A lot has been written about the revised Focus, which is going on sale this month. What we have here is the first published review of a new Focus driven on British roads. Ford made a small selection of potential cars available for this test, but they have been in the country for such a short period of time that some of them had barely 100 miles on the clock and for that reason were not really suitable. We picked the 1.8 TDCi turbo diesel in Zetec trim, partly because that one had had more time to loosen up and partly because it's likely to be one of the best sellers in the range.The 113bhp 1.8 TDCi is the middle of three turbo diesels you can choose with the Focus. There are 1.6- and two-litre alternatives, and there's a strong case for picking the more powerful version of the 1.6 instead, since it provides about the same performance as the 1.8 and is outstandingly more economical on the official cycle, particularly if you choose the ECOnetic version. All the 1.6s also have CO2 emission levels under 120g/km, which means an £80 saving in annual car tax (£85 from April 1 this year) plus probable exemption from the London congestion charge. Despite all this, the 1.8 is a pleasant enough unit, with decent performance and combined fuel economy of 54.2mpg. The only problem I had with it was that I found it was very easy to stall, in a way that was common with diesels a few years ago but is less so now. The Zetec trim level which Ford reckons will be so popular is the second highest in a list of four; Titanium models are better-equipped, Studio and Style less so. Compared with the previous Focus Zetec, this one gets new 16" alloy wheels, a "premium centre console" and a body-coloured rear spoiler.Other Zetec equipment includes a Quickclear heated windscreen, a perimeter alarm, dark headlamp surrounds, sports suspension and sports seats with lumbar adjustment for the driver.The heated windscreen will be useful on cold mornings, but the most obviously excellent items on this list are the seats. They provide fabulous side support and are just possibly the best thing about the Focus.I'm not so sure about the suspension, and in particular I would question the use of the word "sports" in describing it. There is very little about the Focus that is sporty, and the cars that have been built since the new shape was introduced in 2004 are distinctly more cumbersome than the previous ones.This is perhaps less of an issue than it used to be. When the new-shape car arrived I was disappointed to find that it didn't seem much more nimble than the then-current Mondeo. Since then, Ford has launched the latest Mondeo, which isn't nimble in the slightest, so the gap between the two cars has gone back to what it was.Be that as it may, the "sports" suspension hardly transforms the Focus into a supremely well-handling car. Its main effect seems to be to make the wheels chatter over sharp bumps. In complete contrast, the Focus is superb at smoothing out longer and less violent undulations in the road.There are two other significant complaints. First, the rear visibility is absolutely terrible - much worse than you would guess by standing outside the car and looking at the rear three-quarters. The test car had rear park assist as a £200 option, and you would certainly need this to have any confidence at all about reversing in car parks.The position of the handbrake lever is also an issue, at least for UK customers. Ford has mounted it at the left of the centre console, where it will fall easily to the hand of whoever is in control of a left-hand drive car. When the driver is on the right, the lever is quite far away, and the angle at which you have to have your arm in order to reach it does not make the required upward pulling motion easy to achieve.This might be thought of as a minor point, but it clashes awkwardly with the fact that the Focus is in other respects a very comfortable car to drive. I've already mentioned the seats, but in addition to those the controls are nicely weighted, noise levels are generally low (apart from a bit of road rumble on some surfaces) and there's plenty of room for passengers both up front and in the rear.In its various forms, the Focus has been almost consistently at the top of the UK sales charts from the best part of a decade. Ford's historic popularity in this country being what it is, the Focus could probably achieve this without being a particularly good car; so it's pleasing that in these terms, and despite a few aspects which I think could be improved, it's better than it needs to be. Engine 1753 cc, 4 cylinders Power 115 bhp @3700 rpm Torque 207 ib/ft @1900 rpm Transmission 5 speed manual Fuel/CO2 54.2 mpg / 137 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 10.8sec Top speed 118 mph Price From £18996.00 approx Release date 01/01/2008
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