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The liveliness of the handling doesn’t quite extend to the interior trim: it’s mostly somber gray in here, from seats to gauges to plastics. Some mock titanium on the door panels and dashboard helps to lift the atmosphere. The passenger compartment felt roomy at the front, the floating center console freeing up some knee room. The rear seat felt spacious for two, but narrow for two adults and a child seat, while the headroom was adequate all-around even for six-footers. The trunk was also not that roomy for a hatchback. Two full-sized pieces of luggage would eat up most of the space, with just some room left at the sides for stuffing soft bags. Those with a kid or two should definitely opt for the wagon. Ford had to be radical when designing the Focus and it paid off handsomely, in the resulting design and sales figures—it is the best selling car in the world. By plopping the excellent Duratorq diesel in the engine bay, Ford ensures that it is still an excellent, perhaps even pleasurable vehicle. The mileage doesn’t hurt, either; despite our decidedly uneconomical driving, we managed 14.8 km/liter. It caused us a bit of regret to return the TDCi—often the proof of an enjoyable test drive. If we had the means we’d have loaded it into a container and shipped it home with us. This Focus didn’t induce an immediate adrenaline rush but it kept us quietly pleased with each stint behind the wheel, the grins coming as standard even after hundreds of kilometers. This was indeed a very fast diesel—and a mighty fun one, too. motioncars.com would like to thank Ford Motors Netherlands for providing the Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi for our road test
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