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The moment you shut the doors, the quality of this car is already evident. The reassuring, echo-free sound is a result of steel reinforced doors—one among many of the Focus’ improvements in reducing NVH levels. The thicker gauge windows, full loop double door seals and thicker insulation all contribute to lessen unwanted environmental noise. The Mk. II also improved on one of the Focus’ original problems: fit and finish. Whereas other C-segment cars would have texture-less, hard plastics, the Focus utilizes premium materials all over. All the switches and controls including the grab handles and glove box are damped and soft to the touch. The panel gaps too are simply invisible, creating an illusion that the Focus was milled from a single block of metal. The body’s solidity contributes to improve the Focus’ safety. Thanks to advanced active and passive safety equipment, it has been awarded full honors at European frontal and side-impact tests. The Focus features next-generation SRS airbags that lessen injury upon a collision. The seats design has also taken into consideration the trauma of an accident and as a result, incorporates under seat ramps to prevent the seat belts from sliding as well as whiplash mitigating headrests. This emphasis on solidity and safety has resulted to a weight penalty of close to 100 kilograms over its next nearest segment rival. So, it’s just about appropriate that Ford chose to equip the Focus with their next-generation Duratec HE engines. Standing for “DURAble TECnology High output low Emissions”, the Duratec engine series is Ford’s most expensive engine development program ever. The 1.8-liter motor under the Focus 4-door dishes out 125 horsepower and 165 Nm of torque—propelling this car with relative ease. It’s also designed to be maintenance-free with an expected life of 240,000 kilometers—that’s over ten years worth of hard driving! The Focus’ engine is just an ingredient in the entire driving dynamics equation. In addition, the Mk. II Focus still features the trademark Control Blade independent rear suspension. Noted already for its ability to withstand lateral (improving handling precision) and longitudinal forces (improved bump absorption), the Focus made it even better with the introduction of hydro bushings (replacing rubber ones) and low friction double ball joints on the rear anti-roll bar (pioneered in the Mk. I Focus RS). The front MacPherson Struts meanwhile features twin tube gas struts and larger front dampers, all in all improving stability and precision. Tackling the Batangas Racing Circuit at full speed proves little challenge to the Focus. It’s well adept at sudden steering inputs, continuing to be highly transparent and stable with its handling while offering a very comfortable ride. However, at the instance you’ll tend to overcook a corner, the Focus remains predictable thanks to powerful four-wheel disc brakes with an advanced Continental-Teves Mark 60 4-channel ABS system with EBD. With that many improvements, anyone can foresee the Focus’ continued success, fulfilling the desire for enthusiast and novices alike. The original Focus was the first to win ‘Car of the Year’ in both sides of the Atlantic. And with Ford’s dedication to engineering, style and quality the new Focus will surely soar to even greater heights and deliver much, much more. |
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