I will never forget my first major league baseball game. Invited by one auto company or another to watch the Blue Jays lose to some nameless American team, I had quickly fit into the groove — one beer at the bottom of every second inning, chips and guac at the top and scream at the top of your lungs if anybody in blue hits one over the fence — when in the middle of the seventh, the entire stadium, unprompted, at least in my naïve eyes, stood up as one. I remember wondering what in the tarnation was going on and then feeling, as God is my witness, like the only person in the entire Air Canada Centre who didn’t receive an urgent message from the heavens above. That I later found out they were just seventh-inning stretching did nothing to dispel my disquiet.
More recently, I’ve been getting that stranger-in-a-strange-land feeling about Ford. Seemingly everyone has lauded the company for everything from financial success to its product offensive, its lineup, if the hype is to be believed, a combination of Toyota reliability, Mazda sprightliness and Hyundai parsimony. Truly, if the headlines be right, the Blue Oval can do no wrong.
The only problem is that whenever I’ve tested its recent efforts I am left non-plussed, yet again feeling like I’ve missed that memo that we all stand up when the players change fields for the seventh time. I could never pin any specific debilitating complaint on the company’s efforts, but they all wreaked of the same mediocrity that makes McDonald’s hamburgers so popular and beige the most popular colour for our parents’ cars.
However, I may be changing my tune. The new Focus is the first of what may be some forthcoming standouts (the new Fusion, judging by its styling, may be another). A cynic — and, yes, that would be me — might state that’s because the new Focus was engineered largely in Germany and, unlike the previous version, which Ford’s American engineering department decided to, er, improve, the Yanks this time have wisely decided to leave well enough alone. This means that along with racy styling — man, can you see rally racing written all over this one — there’s a decidedly European flavour to the ride, handling, comportment and finish of the entire car.
The suspension, for instance, has a decidedly European flavour (as did the original until the Yanks futzed with it) that favours handling somewhat over ride. Not that suspension compliance is bad — indeed, the rock-solid chassis lends a feeling of calm despite the firm dampers — but the Focus’s engineers obviously placed corner carving higher up their Maslow’s hierarchy than coddling princesses who, much to the chargrin of all those around them, will feel every pea. There’s a certain gravitas to the way the Focus hugs the road that the admittedly much improved Koreans and Japanese can’t emulate. And compared with the Chevrolet Cruze, which feels equally competent but aimed at a more staid clientele, the Focus seems targeted to a younger — or younger at heart — audience. Again, credit the Yanks for finally realizing that their best contribution is leaving well enough alone.
The same applies to the Focus’s interior. Not only is the new Focus interior far more dramatically styled, but the materials are top rank. The synthetic dashboard material feels almost rubber-like in its softness; it’s a shame Ford didn’t also use it in the door trim as well where, logically, one would expect there to be more finger-on-plastic contact. Nonetheless, it’s a great step forward as is the uniform panel gaps throughout the Focus cabin. Big points then for the build quality.
Ditto the styling. Perhaps not the most ergonomic choice of buttonry, the centre dash’s audio/car setting/climate control switchgear is stylishly laid out, the radio controls highlighting the somewhat tiny standard LCD display. A larger, more expansive onboard computer/LCD screen is available, but it’s powered by Microsoft, the master of the complicated mouse, so buyer beware. As it is, the simpler base Sync system has its own wobbles and, truthfully, it’s the part of the SEL interior that appears to have been chosen by the accounting department. That said, the SEL does come standard with voice activation.
The hatchback design, besides being, again, more stylish than the sedan, is also plenty roomy. Indeed, there’s room for four average-sized adults in the cabin; even extended sojourns will not bring on claustrophobia. Trunk space is generous, even when you’re loading up tires, wheel stands and all the other paraphernalia that is part of the get-the-motorcycle-ready-for-spring ritual.
Like a motorcycle, the Focus’s 2.0-litre four likes to rev. Mated to the optional six-speed dual-clutch manumatic, it’s fairly easy to keep on the boil and yet remain relatively frugal. Ford claims 7.8/5.5 litres per 100 kilometres in the city and on the highway, respectively, and I managed an entirely estimable 8.2 L/100 km overall despite spending more time lugging around town than cruising the highways and byways.
And, with 160 horsepower and 146 pound-feet of torque available from its direct engine combustion, it’s also plenty speedy. Its sub-eight-second zero-to-100-kilometres-an-hour acceleration makes it one of the speedier compacts. The six-speed dual clutch automatic is, however, lethargic in its lower gears, the quickly engaging clutch hindering rapid getaways and downshifts in the lower three gears somewhat tardy. As speeds increase, however, so, too, does the tranny’s enthusiasm. And the 2.0L is one of the smoothest four-bangers around, almost the equal of the VW/Audi 2.0T; big kudos to Ford for noise, vibration and harshenss (NVH) reduction. Combined with the aforementioned sticky handling and upscale interior, there’s a distinctly Teutonic flavour to the new Focus, one that will separate the Ford from its domestic and Asian competition.
THE SPECS
Type of vehicle Front-wheel-drive compact five-door hatchback
Engine 2.0L DOHC four-cylinder
Power 160 hp @ 6,500 rpm;146 lb-ft of torque @ 4,450 rpm
Transmission Six-speed manumatic
Brakes Four-wheel disc with ABS
Tires P215/55R16
Price: base/as tested $22,399/$26,529
Destination charge $1,450
Transport Canada fuel economy L/100 km 7.9 city, 5.5 hwy.
That European feel does bring with it some baggage, however. Compacts in North America are small econocars, to be sold largely to the frugal with frugality their major attraction. By comparison, in Europe, the Focus is considered a fairly large car, often the primary transport for a family and therefore lavished with relatively copious amounts of sophisticated (that should be read expensive) technology.
So, although one can get a Focus for just $15,999 (the manufacturer’s suggested list price for the S sedan), my SEL tester started at $22,399, and its price ended up at $26,529 (within spitting distance of a full-sized Camry Hybrid, by the way) once Ford added in a sunroof and 17-inch alloys. An even pricier $25,099 Titanium version of the hatchback is also available.
Price notwithstanding, the new Focus finally lets me understand some of the hype surrounding the Ford brand. No longer do I feel like the lone country rube left sitting in a stadium full of seventh-inning stretchers.
