Ford Focus review

The driver's seat in the Focus is excellent and feels nicely contoured to your back and shoulders. All versions come with height and lumbar adjustment, and you can add the Comfort Seat option that provides 18-way manual adjustment. If you step up to ST-Line X Edition, Titanium X Edition or Active X Edition, you get a six-way powered driver's seat as standard. 

There’s loads of steering wheel rake and reach adjustment, so it's easy to find a suitable posture, whatever your proportions. The alignment of the steering wheel, pedals and seat is nigh on perfect, too, and there's the luxury of a front centre armrest.

We love the orderly instruments, whether you have the usual analogue instruments or the digital dials that come with the X Edition trim levels. In fact, the instruments are so clear and easy to read that the optional head-up display seems like an unnecessary expense. The uncluttered dashboard is also a breeze to get your head around, and the physical buttons for all the major controls are much easier to use than the touch-sensitive ones you get in the Leon, Octavia and Golf.  

The view out of the Focus is generally good; its front pillars are no more obstructive to your forward visibility than those of any other models in the family car class. Over-the-shoulder visibility, meanwhile, is marred by a rear window line that tapers up towards thickish rear pillars, but that, too, is par for the course in the class. Active models sit a little higher, but not enough to give a truly commanding, SUV-like driving position. 

Parking sensors (front and rear) are standard on all trims. A rear-view camera is included only on the top trims, but you can add one; it's part of the optional Convenience Pack that includes semi-automatic parking. All trims have LED headlights, but only for the dipped beams on lower ones such as Zetec. Once you get up to X Edition trims, you get full LED headlights, including main beams as well. Top-spec Vignale has adaptive LED headlights that can be kept on main beam without dazzling other road users. 

All versions come with an 8.0in touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring, allowing you to control selected smartphone apps – such as Google Maps and Waze – through the car's screen. The Ford system isn't too bad, but it has some small icons and quite low-grade graphics. It's miles better than the overly complicated and bug-prone Golf's system, though. Ultimately, we think the Mazda 3's infotainment is one of the best for usability; it's operated via a rotary controller that's easier to manage on the move than distracting touchscreens. 

The Focus's infotainment system is well kitted out, though. By default, you get in-built sat-nav, Bluetooth, a DAB radio and even wireless phone charging; that's more than most rivals offer. If you enjoy your music, it's well worth thinking about adding the B&O premium audio system. With 675 watts and 10 speakers, it sounds warm and punchy. 

Let's start with the good bits. The Focus’s interior feels reasonably sturdy and all its upper surfaces are pleasingly soft to the touch. Also, every model from Zetec upwards gets a nice leather-wrapped gearknob and steering wheel.

There are some thoughtful touches, too, such as carpeted front door bins aimed at stopping your keys from jangling about inside, although because these are only lined on the three sides you can see, there will probably still be some jangle.

Yet a Mazda 3 it certainly isn’t, for fit or finish. Or a Skoda Octavia or Seat Leon, for that matter. The Focus has more flimsy bits and shiny plastics – the latter in prominent places, such as surrounding the heater controls, which looks positively Pound Shop. More of an effort has been expended on the pricier versions, but no amount of faux-chrome, wood or carbonfibre highlights, nor the leather-wrapped dashboard of the top-spec Vignale, can imbue the Focus with a genuinely upmarket ambience.