Price as tested: €25,439
+ Space, looks, comfort, quality
– Breathless engine, shiny cabin plastics
= Crisp to drive and versatile with it
This is based on nothing more than anecdotal, what we see on the road type evidence, but it certainly seems that Ireland and traditionally traditional Irish buyers are finally cottoning on in decent numbers to the charms of estates. For decades, we have sniffed and turned our collective noses up at wagons, Avants and shooting brakes, believing them to be the natural home of down-at-hell traveling salesmen and brewery reps. We’ll have a nice, safe three-box saloon, thanks. In beige.
Well, we’ve been banging the estate drum for many a year now and you do seem to be copping on out there. For a fairly minimal extra financial outlay, you are opening up a world of extra flexibility and usefulness, without going to the expense of running an SUV or crossover or the sheer drudgery of having an MPV.
And we think we’ve worked out why. IKEA. It’s simple, in a flat-pack world, you need a car with sufficient space to pack in a Trofas, a Snigglar and a couple of Billys. It happened to us recently. A large, family saloon, brought on a trip to IKEA. A big, comfy car. Massive boot. But, because it was a saloon, it didn’t have the loadspace height to take all we wanted meaning that a couple of Sultan bed mattresses had to be left behind. Darn it.
A few days later, I rocked back up to IKEA with a Focus Estate. Now, the Focus is, technically, a class down on the previous car, but, because it was an estate, it swallowed the abandoned mattresses with room to spare for a Myrdal or two. Just flip the seats down (expanding the boot from 476-litres to a whopping 1,500-litres) and in they went with only a minimum of squashing and squeezing.
It’s actually been a while since I’d driven a Focus and to be honest, the last one had left me cold. A saloon, in Zetec spec with big wheels and sports suspension, it bounced and jiggled so badly on typical Irish back roads that it nearly caused seasickness. So I wasn’t especially looking forward to a week of the same.
But thankfully, my Titanium-spec estate, in a rather uninteresting dark blue paint job, exhibited none of those unfortunate tendencies. Smaller wheels and softer springs clearly make a heck of a difference, and while it never smothers bumps and scars with the calm assurance of a Golf, the Focus Estate was a comfy and pretty decently refined companion.
While we’re bringing the Golf into the discussion, let’s talk cabins. There’s no doubt that the new Focus has a vastly, incredibly better cabin than the old one, even if it can get a bit complicated at times. It has lovely, clear, sharp-looking dials and the simples and best Bluetooth connection that not only routes phone calls through the car, but also your music and podcasts. And it takes, literally, 30secs to hook your phone up.
But, there’s an unfortunate shiny finish to too many of the dash surfaces that detracts from the actually very high levels of fit and finish. The Golf’s carefully honed, matte-finish interior certainly still feels classier. Still, the Focus has comfy seats, a well set up driving position and decent, if not exceptional, room in the rear seats.
Under the bonnet of our test car lay another disappointment. We’ve gotten used to Ford’s ubiquitous 1.6 TDCI engine, which in 110bhp form, offers all the performance you could reasonably want while keeping its emissions and fuel consumption pretty much as low as you could wish. This, the 95bhp version, improves on the Co2 and economy (117g/km and 4.2-litres per 100km claimed) but boy, does it feel underpowered. With 230Nm of torque, it’s only 40Nm down on the 110bhp engine, but it feels sticky and reluctant to pull, especially from standstill. Once up to a cruise, it’s fine and doesn’t feel too bad on the motorway (where it’s also very good at keeping its noisy bits to itself) but sprinting is something it can’t do.
On the other hand, there are few, if any, cars in this class that can hold a candle to the Focus’ chassis through the twisty bits. The steering is beautifully accurate, if a little rubbery and springy, but the way the whole chassis gels and works with you and the road, rather than fighting off imperfections, really is amazing. Even the mighty Golf, which does in fairness still have its ride trump card, must bow to the Focus’ more driver-oriented settings.
So, it’s got the space, it’s got the chassis and, if you pick a stronger colour, it’s got the handsome looks. Will it succeed? We suspect that it’ll take a while longer before estate acceptance percolates down to this kind of price level, but for the few who do take the plunge, there’s a terrific car waiting for them. As long as they go for the 100bhp engine.
Facts & Figures
Ford Focus Estate 1.6 TDCI 95 Titanium
Price as tested: €25,439
Range price: €21,285 to €30,595
Capacity: 1,560cc
Power: 95bhp
Torque: 230Nm
Top speed: 180kmh
0-100kmh: 12.5sec
Economy: 4.2l-100km (67mpg)
CO2 emissions: 117g/km
VRT Band: A. €160 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 92% adult, 82% child, 72% pedestrian, 71% safety assist
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