Meet the Focus for you

The last time we put together a story of this magnitude, we pretty much put all of our eggs together in one huge basket (Seeing [Tri] Stars, The Philippine STAR, September 19, 2007). What we did was coordinate with CATS Motors, distributors of the Mercedes Benz brand in the country, and take their entire model line-up out for a spin/shoot/story for an entire whirlwind of a day. We pretty much had the entire Philippine STAR motoring team on that day, just to cover all the bases. It was not easy putting it all together, but it was extremely fulfilling after all had been said and done, to say the least. We all had to put our best feet forward to come up with a comprehensive article that communicated the entire brand’s values. Hopefully, we did.

Fast forward to today. When we decided to do another grueling day-long spin/shoot/story, we decided we’d try to communicate to our readers the intricacies of the many Ford Focus variants available in the local market today. In order to do this, we’d need some help – and we were quick to find it in Ford Group Philippines and their most successful dealer, Ford Global City.

To cut a long story short, we were not just helped but pretty much joined the entire trip through by Ford Focus brand VP Glen Dasig, Ford Global City dealer principal Willy Tee Ten, and his trusted Ford core group of Danny Chua, Richie Xavier, Johnas Soriano and Mae Pacatang. To top it all off, we were even joined by Llewel and Michelle Aurora David who are Ford Global City’s first Ford Focus TDCi owners. Even Shell’s Jovi Hernandez came along for the trip. In other words, we weren’t just helped by the Ford people, they believed in the project so much that they actually joined us throughout the experience. Apparently, they believe that their product is worth all the hype, as well. And after the Manila to Tagaytay to Batangas and back road trip, we understand why.

First off, however, we’d like to thank Shell and Gloria Jean’s Coffee at Bonifacio Global City, Breakfast at Antonio’s and Hotel Pontefino for making the entire experience a memorable one. Nope, we’re not endorsers for any of these brands and/or products. But they all did their part in making the drive-cum-shoot a very pleasant and memorable one. Now, on to our impressions of the cars…

Surprisingly fast

The problem with the Ford Focus TDCi is that every single guy at just about every single set of traffic lights seems to want to race you. But what can you expect from a car that has embodied its entire image around a slogan that is plastered across massive billboards around town that simply says, “This car is surprisingly fast”, which loosely translated to the average alpha-male is, “You’re gay if you can’t keep up.”

Yet it makes no apologies for itself. Because being quick is one thing – any bag of bolts can pile on speed – but to be able to accelerate really fast and still manage 20km to the liter in a city cycle… that, my friends, is the surprising part.

But so much work has gone into this new model that it really shouldn’t come as any surprise. Darn, there’s that word again. After selling over four million units of the first generation Focus, Ford employed its “Global Shared Technologies” program to develop a platform for this second generation as well as the Mazda 3 and the prestigious Volvo V50, S40 and that spunky new C30. But strangely, despite its unprecedented success worldwide, the Focus didn’t make the same impact locally, which is even more, well, um, surprising. Then I started to understand why.

Most of what you pay for in the new Ford Focus is not really tangible. It may have class-leading crash safety developed by Volvo, as well as awesome, rally-proven driving dynamics and a really solid Euro-feel, but for the average punter that walks into a new car showroom, this is a harder sell than a popular Japanese sedan with nice big rims and a kick ass stereo. Because in my experience, most new car buyers are usually swayed by all the bells and whistles. Things they can touch and see. They seem to want what everyone else has. Safety features and a European pedigree don’t seem to sell over here. Not in big numbers anyway.

This is why I commend Ford for bringing in the diesel to differentiate themselves. So far, it’s the only one to have the ball bearings to give us an alternative fuel option for this class. It has more torque than a Porsche Boxster, can deliver better fuel economy than a Kia Picanto and sits on a platform that can out handle the best that the Philippine touring car championship (PTCC) can throw at them – which was proven during the last round of the PTCC in Subic, where despite being a 145 kilos heavier than the competition, the TRS Ford Focus touring cars didn’t just win, they came home with an awesome one-two finish in the rain. On their very first season.

On our drive down to Batangas, the Focus made such light work of overtaking that it almost seemed cruel – like watching an 18-year old bully throw his weight around in a kiddie playground. The beauty of this kind of power, like a good story, is all in the delivery; we’re not talking about irresponsible, high revving, high speed jousting; this is power where and when you need it like during over taking and standing starts. Every punch of the pedal produces such a satisfying grin, and dispatches unwanted busses and jeeps and tricycles to a speck in your rear view mirror faster than you can say, “I can’t believe we haven’t had to fill up yet!”. It really can get intoxicating. And surprising. – JAMES DEAKIN

Comfort and then some

Regular readers of this section might recall that during the first installment of this ongoing spin/shoot/story series, I had told the tale of how James Deakin and Andy Leuterio were acting like spoiled little boys. The two argued about who was more deserving of the “better” variants in the fleet of cars that we drove – before we even took off. This time around, I completely avoided that scenario by giving James the keys to the more masculine, torque monster Ford Focus TDCi. No automatic transmission for this gearhead in an exercise like this, I thought to myself. This dude wants to drive hard. And so, as he expounded, he did.

En route to our destinations, as I was busy trying to play catch up to our right foot heavy columnist/photographer, in the 1.8-liter Ford Focus petrol hatch, I noticed a few distinct differences that might have spelled it all right then and there. But before I even get there, let me spell it out for you as early as now: the difference between the diesel and petrol variants of the Ford Focus is in its intended target market. The other screams performance, the other blurts out comfort, and then some.

Here’s how I came to that conclusion. Despite the two variants sharing mostly everything except engine displacement and fuel requirement, there are two visible differences between the two new hatches on the inside. First, the TDCi is equipped only with a manual transmission, while the 1.8-liter petrol has an automatic with a manual shiftgate. Second, the 1.8-liter petrol has rear air vents, a first, actually, in this class. Obviously, the message being conveyed here is that the 1.8 petrol is more for the comfort-oriented driver and/or passenger. The TDCi, on the other hand, is more for the adventurous type. Think action-hungry, sports-minded bachelor on one end and family-oriented family man on the other and perhaps you’ll get my drift. Both cars share practically the same driving and riding characteristics. Yet for the intended target market, these little intricacies could spell out all the difference in the world.

Make no mistake. I am in no way saying that the 1.8-liter Focus is for pansies. The car can, in fact, more than hold its own when compared to other cars in its class. The prodigious torque of the Turbo Diesel, however, is just tough to beat. And that’s why there’s such a variant to begin with. Still, if you want a car that can marry the best of both these worlds – comfort and performance – there is still the 2.0-liter petrol, which has a more potent engine than the 1.8 but is also packed with a comfortable and smooth-shifting automatic transmission with a manual shiftgate.

Here’s what we did learn from our day-long tryst with the many Ford Focus variants: there’s a Ford Focus for pretty much every kind of buyer out there. If you’re in search for one, make sure you ask about them all. Everyone has varying needs, it’s true. But then that’s why the Ford Focus comes in varying shapes and displacements as well. The bottom line is that there’s bound to be one that’ll fit you to a T. Unless of course you’re in search of an SUV. In which case, you’ll have to wait for our next big spin/shoot/story… – DONG MAGSAJO