A really nice small car

The lease on our Ford Explorer was due to end in 5 months – my wife and I were planning on letting it lapse and replace it with another, smaller SUV.

The letter from Ford Motor Credit changed all that. Basically, their “Early Bird” program would allow us to trade the Explorer in early, with Ford making the last 5 lease payments, if we bought or leased another Ford product. We hadn’t thought too seriously about another Ford, but realized that our daughter was going to be 16 soon, so we thought that perhaps a Focus was in our future. So, off to the dealer we went.

Ford produces 4 different models of the Focus: a 2-door hatchback (ZX3), a 4-door hatchback (ZX5), a sedan and a traditional station wagon. Since the car was ultimately going to be our daughters, she came with us to help pick out “her” car. The 2-door was out, as I felt it would be more expensive to insure than a 4-door vehicle. She immediately ruled out the wagon, which left the sedan and the 4-door hatchback. We drove one of each, and decided that the versatility of the hatchback was a nice feature not found on too many cars. That, plus the looks didn’t scream “Gramma-mobile” (with apologies to all grandmothers reading this).

It took trips to 4 different dealers, but we finally found one that we liked: a Sangria Red (burgundy to the rest of the world) ZX5 with a stick shift and ABS.

We’ve had the car now for a couple of weeks and here are my impressions after 300 miles:

Styling – Interior and Exterior

The Focus, particularly in hatchback form, has some interesting styling details – the car was designed when Ford was going through their “New Edge” styling phase (the late Mercury Cougar was also a product of this era). The taillights, for example, are not at bumper level, but rather up in the rear pillars, on either side of the hatchback glass. Odd, but also strangely cool to my middle aged eyes. In addition, the red of our car almost “hides” the taillights altogether during the day. Triangular headlamps at the front blend in to the character of the car as well. The use of angles and curves that intersect are also interesting – beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose, but no one in my family dislikes the looks of the car.

The same theme dominates the inside of the vehicle as well – there are lots of diagonal slashes across the dashboard, and the organization of the stereo and HVAC controls is quite easy to master. My daughter, especially, liked the big digital readout of the stereo and how close it is to the driver. The only thing I find odd, and it seems to be endemic to Fords, is the lack of a redline mark on the tachometer. Especially for a new driver, knowing how fast the engine can rev before bad things start to happen is something pretty important.

Interior Space

On our first test drive, I actually rode in the back seat. My wife drove, and our daughter rode shotgun. I was impressed by the amount of room I had, both for my legs and my head. I truly thought the sloping roof design of the hatchback was going to restrict headroom, but that wasn’t the case. Now, I will admit that I could not see myself riding in the backseat on a cross-country road trip, but for a trip of a few hours, I could be reasonably comfortable.

I actually did not get to drive the car for a few days; when I did, I was again surprised at how much room I had. The seats are height adjustable (on our trim level, which is known as “Comfort”), so I could put a couple of inches between the top of my head and the roof. The steering wheel adjusts for both reach and rake (meaning the wheel goes in and out as well as up and down) – this translates into a driver’s seat that 98% of the population should be able to get comfortable with. The gearshift falls readily to the right hand, and I’ve already mentioned the stereo and HVAC controls. Sight lines are good; there really are not any major blind spots – again, something important for the first time driver.

The only thing that takes a moment to get used to – and it is really only a problem if you have driven other stick-shift equipped cars – is that to find reverse, a ring has to be pulled up on the gearshift before putting the gear lever into that spot. The first time my wife had to back up, she had to look up in the owner’s manual how to do this.

The Driving Experience

In Europe, the Focus is hailed by many of the car magazines as one of the best handling small cars available. Here in the United States, the Focus has been on Car and Driver magazine’s 㥶 Best Cars” for 5 straight years.

After driving the Focus, I can see why these accolades are heaped upon the Ford. For a small car, it goes, stops and turns quite nicely. Our ZX5 has the 2.0 liter “Zetec” engine, which makes 130 horsepower. Completely adequate, I must say. Coupled with the smooth shifting 5-speed, the Focus has no problem getting out of its own way. The space between gears is nice and short, and the clutch action is smooth and predictable - again, nice traits for a first car.

We test drove a Focus with an automatic, and while that might have been a better fit for our daughter, my wife and I both believe that you have more control over your car with a stick shift, especially when poor weather hits. In addition, the automatic takes all the verve out of the engine; you practically have to floor it to keep the momentum up.

Ride and handling are also above par. While it won’t ever be confused with a Lexus for ride quality or a BMW for carving corners, the Focus can more than hold its own. The suspension has evidently been tuned by Ford to strike a nice compromise between a cushy ride and good cornering capabilities. On the highway, the only complaint I might have is a bit too much road noise from the tires (Goodyear RS-A, size 195/60-15). But, since the car will be used mainly for urban commuting, I don’t see that as too much of a problem.

One last note – we got about 6” of snow last night, and my wife told me that driving the Focus to work this morning was really not too bad – the combination of the high seating position and the stick shift gave her the confidence to get to work with little or no drama.

Summary

For not a lot of money (about $15K in our case), we got a car filled with creature comforts (power windows, locks and mirrors, keyless remote, a CD/MP3 player and cruise control), safety amenities (ABS and dual air bags – side air bags and traction control are optional) and enough character to hopefully keep our daughter safe and happy for many years to come. Our first tank of gas returned just over 29 miles per gallon, so it should be inexpensive to run.