Focus diesel that's fun to drive
A Ford Focus. A diesel Ford Focus. A diesel Ford Focus that’s fun?
Naah ...
Well, yaah, actually. Ford Focus TDCi.
Hmm. So how?
New generation diesel for Ford, who have kind of leapfrogged from behind to in front in this tech.
It’s a leapfrog game, after all, this motor business. Sometimes it’s in style, sometimes in technology. Sometimes just in public taste, which can only be manipulated just so far. Sometimes.
Ford has had fairly OK diesels in the recent past. Not the quietest, maybe not the most sophisticated. But they have worked, on the whole, well. The current Duratorq unit in the Mondeo is a case in point. Sounds a bit Transity, drives so well that you come quickly to totally enjoy it, love it, even. There’s now a TDCi option above that, and we’ll drive that soon.
The TDCi in the Focus is smaller, derived mechanically from the same 1753cc Endura DI unit that already gives two power options, 70 and 90PS. With the TDCi technology, it gives 115PS, the kind of power that only a relatively few years ago was what a 2-litre petrol engine typically provided.
And , hey, looking at the figures, it doesn’t appear so particularly spectacular. A 100km/h sprint of 10.8sec is kind of so-so. Well, OK, respectable for a 1.8 oilburner.
It’s what happens when you want some extra zoomph in overtaking that really cuts this one above your usual motors of similar size. Ford call it an ‘overtorque’ which for a short duration need pushes the output beyond the normal. They’ve actually used it in the Duratorq Mondeo diesel too, but in this TDCi it seems to work even better.
It’s ‘boot-in-the-back’ push. The kind of thing that makes you want to redo it for the fun of it. But also the kind of thing that makes it that much safer to clear obstacles to steady progress home.
This car - in review form a saloon with Ghia specification that includes aircon and upgraded trim - is a drive that will make a mix of leaving Dublin in Friday evening gridlock and going all the way to Limerick by lesser but unclogged roads something interesting, enjoyable ... and economical, because despite the 28% increase in overall performance beyond the 90PS Duratorq Focus, it’s at the same 51mpg fuel consumption.
Key to TDCi is extremely close tolerances in the design of the injection mechanisms, allied to state-of-the-art computer-controlled metering of fuel quantities to a very minute level. The sensors involved include one which notices the onset of any vibration which is immediately arrested by compensating mixture changes.
Manufactured by Delphi Automotive Systems, the Multec DCR 1400 system puts Ford light years ahead of any other first generation common-rail powertrain you want to mention. Nominal peak torque is 250Nm (207 lb ft) at 1850rpm. - substantially higher than Endura DI’s 200 Nm. Top speed is 120mph, which isn’t really important.
In real motoring terms, the Focus TDCi is still diesel sounding when started up. But it gets very, very refined very quickly, and once you’re on the move it very soon makes you forget you’re driving an oil-burner. This is the kind of car that’s going to make diesel an everyday option for family motoring, as soon as enough are sold to bring the price down into line with similarly-specced petrol models.
The Ghia spec on the review car was an overall light beige theme, and while it kept the interior light there’s a trade-off in easy staining of the seat material. Look for something darker if you’ve got a family need.
What you do get are smart wheels and a neat profile. The Focus saloon is still the best-looking of the stable in my opinion. My previous favourite was the 1.6-litre Ghia version.
What you also get is handling that’s not quite as sharp as the petrol hatchback, but more than very very good anyway; the Focus, even almost four years on from its original launch, is still the benchmark in its class for driving dynamics.
This is a new benchmark in its class. And in an era when the diesel has come to be almost as popular as petrol in some segments throughout the overall European market, it is a very focussed Focus.
Price has to be considered, though. A 1.6-litre 4-door Focus LX petrol costs 19,811 euros. A Ghia X spec of the same car is 22,375. A TDi diesel is 24,042. And the TDCi about which I have been so admirational is 25,709.
It’s a lot of extra, would need a lot of extra driving to warrant it, even at the high-flying mpg. But at least now there’s no sacrifice in driving pleasure.
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