Ford Focus Sport Review

The Ford Focus has been one of the best small cars to drive ever since it reached Australian shores in 2002.

Although a $38,290 sticker is plastered across the window of the most dynamic version, the ST hot-hatch, an alternative sporty model is available for significantly less.

The Ford Focus Sport costs from $25,890 before on-road costs - or from $28,190 with auto transmission - and in addition to the Ambiente and Trend trim grades below it brings larger, 17-inch alloy wheels, more heavily bolstered front seats, and a suspension more firmly sprung and damped for even greater disciplined body control.

Its value equation over the from-$22,290 Trend is boosted by extra standard equipment including rain-sensing wipers, auto headlights, satellite navigation, five-inch display, reverse-view camera, dual-zone climate control and a nine-speaker Sony audio system.

Frustratingly, a 1.6-litre version of Ford's highly praised EcoBoost-labelled direct fuel injection turbocharged engines has still to make it to Australia. The Ford Focus Sport that comes to this country from Thailand continues to employ the non-turbocharged 2.0-litre that is now discontinued in Europe.

The four-cylinder, however, does feature direct injection and produces 125kW of power and 202Nm of torque - outputs bettered by only two direct price rivals, the Holden Cruze SRi and Opel Astra Select that share a 1.6-litre turbo achieving 132kW and 230Nm.

It's also one of the more economical hatches available. Its official consumption of 6.6 litres per 100km is one of the lower figures in the segment, and the Focus 2.0-litre was the joint second most frugal model in CarAdvice's eight-hatch comparison test (sharing 8.9L/100km with the Honda Civic, both behind the 7.9L/100km of the Volkswagen Golf 90TSI).

Going with the minority of buyers and opting for the standard manual gearbox brings only five ratios rather than the six that have become the norm, but the auto is a contemporary six-speed dual-clutch system.

Like the Volkswagen DSG version that first brought the tricky transmission technology to the masses, Ford's 'Powershift' gearbox isn't always as smooth at low speed compared with the average conventional, torque converter auto, but it makes a better partner for the 2.0-litre than the five-speed manual. (The opposite of the base 1.6-litre Focus, which needs the manual to get the most out of the engine.)

Neither Ford of Europe nor Ford Australia made the call on the auto's pseudo-manual tipshift mode, though, and Ford US's decision to go with tiny thumb buttons on the gearlever - instead of a proper tap-forward, tap-backward tipshifter - has resulted in an ergonomically awkward approach that doesn't encourage usage by keen drivers.

It isn't helped by a Sport mode that doesn't tend to hold gears long enough or change down gears fast enough. Holden's engineers have done a superior job on the Cruze SRi's mode of the same name.