citação: can only think that they bottled it. When the old Focus was new, people spread their palms, sucked teeth and said "now that's interesting..." Opinions were batted back and forth like big gay shuttlecocks. My point? The one thing that people said when they saw this new Focus was, "Er, is it?"
This was always going to be hard. Redesigning the European sales backbone of the Ford empire is like changing the recipe of Coke. The Focus has sold over four million in 80 countries since 1998 and that's not small beer, even for big players.
Apart from scepticism about the looks, here in full UK-spec, first impressions are excellent. The door shuts with a more determined thunk, the immediate touch-points are nicer to, um, touch and the interior design is like a bathroom - you instinctively know which bit is which and what to do with it - though the fact that there isn't any strong theme in the interior is dull city compared to Mazda3s and Smart ForFours with more attitude.
The dynamics are where it scores. The old Focus was a brilliant piece of engineering management; it did everything - if not elegantly - then competently. But it drove like it was engineered with fun in mind. Happily, it's the same here. There's better steering feel, thanks to new electro-hydraulic power steering; better compliance and isolation from the suspension, and better soundproofing for that notoriously rattly common-rail turbodiesel.
There have been a host of changes from the old Focus, most notably a wider track, a longer wheelbase and a 10-per-cent stiffer body. You feel the changes on UK roads quickly. It's neater around faster corners - though it can feel strangely soft in the rear damping when you take a sharp corner. But you'll be surprised at how much you'll chuck it about.
The 134bhp, 236lb ft, two-litre Duratorq TDCi is the pick of the bunch. I'd have it. Smooth, with a tall sixth and enough torque to actually be quite a laugh, you should still see low emissions (148g/km) and low fuel consumption of 51.4mpg. I got a bit less, but wasn't being kind with the throttle.
The new Focus offers huge improvements over the old model and it would make a great family car if getting the job done was a priority and you didn't mind conservatism. But there could have been more risk-taking in the looks department.
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