FORD FOCUS ESTATE
Autocar UK|March 29, 2023
Two years from retirement, is our new arrival still one of the very best 'normal cars'?
LUC LACEY
FORD FOCUS ESTATE

WHY WE'RE RUNNING IT

To crystallise our opinion of what we're all going to lose when the Focus retires

Well, doesn't this feel comfortingly conventional? For the next few months, I will be running a Ford Focus Estate. It's not an SUV, it doesn't want plugging in and it has a name that has been familiar for a long time.

Of course, it won't be for much longer, since Ford has announced that the Focus won't be replaced when its run ends in 2025. Is Ford making a mistake? Well, long-term reports aren't really the place to comment on a multi-billion-dollar global corporation's business sense, but we will find out just how much we're going to miss the Focus.

Although being back in a Focus feels pleasingly traditional, it isn't quite 2003 all over again. The fourth-generation Focus has just been treated to a facelift to see out its career. The redesigned LED headlights certainly look sharper than before, and inside there's now an absolutely massive i touchscreen (13.2in) that has usurped the physical climate controls.

This one is also a hybrid, allegedly. I hadn't clocked the badge on the boot lid proclaiming as much until someone pointed it out, because the car certainly doesn't drive very hybridly. That's because most of Ford's engines these days are mild hybrids. In other words, they get a 48V integrated starter-generator to give a bit of a boost under acceleration.

Every Focus apart from the hot ST is now powered by a turbocharged three-cylinder petrol unit with either 123bhp or 153bhp.

Denne historien er fra March 29, 2023-utgaven av Autocar UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra March 29, 2023-utgaven av Autocar UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA AUTOCAR UKSe alt
The venomous nature of the Cobra
Autocar UK

The venomous nature of the Cobra

Last week, Matt Prior drove a totally new kind of AC Cobra. This is a car with one of the strongest allures of all - but also an incredibly complex and controversial history.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
SKODA KAMIQ
Autocar UK

SKODA KAMIQ

A long getting-to-know-you trip to Spain reveals all

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
THE SEVEN-YEAR TITCH
Autocar UK

THE SEVEN-YEAR TITCH

Outgoing baby Jag is plush, practical and now eminently affordable

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
'Our time has come'
Autocar UK

'Our time has come'

Honda may be late to the EV party, but a barrage of bold new battery-powered cars is on the way. JAMES ATTWOOD speaks to boss Toshihiro Mibe at its R&D base to find out what's in store

time-read
8 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Lion kings
Autocar UK

Lion kings

Plush, powerful four-door cars are an endangered species - and now Peugeot has called time on its latest, the 508 PSE. STEPHEN DOBIE compares it with its most significant ancestor, the 505 GTI

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
Autocar UK

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF

Wolfsburg gives the lesser-known Golf PHEV a big-impact refresh

time-read
7 mins  |
October 23, 2024
PORSCHE PANAMERA GTS
Autocar UK

PORSCHE PANAMERA GTS

Stuttgart's latest 'bahnstormer targets driver appeal over outright punch

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 PRO
Autocar UK

MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 PRO

Hardcore variant of V8 sports car engineered with track days in mind

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
TESLA REVEALS ROBOTAXI
Autocar UK

TESLA REVEALS ROBOTAXI

Firm unveils Cybercab coupé and 20-seat Robovan in autonomy push

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
DACIA PLOTS AMBITIOUS EXPANDED EURO LINE-UP
Autocar UK

DACIA PLOTS AMBITIOUS EXPANDED EURO LINE-UP

Firm teases something different’ ahead of impending C-segment reveal

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024