Verdict: Engaging to drive and good enough to stay at the top of its game.
Ford Focus Estate – roomy for its size, so there’s plenty of space for passengers and luggage
What’s hot?
- Practical estate car, roomy for its size for passengers and luggage
- Great poise and pert dynamics, a driver’s car
- Good steering feel from improved electric power assistance
- Strong performance from 150 PS (148 bhp) two-litre TDCi diesel engine
- Low CO2, only 105 g/km in the manual with Auto-Stop-Start (17% company car tax band), or 115 g/km in the 2.0 TDCi with Auto-start-stop and 6-speed Powershift automatic transmission (19% company car tax band)
- Low cost VED at £20 a year after no-cost first year
- Reasonable Benefit-in-kind at 17 per cent in current year
- Good fuel economy at 70 mpg combined, helped by standard Auto-Start-Stop
- Good boot space, 476 litres with mini spare wheel, or 490 litres with tyre repair kit, and up to 1,515 with back seats down
- 1,415 kg kerb weight, with braked towing capacity at 1,500 kg
- Lots of technology, including Ford’s industry first Enhanced Transitional Stability to detect risk of traction loss
- Debut of SYNC2, Ford’s advanced connectivity system with voice activation – to let you tell the car to adjust the cabin temperature, or to find and book a restaurant for you
What’s not?
- Although not unduly noisy, the sound of the diesel engine doesn’t let you forget what it is
- This model is not in the range until the end of 2014
- Fewer controls on the dash than in previous Focus, but it sometimes takes time to find what you need via the monitor menu
