2.0-litre 134bhp diesel.
The popular 1.8-litre Flexifuel version, which runs on E85 bioethanol will continue. Also coming is a new Focus Econetic version, which is a 1.6-litre TDCi version, which has been modified to produce just 115g/km of CO2 and returns 4.3l/100km on the combined cycle.
Also in the pipeline is an optional transmission called Ford PowerShift. This is a six-speed double-clutch transmission, similar to the DSG transmission used by Volkswagen and this will be paired initially with the 2.0-litre diesel model.
On the twisty roads around Nice in the South of France, the new Focus displayed all of the usual driving dynamics that we have come to expect from a Ford big-seller. There have been little or no changes under the skin, but then it really wasn't necessary.
This is a truly entertaining car to drive, and while neither the 143bhp 2.0-litre petrol engine or the 134bhp 2.0-litre diesel we drove will feature in Ireland, the latter gave us a taste of what the popular diesel models will be like. Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) will now come with the Focus and this is significant as it will be the only car in its class to feature the important safety feature as standard. ESP prevents a driver from under- or over-steering in slippery conditions or extreme driving manoeuvres. It detects in milliseconds when a car is deviating from the driver's chosen line and automatically applies brake force to inner or outer wheels to keep the car "on line".
The new Focus will be available from Ford dealerships in March. The grades will be Freedom, which gets ESP, six airbags, Isofix and child anchor points among its standard equipment.
The Focus Style is the next grade up, followed by the Zetec which is the first grade with air conditioning as standard. This is followed by the Ghia, which includes cruise control, automatic lights and a cooled glovebox and the top grade titanium model gains sports seats, 16-inch alloys and a three-spoke steering wheel.
There are no details on pricing just yet, but you can expect the new Freedom range to start from about €20,000 when it arrives in March of next year.
Factfile
Engines:1.4, 1.6. 1.8 Flexifuel, 1.6 TDCi, 1.6 TDCi Ecokinetic, 1.8 TDCi
Grades:Freedom, Style, Zetec, Ghia, Titanium
Available:March 2008
Starting Price:Around €20,000