For A good spread of mid-range power means the Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi 115 Edge Estate is a flexible performer, and with great official economy, you'll travel a massive distance between fill ups. There’s plenty of substance to the basic Edge trim, including electric front windows, remote central locking, a DAB radio and Bluetooth connectivity.
Against This engine is a bit flat and jerky at very low revs and not that quiet when extended. You get some rather cheap-looking cabin trim, including plastic door pulls, and you’ll need to trade up to a Zetec car to get alloy wheels.
The Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi 115 Edge Estate is a great car to drive, and has superb official figures for emissions and fuel economy. You might struggle to match the claimed 67mpg, but it should still be cheap to run.
There isn't a bad engine among the ones in the range that we've tried, but we reckon the best is the 148bhp turbocharged 1.6 Ecoboost. It's smooth, gives you the sprightly pace with which to exploit the car's brilliant handling, and keeps running costs reasonable.
The 1.6 turbodiesel will be popular, too, because it's impressively pokey but incredibly efficient.
Similarly, all the trims are pretty generously specified, so there's no bad choice there, either. All versions come with air-conditioning, electric windows, DAB radio and Bluetooth. We prefer Titanium trim, though, thanks to the posher-looking stereo that gives the cabin a real lift.
Blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, and lane-departure warning with built in lane-keeping are all available as options. As is Forward Alert, which warns of an impending crash, buzzing up a visual and audible alert. It can even apply the brakes to help minimise an impact.