Ford retains Focus to continue long-lasting legacy

Automotive history is littered with car families which vary wildly in quality from one generation to another. Indeed, Ford has had a stellar record of making a great car and then turning its successor into a complete dog.

Sat, 22 Sep, 2018 - 01:00

By Declan Colley

I would like to nominate the Mk 3 Cortina (1970-76) and the fifth-generation Escort (1990-97) as two excellent examples of this great tradition of an automotive behemoth allowing past success to cloud its judgment when it came to building the heirs to a previously great legacy.

The former was a huge success across Ireland and the UK, but this had more to do with Ford’s marketing prowess rather than any inherent qualities the cars themselves might have had.

They were poorly built — to the point that vehicles coming off the same assembly lines had markedly different performance capabilities — and had ongoing difficulties, such as terminal understeer, deafening wind noise and a bouncy ride, that were never successfully tackled.

The latter was given a desperate panning by the press at its launch and Ford was excoriated for having dumbed down what had been a very nice,

desirable car. The main points of complaint: Ancient engines and a suspension setup which had reverted to a torsion beam layout at the rear when there already had been a fully independent system on the Mk 3 car.

I know there will be those who take issue with such assertions, but hey, they are welcome to their opinions too, even if they are as deluded as the current leader of the free world. Both those cars were terrible; end of.

So, given Ford’s sometimes cataclysmic history in this regard, it was with some degree of hysteria that I learned at the European launch of the new Ford Focus — one of the best mainstream driver’s cars ever made, thanks largely to its all-round independent suspensions — several versions of the latest fourth generation of the model would be sold without that thing which made them so good.

Turns out that Ford, in its wisdom and after endless market research to fuel such sagacity, discovered that certain markets did not give one whit about driving dynamics and thus the powers that be decided that some of the lesser Focus models would revert to a torsion beam rear axle layout rather than the successful independent arrangement used heretofore.

We know the torsion beam solution to be much cheaper than the alternative, but it was still something of a shock to see the company apparently reverting to type when it came to the overall quality of the product.

And then — in their infinite wisdom — Ford decided to send such an iteration to Examiner Motoring just after the car was officially launched on the Irish market last week. They sent an ST-Line version of the new beast, fitted with the equally good one-litre EcoBoost petrol engine, but with the torsion beam set-up, I didn’t think I was going to like it.

I had an awful sinking feeling that, not for the first time in my career, I was going to have to eviscerate a Blue Oval product as I felt that dumbing down certain elements of the Focus line-up was only going to leave themselves open to certain criticism.

I don’t really care what the markets tell Ford about customers’ needs and desires, I still think it is a bad optic for a company to take any approach that will dilute the core appeal of their products. I understand it, but I don’t condone it. However, in this case I am glad to say I was completely wrong.

The system in question is fairly standard in engineering terms — leading to the mild hysteria described earlier — but on the ST-Line model I tested, it sits 10mm lower than standard. When I got it out and about over some testing West Cork roads, it proved to be very acceptable indeed; very good even. With the more complicated and driver-oriented independent system available on more muscular Focus models other than the 1.0 EcoBoost engined one I tried, they must be terribly good altogether. This one really impressed me.

The Focus as a whole — while inherently different from its predecessor in what is a completely new from-the-ground-up model — is a much improved beast and, given how good the last one was, that is very good news indeed.

My immediate impression of the Focus ST-Line was that it demonstrated sharper, more positive steering, delivered a handling package that is pretty close to class-leading, despite not being equipped with the best kit. It also boasted that small capacity turbocharged petrol engine which is great to drive, very tax friendly, and economic as well.

Indeed, the entire packaging of the new Focus is very good indeed. It is comfortable, roomy, well decorated, decently specified, and priced to sell. If Ford has learned lessons from the past, then those have been incorporated in to this car, without doubt.

Ford has also done a lot of work on the refinement of the car aerodynamically, as well as the drivetrain. The engine certainly emits the characteristically thrummy soundtrack unique to three-cylinder engines, but in this car it is only really at higher revs that this unique background music becomes truly apparent.

The engine itself is a cracker, producing some 125 bhp, a ten-second 0-100km/h time, and a top speed of 200km/h. Not earth-shattering, you’ll agree, but more than adequate. It will consume 4.8 l/100 km (nearly 60 mpg) and emit 108 g/km of CO2 for a €190 annual tax bill.

Allied to an excellent six-speed gearbox, the EcoBoost unit is strong across the rev range and happy either in an urban or countryside environment. Interestingly, it also features cylinder de-activation technology which helps on all environmental fronts and it also has an overboost function which increases torque from the normal output of 170 Nm up to 200 Nm for short periods.

Combine that engine with the handling and ride capabilities this Focus has and you’ve got a contender. Its main traditional rival is the VW Golf and by my reckoning the Focus, even in this ‘lesser’ guise, is now probably even more accomplished than its old mucker from Wolfsburg.

Throw in all the communication tech and sundry other kit that is such a necessary part of any family car these days and you’ve got a very attractive and appealing package that will sit very easily in your driveway.

The fourth generation of the Focus then is something which illustrates clearly that Ford had learned lessons from the sins of the past and will not repeat them again. This is an excellent car and one which has been improved upon over its successor in almost every way and is thus an illustration of how not to make a pig’s ear from a silk purse.