The
Ford Focus has never had the same credibility in Australia as it has in its
European home markets. Where the small Ford has been well regarded for its
dynamics and its radical styling, the car has been judged harsher in Australia
for being late to market, slow with an automatic transmission, exhibiting
lacklustre build quality and hard to find in the right specification through
the local Ford dealer. Sales
have reflected this. Even with Ford Australia overcoming many of the issues
plaguing the Focus, supply from the South African factory remains a problem.
But the South African plant was where the just superseded LV Focus was being
built. The all-new LW model tested here will be built for the Australian market
at Ford's Saarlouis plant in Germany. After 12 months or thereabouts,
production of the Australian-spec car will move to the Ford/Mazda joint venture
in Thailand, AAT.
Once
that happens, Ford Australia will have fingers crossed that the supply
constraints will steadily dissipate. There may be some minor spec changes when
Focus production moves to Thailand, but there's no reason to expect build
quality will slide. The cars Ford provided for the first local drive program
seemed well assembled and the interior of the car was comfortable and stylish overall. The
new Focus is a marked improvement over its predecessor, not least of all in its
refinement. Now a global car, aimed at selling in this one basic shape in every
market, the new car measures up to the best of what's on offer in our small-car
segment.
So
the latest Focus should sell in the numbers Ford expects, whatever they are. No
one outside Ford is privy to Ford Australia's sales forecast for the new Focus
— Lord knows, we tried to find out — but the new car should generate a surge in
small-car market demand for the blue oval.
Can
Ford meet the demand with its Saarlouis supply chain though? If the company has
to wait for the handover to AAT it might be too late to leverage the consumer
interest that goes with any car new to the market.
Price
For
Aussie buyers, the Focus is offered in a four-grade/two-body range. Ambiente
equates to the former CL entry-level Grade, Trend is one step up — a
counterpart to the superseded Focus LX — and the Focus Sport replaces Focus
Zetec, while the flagship of the range is the Focus Titanium, inheriting the
mantle previously worn by the Focus Ghia.
There's
a scattering of variants in the four grades across the range, split between
five-door hatch and four-door sedan. Ford has three engines on tap, with the
1.6-litre naturally-aspirated petrol four reserved for the base-grade Ambiente.
More information about the new Focus range — including pricing — can be read in
our news story from the Australian International Motor Show.
In
short, the new range kicks off with the same pre-runout pricing as for the
superseded LV range, $21,990 for the Focus Ambiente hatch with manual
transmission. Powered by just the one engine, a 1.6-litre petrol four, the
entry-level model in the range can also be specified with Ford's six-speed
PowerShift transmission for $2300 extra — $24,290.
Standard
features in this level of trim comprise 16-inch steel wheels, hill launch
assist, air conditioning, remote central locking, 60/40 splitfold rear seating,
front electric windows, electric mirrors, Bluetooth connectivity, voice
control, USB/iPod connectivity, six-speaker audio.
Ford
has settled on pricing parity for hatch and sedan. A five-door model of
identical spec is priced at the same level as the four-door equivalent, so the
for the same price as the Focus Ambiente hatch with PowerShift option, the car
can also be purchased in sedan form, but the only transmission in that grade
and bodystyle is the PowerShift box. There is no manual variant available, reflecting
the more conservative nature of sedan buyers — people who like the transmission
to do any shifting for them, and are willing to pay for that.
The
Focus Trend is roughly aligned with the LX grade in the LV Focus range. It
moves upmarket from the Ambiente, which is aimed more at fleets. Two engines
can be specified, a 2.0-litre direct-injection four-cylinder petrol engine with
a five-speed manual transmission ($24,490 for the hatch, N/A in the sedan).
This engine with the PowerShift option costs $26,790 and can be had in either
hatch or sedan configuration. The other engine option is the 2.0-litre
turbodiesel, which is only available coupled to the PowerShift transmission and
costs $30,500 for either bodystyle.
In
addition to the Ambiente specification, the Focus Trend comes equipped as
standard with 16-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights, rear parking sensors,
manual lumbar adjustment for driver's seat, cruise control and leather gear
knob. Focus
Sport replaces the LV Focus Zetec and is available in the same
drivetrain/bodystyle variants as the
Focus Trend. The five-speed manual hatch with the 2.0-litre petrol
engine costs $27,390, while the same engine and the PowerShift option will set
back buyers $29,690 but can be purchased as a hatch or a sedan. $3500 extra
($33,190) will put buyers in the seat of the Focus Sport with diesel power and
the standard PowerShift transmission. This drivetrain combination is available
as a sedan or hatch also. A
substantial spec upgrade from the Focus Trend, the Focus Sport features the
following standard equipment: 17-inch alloy wheels, rear spoiler for hatch
variants, heated mirrors with side indicators, , rain-sensing wipers,
auto-on/off headlights, follow-me-home lighting, LED tail lights, nine-speaker
Sony audio, 4.2-inch centre console LCD, dual-zone climate control,
electrochromatic mirror, sports seats, folding rear-seat armrests with
integrated cupholders and ambient LED lighting in red.
Topping
the range is the Focus Titanium, which is only available with the PowerShift
box, but buyers can order either hatch or sedan variants with the 2.0-litre
petrol engine, priced at $32,590 or the diesel for $36,090. Standard
equipment for the Focus Titanium, over and above the Sport specification,
includes 18-inch alloys, Active Park Assist, Smart Key, start button, partial
leather upholstery and heated seats.
Ford
has covered a broad spectrum of buyer wants with the new Focus. There's practically
a variant for everyone, although the subset of everyone wanting the 1.6-litre
four-cylinder engine in the Focus Ambiente could be generously described as
'fleet buyers'. The
smaller of the two petrol engines in the range features a DOHC valvetrain and
variable cam timing to produce peak power of 92kW at 6300rpm and peak torque of
159Nm at 4000rpm. Fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in combined-cycle testing
are 6.2L/100km and 144g/km with the five-speed manual transmission, or
6.6L/100km and 154g/km for the PowerShift variant. As with all three Focus
engines, the 1.6 is Euro 4-compliant.
As
the other petrol engine in the range, the 2.0-litre four-cylinder Duratec
offers direct-injection fuel delivery to produce 125kW of power at 6600rpm and
202Nm of torque at 4450rpm. In combined-cycle testing, the larger petrol
engine's fuel consumption and CO2 emissions range from 6.6L/100km and 154g/km
for the Focus Trend & Sport with PowerShift, to 7.2L/100km and 167g/km for
the Focus Trend and Sport manual versions. The
2.0-litre Duratorq turbodiesel four-cylinder develops 120kW of power at 3750rpm
and 340Nm of torque between 2000 and 3250rpm. With just the one transmission,
the PowerShift dual-clutch box, all the diesel Focus variants are rated the
same for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions: 5.5L/100km and 144g/km.
Drive
goes to the Focus's front wheels, with suspension by MacPherson struts. The
rear wheels are suspended by Ford's patented Control Blade IRS system. Stopping
the car is handled by front ventilated discs and solid discs, measuring
271x11mm, at the rear. The dimensions for the front rotors vary from 278x25mm
for the petrol variants to 300x25mm for the diesels.
Euro
NCAP has already tested the new Focus and has rated it a five-star car based on
the crash-test authority's post-2009 testing regime. In adult crash protection
the Focus achieved 33 points (92 per cent) and 40 points in child safety (82
per cent). For pedestrian safety the small Ford clocked up 26 points (72 per
cent) and in the category of safety assist the score was five points (71 per
cent). In
the pre-2009 testing that the previous generation Focus underwent, the score
was 35 points for adult protection, 40 for child safety and 15 for pedestrian
safety.
The
LW model comes equipped with dual front airbags, side-impact airbags for the
front-seat occupants, side curtain airbags, ABS/EBD, Torque Vectoring Control,
stability control, traction control, Emergency Brake Assist and emergency brake
lights (flashing lights during heavy braking).
Ford
is also promoting in the Focus what it calls Intelligent Protection System, which
is basically an umbrella term for the new car's safety features. In addition to
those already listed above, IPS also consists of front seatbelt
pretensioners/load-limiters, lap/sash seatbelts for all five seats, collapsible
steering column and break-away foot pedals. Probably the most significant
element of IPS is the CAD-optimised body with an 'ultra-rigid safety cell' andcrumple zones.
--
Quiet and quick, diesel does the trick
Of
the engines, the diesel is the pick of the bunch, although it does suffer some
occasional turbo lag. On the boil it delivers plenty of go, although the
traction control can pull it back into line if the driver gets a bit frisky.
This electronic intervention is manifested by slower straightline performance
when more is expected.
As
a small car powered by a four-cylinder diesel, the Focus oiler is just about
class-leading for NVH. Coupled to the PowerShift transmission it operates very
well, with just occasional vibration as the box selects a higher gear than
entirely appropriate for the engine revs and road speed. Otherwise, the diesel
is very hard to pick as a diesel from within the car until the driver is
working it a bit harder.
Fuel
consumption for the drive, according to trip computer and over a route
comprising freeways, country roads and Melbourne's Punt Road in peak hour, was
7.3L/100km. Given journalists don't usually drive for economy, that's a pretty
impressive figure for the day.
The
2.0-litre petrol engine is smooth and willing to rev. It offers a flat torque
curve, in the sense that there's no blip in performance when the engine appears
to get its second breath. It just accelerates at a linear rate from idle
through to redline. It sounds pleasant and achieves a balance between refined
and sporty. There's no droning, no thrashing, just a crisp but muted exhaust
note. Perhaps that's why it doesn't feel as gutsy in its straightline
performance. Fuel consumption we saw (without the freeway section back to baseat Ford) was 11.6L/100km, according to the car's trip computer. That figurearose out of peak hour traffic cutting across Melbourne from St Kilda toFairfield, plus the usual motoring writers' proclivity to give it heapswherever possible.
The
1.6-litre petrol engine wasn't tested by motoring.com.au, although the
correspondent was on board the Focus Ambiente powered by this engine when a
writer from another organisation drove it. His opinion was that the 1.6 is not
an engine for open-road touring. While it's quiet and free-revving, it doesn't
offer the sort of acceleration we've come to expect from our most popular small
cars — and that was with the standard five speed manual transmission. It would
be perfectly acceptable driving around town, but it's probably not a
recommendation we would make for country touring, hills or hauling around
heavier payloads (more passengers or stuff in the boot). Yet, on paper, it
develops power and torque that would have been on the money for a 2.0-litre
engine five or 10 years back.
On
the subject of the five-speed manual, it's easy to use, providing shift quality
that is light and precise, but if the budget is available, the PowerShift
transmission is easily the preferred box for any variant of Focus. There's an
extra ratio, for a start and its shifting is seamless and way faster than any
human driver could change gear with a manual. Having driven to the Focus launch
in a Volkswagen with a DSG transmission (the same principle as the PowerShift
box), the writer can attest that the Ford/Getrag setup is extremely smooth and
capable.
If
the PowerShift transmission contributes to an overall impression of quiet and
comfortable ride quality, then the tyres and suspension play an even larger
part in that too. Over some coarse-grade bitumen encountered during the drive
program, the Focus's tyres were generally pretty quiet across the range. And
the Focus does ride well too, particularly over larger bumps at low speeds
(speed humps, for instance) and secondary-level imperfections in the road at
higher speeds. These are instances where you really notice the Focus's ride
comfort, but it gives away nothing in roadholding or handling. The Focus
corners in a flat stance and will step out at the rear on a trailing throttle,
but is usually content with a neutral attitude.
If
there's one dynamic characteristic that is arguably a step backwards, it's the
lower level of feedback through the steering wheel. Turn-in remains responsive
for the most part, but the level of power assistance for the steering
occasionally lends the car a lighter weight through the wheel and some feel is
masked by the nature of the car's electric assistance. It's still a good
steerer by the standards of the class, but the Golf 6 is very likely ahead on
points now; such comparisons should wait until we can place the two back to back.
