Test drive Ford Focus 4 doors 2005 - 2007 sedan

We are waiting for the third

This is the second Focus. Not in the sense that the second generation, but the second Focus II, which visited the test test. Two months ago, we went on a two -liter sedan in the GHIA configuration, today we have a three -door Trend with the same engine. And for us he is of tremendous interest.
 

Why? Yes, because after the first acquaintance we have questions to the car. We deliberately did not focus on some points, since the managers of the dealer center that provided us that sedan claimed that the car belongs to one of the first parties, and its shortcomings are individual. Is it so? This is what we had to find out. And, of course, it is interesting to know how different the sports suspension is offered only in the Trend version, from the standard. And whether the full-time CD resort for $ 450 sounds worse than the Sony audio system for $ 700.

 

In dark color, a three -door hatchback looks very pretty. It is only important to remember that a car with such a body needs wheel drives of a large radius. On 15 inches Focus with its large body panels long doors and hind wings are like a clumsy hippo. Actually, 16 inches are not enough, but dealers cannot offer more.
 
Visually, the three -door seems more dynamic than the sedan, but it is unlikely to be practical. It is inconvenient to climb the rear seats, but you won’t envy the front riders: it will not be possible to open the doors widely on a close parking lot, which in dirty weather threatens with clothes stained on the body. The narrow glass of the rear door sharply worsens overview, and the luggage compartment itself is not optimal in shape due to a sloping roof line. It will be problematic to transport large boxes.

The salon is the same that we saw before. This is a demo-car, so it is equipped with full leather, climate control, and so on. Unless the music is simpler here, but it was bad for her, as luck would have it. The code for the audio system is sent from the plant only after the sale of the car to the client, but our demo does not have a demo. So one of the points remained unclear. But in ergonomics and the quality of execution, the salon is still magnificent and clearly does not fit into the Procrustean bed of its price niche. Such an interior would decorate the car for $ 20-25 thousand. There is definitely nothing to complain about!

  

Now about running qualities. Management, brakes and gearboxes remain outside of suspicion. The setting of the steering wheel amplifier is good in any of the three modes that can be selected through the flight comprehensive menu. Focus with extraordinary ease includes in turns, where it is characterized by thoroughbred, neutral rotation. As for the sports suspension, with the same dimension of the tires, the difference from the standard on public roads is barely perceptible. Perhaps Focus Trend is more quickly in reactions than GHIA, is less fucked and sway. But the inaccessible nature of controllability in general remained the same.

  

The smoothness of the course was not affected either. Alas, the main problem of deaf knocks in the front suspension when hitting large convex irregularities did not disappear. We sincerely hoped that in the situation with Sedan it was a defect in a particular copy, but it seems that this is a family sore, to a certain extent spoiling the general favorable impression of the car.

 

The two-liter motor again brought little joy, which, according to the sensations, does not go to 145 horsepower and nine with something there are up to a hundred seconds. The engine is frankly moment, easily taking out Focus from the usual 90-degree turns in the city in the third gear, but lazy. Weak revival occurs only after reaching 4 thousand revolutions, and then it has to be literally squeezed out of the car. The delays in the responses to move the accelerator are even more depressing. You can sharply press on the gas pedal, immediately let it go and observe how the tachometer arrow rises to 1,500-1700 rpm, and then slowly descends.

 

So, if your priority is comfort, we can recommend a sedan in the GHIA version with 1.6 or 2.0 engines on 15-inch wheels. If you want sports, it is better to choose a five -door hatchback performed by Trend for 16 inches. But with the engine, not everything is so simple. It is likely that the most interesting in nature of the motor will be a 115-horsepower turbodiesel. Now we are looking forward to our third Focus II on diesel fuel.
 

The car was provided by TDV-AUTO, the official dealer of Ford Motor Company.
  
During the test, the car is insured by Rosno.
 
Autography
Ford Focus II
Predecessor Focus (1998)
Prototype Ford Visos (2003)
Premiere September 2004
Hatchback body (3 and 5 dv.), Sedan, station wagon
Engines 1.4-2.0 l (80-145 l.
Production Germany, Spain, Russia
Expected replacement 2011
 
Text: Leonid Klyuyev
Photo: Roman Ostanin
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A source: Wheel magazine [No. 95/2005]