Outfit for the anniversary / Ford test drives

It would seem, if a car sells like hotcakes anyway, what's the point of refining it? The logic is simple: some consider this brand's products too utilitarian and therefore go to competitors for a purchase. But if the same "hotcakes" are served in bright packaging, even the most picky gourmets will line up for them. Apparently, that's exactly how Ford's marketers reasoned when preparing the restyling of the second-generation Focus, although the model had only celebrated its fourth anniversary. Perhaps they had other motives. But the fact remains: the previously deliberately pragmatic appearance of the "Focus" acquired that very zest it lacked. Now you want to look at the car like you once did at the first-generation Focus, whose design at the beginning of the 2000s seemed the pinnacle of boldness for a family hatchback.

Representatives of the "blue oval" claim that during the body update, engineers touched only the roof. And that's right: who even looks at a car from above? The stylists managed to instill the brand's signature kinetic design with minimal effort, which suits the "Focus" clearly more than a number of other models of the brand. Visually, the car seems to have remained the same, but upon closer inspection, fresh details are found here and there. At the front — a huge, almost like a sports coupe's, "mouth" of the radiator grille with chrome trim and headlights with curved lines. On the side — the wheel arches have become more expressive. At the rear — a relief bumper, chrome on the tailgate (for hatchback and wagon versions) and optional LED lights.

Inside, the changes please even more. The architecture of the front panel was left the same, but the "Ford people" worked on the details and clearly not in vain. New instrument cluster with voluminous chrome bezels of the scales, a neater gear lever, a different center console, slightly better quality "metal-look" plastic — and the Focus no longer looks cheap. However, you can't call it luxurious either, so it's better not to order pseudo-wooden inserts. It's wiser to spend on climate control: with a regular air conditioner, the control unit looks rough against the stylish console. Among the pleasant options of the updated version are Bluetooth for the phone, rain sensor, parking sensors, headlights that turn in corners, engine start button, radio key, tire pressure monitoring, and even a 230-volt outlet for a laptop. Let all this be for an extra charge, but the very fact of such options appearing in the Focus is pleasing.

Technically, as Ford admits, the restyled car has not changed. The same engines, the same excellent chassis with independent rear suspension, giving even the base version a sporty character... To find something new for ourselves in motion, we took for the test not the most popular diesel modification with a 1.8-liter TDCi with 115 hp. According to Ford representatives, such cars account for only 5% of sales in Russia, and this is in vain. The diesel pleases with excellent traction (280 Nm is impressive), and well-chosen gears almost eliminate the situation when the TDCi "deflates" at high revs during overtaking. From a standstill, the Focus-diesel doesn't shoot (acceleration to 100 km/h is a modest 10.8 seconds), but at high speeds it remains assertive and allows confident acceleration even beyond the 100 km/h mark. At the same time, the appetite is only 5.4 liters of diesel per hundred in the combined cycle. The only drawback is the lack of traction below 2000 rpm: at very low speeds you sometimes have to engage first gear, but you quickly get used to it. The test route ran along the roads of the Leningrad region, and their unstable quality once again confirmed how "omnivorous" the Focus suspension is.

On a frankly ruined road to the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk (where, by the way, over 250 thousand "Focuses" have been assembled since 2002), the mere sight of potholes makes you want to stop and walk. However, the Focus swallows asphalt defects with astonishing calm. Result: all the original strengths of the Focus remain with it, and the aesthetics added for the model's anniversary have made the car truly attractive. Perhaps this sounds too pompous, but now the Focus can be chosen not only with the mind, but also with the soul.