Ford Focus, 1998 - 2005
3.5541Rating3.73% worse than average rating of competitors (3.8)Review number: 41 RecommendsYes 0% No 100%
1999 European car. Focus continued Ford's new design philosophy, the New Edge, which was already seen in Ford Ka and Ford Cougar cars. The interior of the Focus is also radically different from its predecessor - it is dominated by curved intersecting lines. The press has praised the Focus’s handling and driving characteristics, which combine passenger comfort with handling sharpness, and in doing so, the Focus has strongly outperformed key competitors such as the Opel Astra and especially the Mk4 Volkswagen Golf. Reviewers also praised the independent rear suspension, power and capacity, although the materials used in the interior were slightly inferior to the Opel Astra and Volkswagen Golf models (yet the Mk4 Golf was significantly more expensive than the Focus). Mention should also be made of the "hot" version of the Focus RS, which has an excellent 2.0-liter Zetec-E turbo engine with 212 hp (158 kW).