Sharper Focus
Still a contender for top of class honours
Great handling coupled with improvements inside and out 
Four-speed auto ‘box means sluggish starts Ford imbues its popular hatchback with some kinetic energy
By Derryn Wong
IT’S OFTEN BEEN said that buying a car is like a marriage. You have to search real hard until you find the Right One, if you find the right one she/it will probably have some major flaws, she/it will require regular maintenance whether emotional, mechanical or monetary, it’s a big commitment and she/it will either give you years of happy ownership or drive you completely insane.
I’ll add two things to that: firstly ignore the above if you’ve got a lot of money, in which case skip this and go straight to the Lamborghini section in our CarBuyer Guide. Secondly what you see on television and the media is one thing, while real life is another.
So despite the World Rally Championship-induced ideals, the Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Lancer and Ford Focus are normal, not-very-rapid vehicles. But there is hope, because the Focus is a car which handles very well.
However that shouldn’t really come as a surprise, since the focus (sorry) of Ford’s revamp this time round has been the car’s appearance, both internal and external. What makes this revamp warrant the ‘all-new’ model tag is the fact that almost every body panel is new, according to Ford, which makes for a much more eye (and heart) pleasing appearance.
The main idea is to freshen up the car to fit in with the rest of the Ford range. If you’re in the dark about this, Ford’s most recent models have all incorporated its new ‘kinetic design’ language which first debuted in the Iosis concept back in 2005.The new Mondeo and S-Max multi-purpose vehicle are great examples of this; being called a Mondeo man now actually might be an exciting thing.
The new Focus manages to look pretty good in stock guise we’re happy to say. From the front it’s a whole new ball game as the car’s face has been quite radically changed, with all the major reference points undergoing transformation.
Front headlamps now curve and sweep back a la the new Mondeo, blending into the hood and giving the car a much more aggressive and streamlined look. Helping this along are the similarly shaped fog-light surrounds and a gaping trapezoidal air intake for that shark-nosed look.
