I gotta have one of these! (Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec TDdi 5dr)

Member Name: Sparkles

Product:	Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec TDdi 5dr
Date:	31/10/02 (843 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good driving position, Lots of 'toys'

Disadvantages: I can't afford one :o(

The Ford Focus is a fantastic car! I learned to drive in a 1.6 litre Focus Zetec. I was so impressed I didn’t want to give it back at the end of each lesson.

The driving position is very good. It gives you a good all-round view of the road. The front seats are height adjustable, move back and forth and have adjustable lumbar support too. Plus the steering wheel is also height adjustable. The result being that both my 6' driving instructor and little 5'3" me could be extremely comfortable when driving this car. I can’t comment on the back seats as I’ve never sat in the back of a Focus.

Town driving in a Focus is a pleasure. The car is so responsive to the driver’s needs, it almost feels as though it drives itself. It copes admirably with the ‘stop start’ traffic of rush hour.

The Focus is very responsive on the motorways too. It sailed smoothly through the gears so that it merged seamlessly with the traffic and kept pace effortlessly. I spent most of my journey in the fast lane doing a steady 75 – 80 mph. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend you do this. At one point, the needle had climbed to 90 and I wasn’t aware of it till I happened to glance down at the speedo. The ride is so quiet that you don’t realise just how fast you’re really going. Needless to say, I scared myself silly and slowed back down to 70.

Coming off the motorway was just as easy. Slowing from 70 to a crawl to enter motorway services was swift and sure. The brakes have a good solid feel and give the impression that you could, quite literally, stop on a dime. Coming back down through the gears to 2nd and 1st was just as smooth as going up to 5th when merging onto the motorway.

The '52' reg that I drove had little convex mirrors attached to the wing mirrors – as standard - to combat blind spots. I think all cars should have these as standard. I fo

und these extremely useful when driving on the motorway. I felt a lot safer when overtaking.

Long distances are no problem in a Focus. I completed over 100 miles in a round trip and the time just flew by. I felt as refreshed at the end of my journey as I had been at the beginning. Fuel wise, I started with a full tank of petrol and when the journey was over, the needle had hardly moved at all. If my memory serves me correctly, filling the tank from empty costs around the £35 mark.

For a car of its size, the Focus is surprisingly manoeuvrable. Parallel parking and reversing around sharp/sweeping corners is a snap. Thanks to the small lock to lock distance of the power steering - about 3 turns from full lock right to full lock left - a three point turn is effortless.

Inside the Focus, all the switches for lights, wipers, radio, air conditioning, etc are all conveniently placed, meaning that you don’t have to look down from the road to turn on your lights or turn up the radio. This is a good safety feature, especially for motorway driving.

Summary: