Like a boxer with everything but a punch
Ford has received many well-deserved plaudits for its line of EcoBoost
engines—EcoBoost being Ford-speak for turbocharging. But the adulation
doesn’t extend to the company’s naturally aspirated powerplants, and a
few days with this Focus helps to understand why.
The engine is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder, an oversquare design (bore
dimension exceeds the stroke) with variable valve timing, direct
injection, and a high (12.0:1) compression ratio. Those tech specs
suggest high revs and lots of horsepower, but the reality doesn’t
measure up to the suggestion.
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Rated for 160 horsepower, this 2.0-liter can’t really be called tepid in
terms of horsepower per liter, and 7.9 seconds to 60 mph isn’t exactly
glacial. On the other hand, it’s hard to see a 16.3-second quarter-mile
as anything but deliberate, and reducing one’s exposure during passing
maneuvers requires at least one and sometimes two downshifts.
The limiting factor here isn’t so much the engine output as the car’s
economy-minded gearing. The final-drive ratio (3.82:1) is tall, and
fifth gear (0.81:1) in the manual transmission is distinctly overdriven,
a combination that keeps the engine well out of what sweet spot it has
(around 4500 to 5000 rpm). The result is sluggish top-gear performance.
Check the 30-to-50- and 50-to-70-mph passing times, which are, well,
lengthy—particularly when you’re in the oncoming-traffic lane, there’s a
car coming, it’s getting bigger, and you’re committed to the pass.
Definitely time for a downshift, or two.
The gear ratios were undoubtedly chosen for mpg, not mph. EPA ratings
are 26 mpg city, 36 highway. In our efforts to summon haste from this
setup, we recorded only 25 mpg over the course of the test.
Why would we push this intended fuel-sipper into thirst? Because the
rest of the package is as eager as the powertrain is reluctant, with
athletic responses, modest roll, and well-controlled body motions. The
electric power steering is surprisingly quick (2.3 turns lock-to-lock)
and, even more commendably, quite accurate.
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Also surprising: the serious grip from the Pirelli P Zero Nero
all-season tires—W-speed-rated 235/40s on a set of eye-catching 18-inch
aluminum wheels. The 18-inch wheel/tire package is optional ($625), and
contributed to a 0.89-g performance on the skidpad, with only modest
understeer. It also inspires confidence in high-speed sweepers. And yet,
the Focus needed 180 feet to stop from 70 mph, exhibiting slight brake
fade at the test track. With such sticky rubber, we expected better.
Titanium is the top trim level in the Focus family, augmented here with a
$795 tech package (blind-spot alert, rear cross-traffic alert, and
lane-keeping assist) and navigation, also $795. They pushed the grand
total to $26,710—or about what you’d pay for a 252-hp Focus ST.
If serious haste isn’t a priority, you could think of the Focus
Titanium this way: ST responses, with better ride quality and no torque
steer. But we’ll take the Focus with a powertrain as sporting as its
chassis.