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Comparison review: seven economical sedans (fourth place)
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The Ford Focus is refined, comfortable, fun to drive, and relatively inexpensive, but
it suffers from a sense of cheapness inside.
When Ford released its redesigned Focus last year, the new car was ravaged by the automotive press. But that’s not because the new Focus was bad; rather, it was just a combination of different yet the same that did not sit well with reviewers.
The Focus had first come to the United States as a 2000 model nearly identical to the Focus Ford sold in Europe. But since then, Europe got an all-new Focus that shares its mechanical pieces with the Mazda3 and Volvo S40, while the new 2008 Focus in the United States is based on the original 2000 model, but with an extra emphasis on ride and refinement rather than the sportier nature of the earlier car and the European version. Many reviewers also panned the car’s more agressive styling, especially in comparison to the European car's cleaner and more understated appearance.
For the most part, the 2008 Focus was torn to pieces by car reviewers because it has two things the average car reviewer doesn’t like: old design and softer suspension. But for the most part, the Focus’s old design keeps it competitive with the best-driving economical cars, and many buyers are likely to appreciate the smoother ride.
But while the Focus is a better car than most critics gave it credit for, it’s certainly not perfect. Part of the 2008 redesign was intended to cut costs to allow for lower pricing, and while the lower pricing certainly came along well, there’s too much of a sense of cheapness in some aspects of the Focus.
Like the Chevrolet Cobalt, that cheapness isn’t in the car’s driving dynamics. Though the Focus’s suspension is softer than it was before the redesign, it still has agile handling and very sharp, well-weighted steering, even while it has a very comfortable ride. The handling combines with a fairly strong engine (though the Cobalt’s offers better performance) to make the Focus the most fun to drive of these seven economical sedans. The Focus is also quiet for an economical car, though the engine can sound a bit raspy. Gas mileage is about midpack for these seven: 24 miles per gallon in the city and 33 on the highway.
As in the Mitsubishi Lancer, however, the Focus’s front seats are too flat, lacking the side bolsters that help keep occupants in place when you take a corner quickly. The seats are otherwise firm but comfortable, and there’s plenty of space. A high seating position helps outward visibility. The rear seat is high off the floor, but while there’s plenty of head room and space for feet under the high front seats, there’s little knee room when the front seats are far back. Like the Chevrolet Cobalt, the Focus has a cupholder on the center of the rear floor, complicating a middle passenger. Two adults will be comfortable, thanks to the thigh support from the high seat cushion. Rear head restraints are new for 2009. The trunk is roomy.
But where the Focus does feel cheap is in the quality of some of the materials used throughout. The first part of the Focus you touch, the exterior door handle, is coarse gray plastic. Most of the interior is made up of large, blocky panels of hard, rough-grained plastic. The instrument panel is a large, blocky panel of smooth silvery plastic. None of these plastics look or feel anything but bargain-basement.
On the other hand, more than some cheap-feeling economical cars, the Focus is relatively bargain-basement. The well-equipped car driven for this review had a sticker price of $18,500, but with Ford’s current rebates and under its no-haggle employee pricing discount program, it was $15,750 out the door. The test car had the optional Sync system that includes connections for a Bluetooth phone or an iPod and responds to voice commands; cars without the feature (only available on Fords) are even less.
The tested car did not have antilock brakes, however; the Focus is the only one of these seven not to have that safety feature equipped. While it’s theoretically an option, as is a new electronic stability control system, only the priciest Focuses in stock at Sheehy Ford came with that option at the time of this test drive. If you decide on the Focus, it’s worth hunting down one with antilock brakes and stability control.And there are good reasons to decide on the Focus. It drives well, and even after it was softened it’s sportier than most competing economical sedans while also offering impressive ride comfort and refinement. It has a reasonably roomy interior and trunk. It gets decent gas mileage and it’s not too expensive. It has even done well in Consumer Report’s reliability studies. The savage thrashing it received at the hands of many reviewers was largely the result of a "grass-in-greener" unhappiness that European customers had a newer -- and therefore better -- Focus than Americans.
But reviewers weren't wrong when they made the point that the Focus can feel cheap. If you don’t want every glance at the interior or ever touch of your door handle to remind you of the cost-cutting required to get you your low price, you’d do well to consider a competing economical car before the Focus.
Overall grade: B
Vehicle tested: 2009 Ford Focus SE
Vehicle base price (MSRP): $14,995
Vehicle price as tested (MSRP): $18,500
Estimated transaction price as tested: $15,750
Test vehicle provided by: Sheehy Ford of Marlow Heights, Md.
For more info: http://fordvehicles.com/focus
Wednesday, Dec 24: Fifth Place
Thursday, Dec. 25: Fourth Place
Friday, Dec. 26:
Third Place
Saturday, Dec. 27: Second Place
Sunday, Dec. 28:
First Place
Monday, Dec 29:
Conclusion
Photos by Brady Holt.
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