Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi 115 Zetec 5dr Review

Watch this item
Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi 115 Zetec 5dr
3.7 stars
Average rating for this product is: 3.7 out of 5

From 4 ratings and 14 reviews

Thumb up 71% of users recommend this product

Rate it Now:

Click on the stars above to rate this product:

Tweet This Item


coachchris's Review of Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi 115 Zetec 5dr

22nd Aug 2006

Overall Rating

3 stars
  • Value for money
    3.5 stars
  • Length of ownership
    3 weeks
  • Performance
    4 stars
  • Reliability
    4.5 stars
  • Year Manufactured
    2006
  • Doors
    5
  • Practicality
    4 stars
Good Points

Plenty of Torque
Good Handling


Bad Points

Diesel engine is very unrefined
5 door is as ugly as sin
Boring interior


General Comments

I only had the Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi 115 Zetec as a rental for 3 weeks but covered just over 2000 miles in that time so I got a good idea of what it is like to own and live with.
The good points for the car are its handling, you can see why the it the sector leader in this respect, its very sure footed and always feels like you could give it a bit more round the corners.
The build quality was good but I think that's the case with most of it established rivals as well now. The 1.8 TDCi engine that was in my rental was powerful for the car and the fuel economy was very strong, around 45-48 mpg at high motorway speeds.
However as can be seen at the top of this review I would not want to recommend this car to a friend, or even an enemy! There are three main reasons for this:
1. The engine while being powerful is very unrefined. I now own a 2001 307 HDi and that is so much quieter at all speeds than the Focus. You would have thought the Focus would have been the 5 year old car. It's like Ford just took the engine right out their Transit and just left it at that.
My second gripe is with the design and look of the car. The first Focus was a great looking car, it looked cutting edge when it came out and still did when the current Focus was brought in. This one, however, looks unfinished and rushed, the rear is a complete mess and looks out of proportion to the rest of the car. The three door isn't much better and pails in comparison to the Astra which really does look fantastic.
Lastly the interior in very boring, again the old Focus had that cutting sweep to the dash that looked great, however for this car Ford have gone back to boredom with a very plain layout. I also found the cup holders were positioned in such a location that if you had anything in them then it got in the way of the handbrake and 2nd gear, which is very poor really.
To sum up, the Focus is nice to drive but is let down to its styling and a rather old diesel engine. It may be the best selling diesel in the country but I think that's thanks in no small part to massive fleet purchase and sales to large rental companies.

Tweet This Review

coachchris's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!

How helpful did you find this review?