Review: A Re-Focused Ford

It’s almost a shame Ford decided to keep the name “Focus” when it redesigned its new compact for the 2012 model year. Because this car is not the same as the one it’s supplanting — it’s something much, much better. The previous-generation car that Ford sold in the States since 2008, code named internally at Ford as the C170, rode on a platform dating back three generations without much internal reworking. Having been sold in the States since 1999, Ford hasn’t used that platform anywhere else in the world other than the U.S. and a few third world countries since 2004 when the rest of the world received a wholly new and class-leading car.

That’s not to say C170 Focuses were bad; they weren’t. Being honest, I loved driving the 2010 Focuses when I worked at a rental car agency — even as ugly and outdated at they were. In its first iteration, it was widely considered the best compact car in the world. Even ardent Europhiles agreed.

They still had tight, heavy steering, a nimble chassis willing to play, and a feeling of substantiality that was more Mark III VW Jetta than anything else an American manufacturer had ever made. And after some initial quality issues in Ford’s Mexican manufacturing facility, by the time they had gotten through 12 years of production, they became solidly reliable, well-built cars.

“[My family’s] has gone 40,000 miles, and all it’s needed was a turn signal lightbulb,” the salesman riding shotgun said. “It really is a great car.”

But it does have a good number of deficiencies — most of which have been alleviated with the complete product redesign onto the “C1” platform.

When approaching this new car — an SE trim-level sedan for my test drive — the first thing you notice is how it looks: contemporary, sleek — am I allowed to call a sub-$20,000 fuel-sipper “sexy”? Compared to everything else in its class, it is. It makes Chevrolet’s rather conservative Cruze and VW’s brand new Jetta look outdated despite only having been on sale here just under a year. Ford calls its global design language an evolution of its “Kinetic” philosophy. I call it perhaps the freshest-looking new mainstream car on the road.

The interior is the same story. The grab handles in the doors could use a little reinforcement as they felt a bit flimsy, but the rest of the interior is impressive with the quality Ford has brought to the class. I’m not usually one for dash-stroking, but the Focus is so far above everything else in the class, it’s not even a fair comparison.

The dash’s modern up-swept design puts all of the controls easily at-hand. And while it looks a bit foreign in its execution such the vestigial number pad to the right of the stereo controls left over from the phone integration Europeans use, everything felt intuitive. The HVAC controls are where you’d expect them to be without having to take your eyes off the road to turn them on. The cupholders are out of the way so that you don’t jam your elbow into your Big Gulp, but they’re right where they ought to be without having to reach back in an awkward motion. This car seems like it was designed to be as ergonomically-friendly as possible, catering to both style and substance.

In the driver’s seat, if you were to see nothing else of the car, the steering wheel would be a good indicator of just how far this car has come compared to last year’s car. The leather-wrapped wheel in the car fell into hand comfortably with grips on either side of it. Wider-rimmed and smaller in diameter than the previous generation’s, it reminded me vaguely of a last-generation BMW M3’s. Such is quite an improvement over the previous generation’s  that became slick all too easily, covered in either rubberized plastic on more basic models or cheap-feeling leather on upper-trim cars.

But transmitted through that wheel — and one thing I will certainly miss from the outgoing model — is the car’s steering feel, or lack thereof. Where the old car had a heavy, Germanic feel to it, I found the new car’s electric steering system lighter and easier to use, but lacking the same level of feedback. It’s lifeless compared to 2011 car’s. Unfortunately, since every other manufacturer is switching up to electric steering instead of hydraulic pumps to ease engine strain and boost MPGs, the switch had to happen. That said, it’s still more Civic than Corolla in terms of feel.

On the road, power came quickly and easily. The car’s 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission changed gears so smoothly that I couldn’t even feel the shifts. The combination seemed perfect for this car. Along with massive amounts sound deadening, I came away surprised by just how quiet, if not utterly refined, it was.

Unfortunately, that insulation couldn’t hide perhaps the cars biggest shortcoming: its ride. Pittsburgh’s post-winter roads might seem better-suited in a mortar-riddled warzone than the “Most Livable” city in the nation, but they’re a good indicator of a car’s dampening. If it can handle our deep potholes with ease, it can handle anything.

The Focus couldn’t. Ford’s engineers tuned this car’s suspension on the firmer, sportier side of the compact class, but it came off as coarse and choppy at times. Ford’s cheaper, smaller Fiesta, which I drove afterward, felt like a luxury car by comparison over the same roads. I hate to sound like more of a pragmatist than an enthusiast, but Ford would do well to make the standard suspension a little softer for 2013.

I could find other nits to pick like the lack of rear leg space, a bit dead space in the brake pedal, or the fact that Ford supplies its DSG-equipped cars without the option of steering wheel paddles or a a gate in the gear selector to shift manually, but don’t get me wrong. Ford hasn’t given us another half-hearted attempt in lieu of the world’s better alternatives.

No, what Ford has given us, for the first time since 2004, is the same car that everyone else in the world gets. It’s a car that feels like it should cost much more than its $19,415 asking price, inside and out. And it’s a car that after having driven Mazda3s, 2010 Jettas (VW substantially cheapened the car’s materials and build for the 2011 model year redesign), and many other cars in the compact class, while I don’t find it perfect, I have no problem saying is a better overall package than any of them.

Notes: Many thanks go out to and Sturman-Larkin Ford in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania for the test drive (the car had just 8 miles on the odometer when I took it out on the road) and Chris O’Neill for spotting the Bugatti Veyron afterwards. The Focus was a mid-level SE sedan with the optional convenience package.