2012 Ford Focus Review and Prices

Styling: The 2012 Ford Focus is designed by Ford’s European arm and follows the company’s new “kinetic” styling themes. Ford calls the look “energy in motion.” It’s characterized by a big grille, swept-back headlamps, blacked-out window frames, and strongly defined wheel arches.
In appearance, engineering, quality, and road manners, the 2012 Focus is a major leap beyond the 2011 Focus, a blocky compact that traced its basic underpinnings to model-year 2000, with less-than-exemplary revisions for 2005 and 2008.

The 2012 Focus is a global car in the sense that its basic design is sold in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and elsewhere with only minor changes to suit individual markets. Ford says roughly 80 percent of its components are shared in all markets and it expects annual worldwide sales of two million vehicles based on this platform.

The 2012 Focus fits the compact-car category in the U.S., but in many countries it serves as a middle-class family’s only automobile. The 2012 Focus is a longer car than the previous U.S. Focus, though the roofline is about an inch lower. In overall size, it’s about in the center of the U.S. compact class.

The critical dimension is wheelbase, which is the distance between the front and rear axles and a key factor in cabin room, particularly rear-seat legroom. At 104.3 inches, the 2012 Focus’s wheelbase is 1.5-2 inches briefer than that of some main rivals, such as the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze and 2012 Hyundai Elantra. Still, the ’12 Focus has about as much usable rear-seat legroom as those cars, which is to say, not much unless the front seats are more than halfway forward on their tracks. That’ll be the only instance, however, in which front-seat space is at a premium for tall occupants.    

At 13.2 cubic feet, the 2012 Focus sedan’s trunk volume is just short of the class median, but the shape is usefully square and the aperture larger than most, so bulky objects load and fit rather easily. A folding rear seatback facilitates snowboards and the like. On the downside, the only seatback release levers are in the passenger compartment and the inside of the trunklikd is a lattice of ugly bare metal.

Ford wisely augments the sedan with a hatchback, and projects slightly more than half of U.S. Focus buyers will choose it over the sedan. Hatchbacks trounce sedans for cargo versatility, and this one’s no exception. Its hatchlid opens wide to reveal a class-competitive 23.8 cubic feet of storage behind the rear seat and a 44.8 cubic feet with the rear seatbacks folded. Plus, it the hatchback looks cooler than the Focus sedan.

The 2012 Focus interior features enveloping forms and a dashboard designed for a generation that’s grown up with all manner of mobile infotainment devices. Indeed, some shapes and control arrays have the potential to intimidate older buyers. There are steering-wheel switches, for example, that have no identification; their function isn’t apparent until you begin to use them. And no one is apt to like the way an admittedly informative central driver-information screen forces the analog tachometer and speedometer to the edges of the central instrument binnacle, where some of their markings are obscured by the steering-wheel rim.

Everyone will appreciate the quality of the materials used in the 2012 Focus’s cabin. They’re arguably the best in this price range, heavy on padded surfaces with a judicious mix of hefty plastic panels. All are grained or show a classy matte finish, and the various buttons and switches have an inviting no-slip shape or coating.

The 2012 Ford Focus sedan comes in four levels of trim, the hatchback in three. Common to both body styles are SE, upscale SEL, and top-line Titanium models. The SE versions are available in extra-cost Sport-trim configuration, and the SE sedan can be ordered with a Super Fuel Economy (SFE) package that uses special aero trim and tires to improve gas mileage. Exclusive to the sedan is an entry-level S model.

Mechanical: The 2012 Focus’s structure and engineering are evolved from those in today’s European Focus, a car that dates to 2005. Its basic architecture also can be found in the current Mazda 3 and Volvo C30 compacts from Ford’s former Japanese and Swedish collaborators, respectively, though it signals a migration away from those designs.

Like virtually every car in the category, the 2012 Focus has front-wheel drive, though the platform can also accommodate all-wheel drive for high-performance models and for compact crossover utility vehicles. The suspension is independent front and rear. The entry-level Focus S sedan and the SE models come with rear drum brakes. SEL and Titanium models and the SE Sport package versions have four-wheel discs. All models come with antilock technology for maximum control in emergency stops. An antiskid system to mitigate sideways slides also is standard, and the transaxle uses electronic torque vectoring to distribute power left and right, combating wander during rapid acceleration and noseplow in fast turns.  

The 2012 Focus debuts with one engine, a thoroughly modern 2.0-liter four-cylinder that uses all the latest power-enhancing and fuel-efficiency tricks. It’s all-aluminum, for reduced weight, and employs direct fuel injection, which delivers a fine spray of gasoline directly to the combustion chamber for optimal power and gas mileage. It also has variable cam timing on both the intake and exhaust camshafts, a technology that reduces fuel consumption and exhaust emissions and improves torque at low rpm.  

Output is 160 horsepower and 146 pound-feet of torque (think of torque as acceleration’s secret ingredient). Both figures are good for a 2.0-liter four-cylinder that’s designed to suit mainstream buyers.

With a five-speed as its manual transmission, the 2012 Focus slips behind some rivals that use six-speed manuals. But only the S and SE models are available with the manual. Most buyers are expected to choose an automatic, and in this the 2012 Focus is cutting-edge.

The “automatic” is Ford’s new PowerShift transmission, which is actually a state-of-the art six-speed dual-clutch manual gearbox that performs like an automatic. PowerShift does not require the driver to shift gears manually, has no clutch pedal, and is less complex and therefore lighter in weight than a conventional automatic. Ford says PowerShift reduces fuel consumption up to 9 percent compared with a conventional automatic transmission. PowerShift uses a floor lever than can be toggled to furnish manual-type shifting and features a Sport mode that holds gears longer for sportier throttle response.   

Wheel sizes range from 15-inch steel wheels with wheel covers on the S sedan to optional 18-inch alloys on the Titanium sedan and hatchback. Focus SE models come with 16-inch steel wheels; 16-inch alloys are part of the optional SE Sport package. On SEL models, 16-inch alloys are standard and 17-inch alloys are optional. The 17s are standard on the Titanium models and the 18s optional.

Economies of scale enable Ford to employ more sophisticated design elements and higher-quality components than might otherwise be possible at the 2012 Focus’s price point. But that also obligates Ford to create common engines, suspensions, steering systems, brakes, and safety features good enough to satisfy the diverse demands of Germany’s autobahn and Brazil’s back roads.

That’s a happy circumstance for U.S. drivers who’ve long contend with penny-pinching design and lackluster driving dynamics in domestic-brand compacts. Acceleration is suitably strong throughout the rev range, though the manual transmission provides the livelier experience. On the road, the 2012 Focus feels like a larger car, with a composed ride and a confident manner in changes of direction. Straightline tracking at highway speed isn’t as locked-in as with some rivals, but there’s good grip and balance in turns.   

Features: Part of Ford’s aim with the 2012 Focus is to raise America’s’ compact-car expectations. Prices for this next-generation model have been liberated to creep above its predecessor’s $15,000-$18,600 range thanks to the U.S. introduction of the 2011 Ford Fiesta subcompact, another global design that now occupies that price tier.

In many overseas markets, the 2012 Focus will enjoy a climate in which cars its size carry premium prices; one European Focus model sells for the U.S. equivalent of $35,000. No version of the U.S.-market 2012 Focus goes that high. But the American-spec 2012 Focus does cater to cut-above expectations by making available such upscale features as a two-tone leather-trimmed cabin, advanced infotainment connectivity, even a system that’ll parallel park the car with minimal input from the driver.   

Every 2012 Focus comes standard with a height-adjustable driver’s seat, power windows with one-touch-down for the driver’s, power locks and mirrors, tilt and telescoping steering wheel, and remote keyless entry. The outside mirrors include cleaver convex inserts that eliminate some over-the-shoulder blind spots.

Like most new Fords, the 2012 Focus is available a system that supplements conventional audio and climate controls with touch-sensitive liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and cell phone-style five-way buttons and keypads. Called MyFord, the system is customizable and some elements respond to voice commands. The basic setup uses a pair of 4.2-inch LCD screens, one in front of the driver, the other atop the center console to display and adjust climate and infotainment functions. Upper-trim Focus models are available with an 8-inch central screen.

MyFord is designed to work with Ford’s Microsoft-developed Sync system of hands-free connectivity for communications, navigation, and entertainment services. Sync integrates a USB iPod interface and can provide turn-by-turn directions, though a conventional GPS navigation system isn’t available on the 2012 Focus.