WASHINGTON — Does a four-cylinder engine feel too large for a compact car? Ford now has a Focus sedan with just a three-cylinder engine in the name of fuel economy.
The Ford Focus is the Swiss Army knife of compacts, with a choice of sedan or hatchback layouts. Versions range from a mild three-cylinder engine with 125hp all the way to a 350hp AWD monster that’s more racer than sedate sedan. Prices start under $17,000 and go to around $40,000 — so there’s a price for most compact seekers.
The SE sedan I drove has a starting price of $18,500, so this won’t break the bank, and this version has a standard 1.0L EcoBoost three-cylinder engine. A manual is standard, but you can now get an optional ($1,095) automatic.
I drove the smaller Fiesta a few years ago with this engine and liked it, but with the automatic, and in the larger Focus, it seems to really be working hard. The engine has more of a diesel feel and sound than the regular gas engine it is. I had to plan my merges into traffic, but I managed to keep up with traffic without much trouble.
Fuel economy is listed as 32 mpg combined and I managed 32.8, which is good but still less than some others in this class. The ride is nice, with good handling for a compact — it didn’t mind a few turns and back roads. The tires are geared toward fuel economy rather than performance, and they’d let you know — with a squeal. But for the city commuter, this is where this earns its keep.
The interior of this modestly priced compact sedan is a very nice place for the money. For the most part, the materials are very nice, with a healthy dose of softer touch items — more than some more expensive cars in this class. The cloth seats are good; don’t expect sport buckets seats that hold you in like a race car, but they are more durable and comfortable for a few hours at a time.
The dash has some style, including interesting curves with easy-to-read gauges for the driver. The buttons on the center dash are large enough to hit the correct one without really looking. The screen is pretty small for the camera, but a larger screen is an option. Those riding in the back might find the leg room lacking when it comes to others in this class, and the trunk is a bit smaller than some others.
The outside of this Focus looks more like the larger Fusion sedan, and that’s good — it looks like a more expensive car than it is. The larger grill and the headlights, which wrap around and taper back on the hood, give this compact sedan a bit of a sporty look. The optional ruby red color on my Focus is a rich color, and it’s nice to see it in a sea of dark-colored cars in most parking lots.
This Focus was fitted with 16-inch aluminum wheels as part of the SE EcoBoost appearance package. They look better than steel and they spice up the side view on this compact sedan. Rear-end styling is mostly conservative, but overall it’s a very handsome package, with the lower-body cladding in a different color to help break things up.
The Focus is still a solid choice in the compact class, with two different body styles, several different engines and transmission choices. It could be hard to make a pick. If you’re looking for sensible fun-to-drive compacts at a very good price, the Focus deserves a look.