It’s said that a little bit of what you fancy does you good, and that is the case with the Ford Focus Ecoboost 1.0 litre.
This is a big car with a little heart, but you’d hardly know it from the performance which pours out of the engine, available with 99bhp or the 124bhp output as tested.
Focus has consistently been a best seller for Ford and its range is wide and deep – 16 in the case of the EcoBoost 1.0, three trim levels and hatch or estate body styles – and powertrains providing the answers to most buyers’ questions.
The move towards smaller, more economical engines has seen the Focus respond with the newest 1.0 litre engine and it is a good unit providing instant start up, lively acceleration up to a point but overall the most impressive aspect of the engine was its uncanny smoothness in the more powerful version.
If you did not know, the way the engine pulls the Focus up to about 60mph is surprising and its smoothness is what you might expect in a much larger engine. What’s more, it is not particularly noisy even when trying hard with a load aboard.
Match the engine with a short shift gearbox and six well chosen ratios and a light, progressive clutch and you instantly know this is a well-engineered powertrain.
With this comes a nicely balanced steering system and brakes which needed only moderate pressure to bring about rapid deceleration.
“Secondary controls were sensibly laid out, the instruments straightforward and clear. Heating and ventilation was very easy to use and effective with four powered windows as well, and the oddments space was reasonably good in the Titanium level model.”
Access to front and back seats was easy, the boot was roomy behind a small rear sill and in the cabin the leg and headroom was good for five.
Offset split back seats mean you have some useful versatility to take longer loads and still carry someone in the back and the boot space rises from a minimum 316 litres to 1101 litres.
Visibility is good all round, the wipers effective and headlights bright, while rear parking sensors are a £350 option, even on the Titanium.
Ride quality is very slightly on the firm side on the optional 17-inch alloys but it soaked up bad bits with ease. Body roll, pitching and dipping were modest and it gripped with confidence and handled very faithfully.
The easy going nature of the 124bhp Focus EcoBoost 1.0 should have been reflected in the fuel consumption, but despite some non-aggressive driving it struggled to better 36mpg overall when the ‘official’ combined figure is 56.5mpg.
This was probably my only disappointment in an otherwise surprising, refined and capable car with a lot of versatility.
Fact file:
Ford Focus Titanium 5dr 1.0T 124bhp EcoBoost £19,195
Insurance group: 14
Mechanical: 3cyl turbo-charged 124bhp 1.0 litre, six speed manual
Performance: Max 120mph, 0-62mph 11.3sec
Overall consumption/ tank capacity: 36mpg/ 55litres
Emissions/ tax: 114gkm/ VED band C
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles