2019-10-01_CAR_UK

132

Alex Tapley

132 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | OCTOBER 2019

There’s always that moment as you

first drive a new car when you find

out whether you’ve made a sound

decision or a howler. Happily, after

the first mile I quickly realised that

the Focus and I were going to get

along just fine: it wields a broad

range of capabilities in a pleasingly

modest package – and ticks most

boxes I demand of a family car.

With the demise of Mondeo

Man, I reckon the more compact

C-segment contender makes

a good case for Focus Folk. It’s

such an Everyman car, currently

sitting in second place in the 2019

UK top-sellers list just ahead of

the Golf, Corsa and Qashqai, and

behind little brother Fiesta. I like

its ubiquitous nature – it’d make a

perfect getaway car.

My last three daily drivers have

all worn premium badges and been

electrified in some way or another

(BMW i3, Tesla Model S, Lexus

RX L) so flipping into a mainstream

Ford Focus in 1.5 EcoBoost petrol

spec is a refreshing change.

It’ll be interesting to compare

running costs, emissions and my

environmental conscience as the

miles stack up.

I have a long and positive

relationship with the Focus

family. The original is still one

of the most influential new cars

I’ve ever road tested; I remember

being blown away at launch

back in 1998. No other new car

in the intervening decades has

ripped up what went before so

Not premium, not an

SUV and not hybrid

Whatever next? Tim Pollard goes back to basics with an affordable

estate car powered by a petrol engine. It’ll never catch on...

Hello

convincingly – and the Mk1 Focus

remains a high-water mark for a

mainstream manufacturer moving

the goalposts.

My wife traded in a Peugeot 306

hatchback for a Ford Focus Estate

Mk2 when our firstborn arrived,

and we did 100,000 miles in that

without problem. It’ll be fascinating

to see how the wagon has evolved

since. Where the Mk1 was all New

Edge sharp wardrobe upstairs and

semi-professional athlete down

below, the Mk2 was a little blunter

in both departments, but remained

a faithful workhorse for carting

around pushchairs, endless baggage

and travel cots.

Nowadays, with my kids entering

their teenage years, they’re more

likely to be lugging around sports

kit of their own, plus we have a

golden retriever. So a mid-sized

estate car fits the bill just fine. This

2019 Focus Estate is a considerable

290mm longer than the hatchback,

at 4.7m long, and that stretch brings

a useful 575-litre boot. Drop the

rear bench and that swells to 1620

litres – we’ll be testing the outright

Ours is the

downsized

three-cylinder

petrol engine,

dubbed 1.5 T

EcoBoost, and

it’s a cracker