I could no longer hack driving around in a 15 year old VW Scirocco so I bailed out and got a pool car to keep me going until my company car arrives in March. The car I got was a 55-plate Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI (140bhp) Titanium. The car has a 6-speed gearbox and top of the range Sony MP3 stereo with bluetooth phone connectivity.
I've been putting the car through the paces for almost two weeks now and I really like what I've seen so far, so much so that I'm wondering whether the extra £120 a month lease for the Audi is really worth it??
The Focus feels solid and the interior is well appointed with good quality materials and good tactile feel to all the switchgear. The drive is equally pleasurable, the common rail diesel puts out about 140BHP and to my ears its significantly quieter than the Audi diesel I'll be getting. It feels rapid and there is plenty of grunt throughout the rev range, without the associated flatspotting I've experienced with other diesels. The gear change is equally slick and you get the feel from just the gear lever and steering wheel that this is a car assembled with teutonic precision. I think the Titanium also has sports suspension because it does feel very taut on the road and corners beautifully.
But my favourite thing about the car is the Sony branded MP3/WMA stereo, the sound quality is supberb complimented with 8 speakers producing a beautiful rich bass and crisp treble. And as soon as I get into the car I get the beep to say that my Nokia phone and the stereo are paired.. and then its just a matter of pressing phone on the stereo and you're in handsfree mode.
Overall I've been pleasantly surprised, I've always had a low opinion of Fords after some really bad experiences in the past, but based on this Focus my mind has definitely been changed.
9/10
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