Ford Focus Hatchback (05-11) - Review

The cabin of the Focus feels spacious and comfortable and there is easily room enough for five adults with good head and legroom - even in the rear. It's a refined environment in which to travel, especially on long journeys with limited engine and road noise. The seats are very comfortable too plus a DAB digital stereo is available as an optional extra for even more radio channels on the move.

There's a generously sized load area and rear seats offer the usual 60/40 split folding capability. It lacks the fold flat trickery of some rivals though but there are numerous storage areas front and rear including a front armrest with a cubbyhole. A new innovation for cars from 2008 is a system called Easyfuel which prevents you putting petrol into a diesel car and vice versa.

Ford has worked hard to raise quality in an attempt to take the fight to the Volkswagen Golf and the interior is well finished with soft touch materials. The appearance of the interior is much improved on facelifted cars and shows more attention to detail - particularly around the instruments. The driving position offers plenty of adjustment, especially if the car has electrically adjustable seats while the variable assistance power steering makes for easy parking and plenty of feedback on the move.