Ford Focus- Ford haven’t lost it

Ford Motors is one such car manufacturer which have achieved great milestones as well as faced the flak from the car buying public for their not so great cars. Any company would go through the same in their manufacturing cycle. It isn’t easy to please each and every one and no car is perfect. There are some exceptions in the Ford Motors line up namely the Ford Focus. Now, this car was designed keeping in mind to cater to both the masses as well as premium car buyers.

Any one buying a car would first go by the exterior looks and then ask you about the horsepower and so on. The Ford Focus doesn’t disappoint on this count and is quite a looker. It also seems quite conservative and hence will appeal both to the young as well as middle aged people. The choice of wheels also borders on conservative and sporty. Ford Motors have been given the stick always for their choice of interior materials but not so with the Ford Focus. It has enough to keep an electronic geek engaged and at the same time, those are the ones which even a layman can use with some considerable practice. Standard features on the Ford Focus include leather wrapped steering wheel with aluminium inserts and audio, SYNC and cruise controls on it. SYNC is a Ford trademark and is basically a Bluetooth pairing system. There is also a two stage moon roof as well as a 12 cd changer Kenwood system with 10 speakers.

The front seats in the Ford Focus hug the body contours well. They are made up of a bit hard materials however there was no fatigue noticed even on long journeys. The rear seats are a bit upright and are not as supportive as the front ones. That saying, even they are comfortable and sitting three abreast wouldn’t be a problem because of the wide haunches of the car. The boot is also reasonably spacious with about 15 cubic feet of space and going upto 44.6 cubic feet once the 60:40 rear seats are pulled down. The steering wheel in the Ford Focus is a small unit but it is very direct and not lacking in feel. It exactly tell the front wheels where to go and also at the same time lets the driver know what is going on and how much grip is left from the tires. The big Ford only gets upset with large bumps on the road at speed. The chassis is communicative and the Ford Focus takes to curvy roads like a fish to water.

The Ford Focus is sold with only one engine trim and it is a 2.0 liter, 4 cylinder, 140 bhp motor. This motor churns out 138 Nm of torque. It is matched with a precise 5 speed manual or with a 4 speed automatic. The limitation in the engine is masked by the excellent gearbox and well tuned out ratios for maximum driving pleasure. The car shoots from 0-60 mph in 8.8 seconds in manual mode whereas in automatic mode, it covers the same distance in 9.3 seconds. Not earth shattering numbers. Engine noise as well as road noise is almost absent. This is because of the use of high sound deadening materials under the hood and inside the car cabin. 4 wheel disc brakes as well as Anti-Lock Brake System {ABS},Traction Control and Electronic Brake Distribution{EBD} retard the motion of the car.

Where Ford Motors have tuned the Ford Focus is in the fuel economy field. The Manual version returned an EPA estimated 26 mpg in city whereas the on the highway, the figure rose to 37 mpg. The automatic as expected, was a bit thirsty, at 23 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway. Safety is also taken care of with Ford Motors innovative method of letting the parents control the speed limits for their kid’s Ford Focus by using a key programmer. There are also 5 airbags, collapsible steering column and energy absorbing side beams.

FORD FOCUS TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine Type : 2.0-liter I-4 DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder,Sequential multiport electronic

Bore x stroke : 3.34 x 3.27 / 87.5 x 83.1 mm

Displacement : 1,999 cc

Compression ratio : 11.0:1

Horsepower : 140 @ 6,100 rpm

Torque : 138 Nm @ 4,150 rpm

Fuel capacity : 13.7 gallons

DRIVETRAIN

Layout Front : wheel drive

TRANSMISSION

Standard : 5-speed manual/ 4 speed automatic

SUSPENSION

Front : Independent MacPherson strut with stabilizer bar

Rear : Control Blade multilink independent rear suspension with available rear stabilizer bar

STEERING Type : Power with rack and pinion

BRAKES

Type : Power assisted front disk, rear disc brakes with four wheel, 4-channel anti-lock braking system (ABS), EBD and traction control

Front headroom : 39.2

Front legroom : 41.9 inches

Front shoulder room : 53.9 inches

Front hip room : 50.7 inches

Rear headroom : 39.3 inches

Rear legroom : 36.3 inches

Rear shoulder room : 52.6 inches

Rear hip room : 48.4 inches

Seating capacity : 5