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Ford Focus 1.8 Si
6 Dec 2009
An unassuming champion, but does it have enough sway at this end of the market? |
It wasn’t very long ago that one could find a range-topping car in this class with a big engine and all the bells and whistles thrown into a deal costing around R200 000.
Then the Great Recession came along, our currency went schizophrenic and car companies thrusted into Zimbabwe mode with a spate of price rocket launches.
Since then the rand’s made an almost full recovery and resource prices are down too, but the lower volumes resulting from the credit crunch and consumers’ reluctance to be financially raped by a new car salesman have resulted in significantly lower demand – which is probably why these carmakers are still shooting themselves in the foot by pushing prices even higher.
During times like these, buyers are likely to flock to those cars that offer the most complete package and in this respect Ford has made a good move by offering a 1.8-litre Focus in the same price range as most 1.6-litre competitors. Not that it’s the most powerful 1.8 around, but with 92kW and 166Nm on command, it does better most 1.6-litre engines.
In urban conditions, this engine fails to impress with its swiftness but out on the open road it’s a surprisingly good cruiser and performs admirably. This sentiment was confirmed by our test figures, with the 0-100 times being on par with the best 1.6-litre rivals we’ve tested, while the 80-120 and 120-160km/h tractability times were at the better end of the 1.8-litre pack.
So is the Ford Focus 1.8 Si a good package for the R214 200 bill? There are a number of factors that come into play here and desirability is one. Ford has done a good job on this car’s nose, transmitting its latest Kinetic design language in a sporty way.
Yet as this car is merely a facelift of the MKII, side and rear styling is virtually unchanged, meaning the design team could not translate the funky and progressive styling language seen on the latest Fiesta onto this car.
Hop inside and the flair one sees in this car’s smaller sibling is also missing, although designers did make a few minor changes. That said, there’s no faulting the perceptive quality with an assortment of high-grade materials imparting the ambience you’d expect in a decidedly expensive car.
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