2008 Ford Focus

The previous and original
incarnation of the Focus was a huge success for Ford throughout
Europe and North America. When the then ground-breaking (in terms of
fresh design and involving driving dynamics) mid-sizer was launched
in 1998, both the motoring press and general public alike took to the
car immediately, praising the bold, sharp looks and most
significantly, a chassis and suspension set-up that felt solid and
safe on the road at normal speeds, and lithe and exciting at greater
speeds – a driver’s car for the masses, then.

The Focus has since gone
on to sell some 5 million vehicles in Europe, is the first and only
car ever to be acclaimed ‘Car of the Year’ in Europe and in North
America and has picked-up some 80 motoring awards during its 10-year
reign as one of the most popular family cars ever made. And
deservedly so; having driven every model from the previous range,
this road-tester can confirm that all the way up from the basic 1.6
to the snorting race-bred ‘RS’ variants, Ford gave us all a great
drive, for a great price. In fact, whenever I used a car rental firm,
I insisted on the funky Ford… praise indeed.

So, it’s all change for
2008 with a brand new Focus, and Ford is once again hoping for great
things from this car in what is the very competitive, mid-size car
market – and significantly, the Focus is now readily available here
in the Middle East. But, it is here that it will face its stiffest
competition yet, against the hugely successful, if a little less
charismatic, Japanese brands that have built a formidable reputation
for value and reliability. The Focus will have to deliver that value
and reliability, as well as its almost legendary driving experience,
if it is to attract ‘the man on the street’ away from the
almost-certain-to-satisfy, established Japanese brands.

For this AutoMiddleEast
test drive we’re looking at the 1.6 Ghia hatchback model, painted
in a not unusual silver colour, mirroring the most popular colour
choice for the European cars – in Europe it seems that all Focus’
were painted silver. I would like to see the car in the UAE
favourite, white; I think that colour would complement Ford’s
‘Kinetic Design’ style. ‘Kinetic what?’ Let me explain…

‘Energy in Motion –
what Ford vehicle would better suit the Ford ‘kinetic design’
philosophy than the Focus? After all, the Focus was a major factor in
establishing Ford’s excellent reputation for driving dynamics. The
balance we have created between dynamics and harmony makes the new
Focus the best looking Focus ever.’ These are the words of Martin
Smith, Executive Director of Design at Ford Europe. He’s basically
trying to say that the new Focus looks like it’s moving, even when
it’s not… something that you might be able to get away with
saying when talking about the flowing, fighter-jet-like lines of,
say, the latest Ferrari, but not really of a car that’ll rarely be
driven over 120kph, and is more likely to be taking the kids to
school than taking bends a breathtaking speeds!

Saying that, the new
Focus looks nice enough and definitely has a different, European-look
to it; a welcome and refreshing change to the legions of Japanese
cars that cruise the Dubai streets, looking as they do, almost
identical to one another with a mostly very bland,
over-computer-aided design style. At least the Focus looks like it
has had a little bit of human time and soul invested in its styling.

Crisp and definite body
lines flow from the front to the back, taking in the new trapezoidal
grilles with chrome surrounds and the swept-back headlights featuring
the latest HID Bi-Xenon Adaptive Front lighting System (AFS) – they
look good and are nice and bright, to you and I. The bold, almost
flared wheels arches give the Focus a pleasantly chunky, tough look
and the smooth and clean rear end, again with the latest lighting,
this time super-bright LEDs under a cheeky roof-tip spoiler, all add
up to what can only be described as an uncluttered and well thought
out overall design. You can still see the previous model’s DNA in
the new car, but Ford have sharpened it all up and added a dash more
class. I think it outshines the Japanese Corollas, and the like… do
you?

Still, Ford are more than
happy to harp on about driving dynamics, and it’s safe to say that
the last model had that in plentiful supply; the new Focus has much
to live up to, so let’s see what she’s got. As I’ve mentioned,
this is the Ghia model, nestling very near to the top of the range
just under the Titanium, so you’d expect a fairly decent interior
and first impression are pretty good. The black leather seats in our
test car were well enough appointed and after a mixture of electric
and manual adjustment were found to be comfortable enough, but with
this 6-footer driving, the rear seat passengers were fairly
squashed-up – you’d get more rear legroom space in most of those
aforementioned Japanese cars of the same price bracket.

The air-conditioning was,
on the other hand, unremarkable; I had to have it on full-blast at
all times other than at night, even though this car came with welcome
and quite dark 3M window tints – the blasting interior wind noise
easily managed to drown-out the again unremarkable in-car
entertainment – the stereo may be a small point to most people, but
the A/C is certainly a big point to everybody. And everything other
than the smallest cans of refreshing beverages will not be securely
held in the too-small cup-holders… come on Ford. The steering
wheel, whilst not being the prettiest to behold, did feel good to
hold and, after adjustment, fell to hand comfortably. And a good
steering wheel feel and position is a very good start to what will
hopefully be a great Ford Focus drive…

Erm, I’m afraid not,
not with the automatic gearbox, anyway. This Focus had the smaller
1.6-litre engine (a 2-litre is available), producing 100hp (the
2-litre makes 145hp); 100hp is a fairly respectable amount of power
for a 1600cc engine, but coupled to the 4-speed Durashift automatic
gearbox, that 100hp felt more like 60hp. Surely in this day and age,
and in such a competitive market, Ford could have stretched to a
5-speed auto ‘box? I’m sure the extra gear would reduce the
acceleration lag. The car takes 13.9-seconds to reach 100kph, which
certainly feels like a lifetime, and will eventually pull up to
180kph, although you’d probably need a find yourself a spare week
to hit that speed.

I think it’s the fault
of the under-geared ’box rather than the engine, as the Duratec
range of engines have a good reputation; I would very much like to
drive the 2.0-litre manual Focus to get a real feel for what Ford
have done with the dynamics of the new car. Still, you’d have to
pay around AED 70,000 for that privilege, so it’d better be a whole
lot better than this car.

Pointing and shooting
this Focus through the bends and roundabouts bought back all the good
memories of the previous model, with light and direct steering,
minimal body-roll and a shore-footed, sporty feel on the road, but
with that all too vague gearbox and asthmatic acceleration, you’d
have to work very hard to keep all the speed you’ve worked up,
because building that speed again is an all too slow and frustrating
experience. I feel that there is more to come from the new Focus, and
a further test drive of the bigger-engine’d car will only reveal
the car’s true and hopefully glorious colours.

 * Prices are indicative and may vary at the time of purchase. All prices are ex-Dubai showrooms. Please check with your local dealer for current prices and offers.