The #1 thing I look for in a car, before horsepower, quality, or anything else, is a chassis that entertains in everyday driving. Over the last decade Ford’s European subsidiary has developed what are arguably the best-handling front-wheel-drive cars in the world. My current car is a 1996 Ford Contour SE, which was developed by Ford of Europe. (To read my reviews of related vehicles click on the blue hyperlinks.) I always look forward to driving this car, even if it’s just a run to the store. The Contour is gone, but the Focus, developed by the same organization, is currently sold in the U.S.

While even the base Focus handles very well, for enthusiasts the SVT model (tuned by a performance car unit within Ford) is clearly the way to go. I drove a 2002 and greatly enjoyed the experience. My initial review can be found here. Unfortunately, in 2002 the SVT was only available as a three-door hatch. With three children, I need more doors. Apparently I’m not alone. For 2003 the five-door Focus is also available in SVT form. Although the five-door should drive exactly like the three-door, I wanted to confirm my earlier impressions of the car. A friend I was visiting in Virginia has good friends at a Ford dealership, and we borrowed an SVT five-door for the afternoon.

Ford Focus Reliability

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Styling and Accommodations

I won’t even try to describe the Focus’s styling. It’s so unique, I suspect virtually everyone is familiar with its complex blend of edges, character lines, and curves, and either loves or hates the overall effect. Actually, I’m a bit on the fence, but inclined toward the “love” camp when the car is fitted with alloy wheels, especially the thick-spoked sixteen-inchers. The SVT has even larger wheels, but with their thin spokes they are less distinctive. As for body styles, the round front end works best with the hatchbacks, okay with the sedan, and clashes with the boxy rear of the wagon.

Ford’s plans did not initially include offering the five-door in the U.S. Five-doors have never sold well here, and the Focus has an especially strange appearance. I remember seeing spy photos of a prototype five-door Focus in the mid-1990s and wondering how Ford could produce something so ugly. Well, some things you have to see in production trim to appreciate, and the look of the car has grown on me. When the three-door hatch did unexpectedly well in the U.S. Ford decided to add the five-door. In SVT form, the five-door lacks the three-door’s rocker panel moldings, and thus does not look quite as good. It’s still very distinctive, and attractive to my eye.

The interior styling is nearly as unconventional. Initially the ZTS model included woodgrain trim, which was very out of place. I hope this had changed. The SVT, thankfully, includes fairly subdued trim pieces. The basic design is wild enough without “help.”

The best thing about the Focus SVT’s interior are the seats. In a red SVT like I drove, these have a highly textured red cloth down the center—I suspect to hold the driver in place better than leather would—and black leather on the bolsters. The front seats are very comfortable and supportive, though I personally would not mind even more aggressive bolsters. Rotary adjustments are provided for lumbar and recline on both front seats. These might be more awkward to use than levers, but they allow you to get the setting exactly where you want it. Lack, rubber ringed knobs don’t hurt. The driver’s seat has a single electric adjustment, for the height of the rear of the cushion. This adjusts the tilt of the seat cushion even more than it affects seat height.

Forward visibility is excellent, largely because the seating position is a few inches higher than in the average car. Visibility to the rear is somewhat obstructed by the dipping roof and pinched rear window (courtesy of those snazzy high-mounted taillights). A wheel that both tilts and telescopes (without detents) combines with the seat adjustments to permit just about anyone to find a perfect driving position.

The Focus, especially in hatchback form, is not a large car. At 168 inches in length, it’s about 20 inches shorter than the typical family car. The amount of legroom and the general comfort of the rear seat thus come as a great surprise. Even with 43 inches of front legroom, two more than the typical car, there are 37.6 inches of rear legroom. This is just a couple tenths shy of the much larger Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. In terms of total legroom, the Focus beats those cars. “Compact?” In terms of shoulder room, yes, but four adults will be happy here.

Sometimes rear seat room is cheated by positioning the rear seat low to the floor. Not in the Focus. The rear seat is high enough to provide good thigh support to average-sized adult men, something that cannot be said about many larger cars. Rear seat room is virtually identical in the three-door and five-door. The major difference is that an extra pair of doors makes entry and exit to the seat much easier.

This rear seat room does have a minor price. The optional sunroof ($595) is fairly small so that it doesn’t reduce headroom for rear seat passengers. The price isn’t bad, but it’s so small that I’m not sure I’d spring for it.

Cargo room is a mixed bag. Especially with the rear seat folded, cargo space is generous. That is, unless you need to carry a longish object (a double stroller in my case) across the width of the car. Even without the 8” subwoofer that comes with the $675 Audiophile package, but especially with it, the cargo area is narrow. Minimal rear overhang permits this 168” car to have a 103” wheelbase. This long wheelbase is great for passenger room and chassis stability, but means that the rear wheelwells intrude into the cargo area all the way to the rear of the car. In the longer sedan the trunk extends past the wheelwells, so more width is available. Sadly, the SVT comes only as a two-door hatch for now, and while the salesman said a five-door hatch SVT should be available next spring an SVT sedan doesn’t seem to be on the boards. This makes a great deal of sense, as the hatches are by far the sportiest looking Foci, but people who need to carry long objects without folding the rear seat (i.e. people with young children) better just forget about the SVT.

The major problem I had with the interior in the first SVT I drove was the poor fit of the power window buttons and a piece of window trim on the driver’s door. The Focus has had a number of quality problems, but Ford claims to have gotten a handle on these for 2003. The 2003 car did seem better put together. However, the seams on the seats lack the tight, precise appearance of those on many imported cars.

On the Road

The SVT’s most apparent difference is its powertrain. Although the engine is no larger than those available with the regular Focus (and is actually smaller than the ultra-low-emissions 2.3 liter already available in California and the Northeast, with national availability in 2004), variable valve timing is employed to boost horsepower from 130@5300 RPM to 170@7000. Torque gets a smaller boost, from 135@4500 to 145@5500. These numbers tell much of the engine’s story: you’re going to have to work it to extract any power, and, with the redline at 7200 RPM, you’re going to have to shift soon after hitting the power peak, dropping you back to about 150 horses. Power delivery is very linear, with no obvious surges or dips due to alterations in the intake or valve timing. During my test drive the engine never felt weak, but it never felt all that powerful either. Generally it makes just enough power to be entertaining. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: this level of power, just enough to have fun, tends to make a car fun to drive at legal speeds.

The engine does make nice noises for a four. At least you’d better like them, because even when cruising down the street you hear this engine. It’s not obnoxiously loud, but it’s never silent. At 70 in sixth the engine is turning 3000 RPM.

The SVT includes a unique six-speed manual transmission. Unique among Foci in offering six speeds. Unique among manual transmissions in that these six speeds are obtained by using two final drive ratios. (The same transmission is used in the MINI Cooper S.) I don’t quite understand how this works, but it does. Even though you’re effectively shifting two gears with many shifts, this shifter was flat-out excellent. Effort is fairly light, but notchy enough to provide the clear sensation of shifting real gears rather than playing a video game. The clutch is also excellent. Together, they combined to provide effortless smooth shifts. (For whatever reason I did not like the shift feel of the MINI nearly as much.)

Now we get to that area of the car I’m personally most interested in: handling. Even with my high expectations, the Focus SVT surprised me. The steering is perfectly weighted, quick, and amazingly sharp. I felt directly connected to the road through this wheel. (Perhaps a bit too directly: in the car I drove the wheel vibrated back and forth at highway speeds—hopefully rebalancing the wheels fixes this.) I recall similarly sharp steering only in sports cars such as the Mazda Miata and BMW M Coupe. This steering makes the Focus feel even smaller than it is. A go-kart comes to mind.

Sharp steering is only the beginning of the handling equation. For a front-wheel-drive car the Focus SVT has an extremely balanced chassis. Despite the aggressive tuning this chassis feels very stable. Understeer is minimal. A very welcome surprise: torque steer is absent. I accelerated hard with and without the wheels turned, yet never felt the engine tug the steering wheel. Despite the tall body, lean in turns is minimal. The 215/45-17 tires grip the road strongly. All of these elements come together to yield a car that is both safe and entertaining to drive aggressively.

The SVT has larger brakes than pedestrian Foci. They provide excellent feedback and a great deal of stopping power.

Alas, all is not perfect with this chassis. The sharp responses and minimal lean come at a price: the ride is very firm. Once again the Miata and M Coupe come to mind as the only real competition. You feel and hear every expansion joint. Larger road imperfections sometimes cause the front suspension to sharply react. A very solid feeling structure compensates a bit, but not enough. A little rearward compliance would be helpful here. As it stands, I’m not sure I could deal with the Focus SVT as a daily driver. Be sure to try thoroughly before you buy.

Update based on second test-drive: I drove the first car along curvy roads in various states of disrepair in Michigan. I drove the second on smooth, straight, moderately congested multi-lane roads in Virginia. In the latter environment the ride seemed fine, but I did not enjoy the car nearly so much. In moderate traffic the SVT engine felt low on torque as more time was spent well south of the power peak. I also minded the prevalent engine noise more this time around—a bit too “fast and furious” in character for me. Finally, the car’s sharp handling had insufficient opportunity to entertain on those Virginia roads. The upshot: the dividends paid by driving the Focus SVT will vary greatly depending on road and traffic characteristics.

Often during my second, extended test drive I noted that the Focus SVT looks and feels very German. Many interior details seem foreign. They aren't so much good or bad as different from the American norm. The body and chassis have the solid, composed, tied-down feel typical of German-engineered cars. Overall I expect this Teutonic character to appeal to people interested in this car.

The major downside is for the Ford brand. What is a Ford? The brands vehicles range all the way from the cutting edge, highly tuned Focus SVT to the antiquated Mustang, Hertz-special Taurus, geriatric Crown Vic, and myriad trucks. In essence, the Ford brand includes far more automotive variation than it excludes. Consequently, its image cannot but be vague.

Reliability

In its first few model years the Focus was notoriously unreliable. Ford then announced they were tackling this issue, but talk is cheap. Well, glancing at CR's latest ratings suggests that the 2002 and 2003 models have so far been very reliable.

Pricing

To counteract heavy incentives, vehicle manufacturers have been raising prices. Since the Focus SVT appeared in the spring of 2002 its price has increased a thousand dollars. Add another $500 for an extra pair of doors, and the five-door isn’t quite the value the 2002 SVT was. The fully loaded 2003 I drove (with $2,100 of upgraded stereo, heated seats, traction control, sunroof, and HID lamps) listed for $21,745. Edmunds suggests dealers only discount these about fifty bucks. In today’s climate that seems hard to believe, but maybe so.

Worse, there is no rebate available on the SVT. Through mid-June a $2,500 rebate is available on the regular Focus. After that the rebate will drop back to $2,000. The 2.3-liter car (available now in some states, available everywhere in 2004) suddenly seems worth a look. Equipped like the car I drove (but without the $500 HID lamps) it lists for $19,305. This prices the SVT mods at a bit under two grand, a reasonable price. However, combine the rebate with the typical $1,200 dealer discount, and the premium for the SVT jumps to roughly $5,600. Five grand is a pretty steep price for the SVT treatment, good as it is.

Dodge recently introduced a turbocharged, highly-tuned SRT-4 version of the Neon. I haven’t driven this car yet, but it has been shoving the Focus to second in all the comparison tests I’ve seen. It lists for $19,450, and no options are available. It’s equipped much like the base Focus SVT, but without partial leather upholstery. So the prices are very close (especially since dealers aren’t discounting the tuner Neon either). The first Neon’s styling had some edge to it, and could have pulled a high-performance look off. The spoilers and scoops on the rounder, blander second-generation car just look silly. The Focus looks better and is the more complete package. But I can tell without a test drive that the Neon will blow it away—its engine puts out a hundred foot-pounds more torque. (To evaluate handling I need a test drive.) It depends on your priorities.

The Mazdaspeed Protégé lists for $20,500, and Edmunds claims dealers typically get about $1,500 over that price. Even at sticker not the way I’d go (though I haven’t driven this car). The Protégé is equipped much like the Neon, except for a superior sound system.

Another car I don’t care for is the Nissan Sentra SE-R, which I have reviewed. Loaded up (but still lacking partial leather or HID lamps) the Nissan lists for $19,736, and the typical dealer discount brings this to about $18,500. The Nissan has far more torque than the Ford, but its handling is destroyed by a huge amount of torque steer. In many ways it’s a less refined, cheaper feeling, more juvenile product. That dealers discount them suggests that many people agree it’s not in the same league as the other cars here.

Ultimately, I prefer six cylinders. In this class that means a VW Jetta GLI. The Jetta has much more torque and better interior materials than the Focus, but its handling (though fun) is not as poised and its rear seat is much smaller. With $2,000 of heated leather, sunroof, and upgraded stereo the GLI lists for $25,565, and even after the typical discount costs $24,000. The enthusiast’s Jetta includes stability control, but lacks the Focus SVT’s HID lamps. Figure an even trade. Without leather but with heated seats it’s still about $23,400. Is it worth nearly two grand more than the Focus SVT? I imagine it depends on your priorities.

Another grand or so over the base Jetta GLI will get you a Subaru WRX. A very fun car, although the handling isn’t as lively as the Ford’s. Figure three grand over the SVT (or more depending on which dealer-installed options are selected; for example, 17” wheels cost a bundle).

Compared to other compact performance sedans the SVT seems reasonably priced. Compared to the standard Focus it seems pricey.

Last Words

The Focus SVT surprised me in many ways, most good, some not so good. Overall, it offers a unique driving experience, a highly tuned car right out of the box. As I’d hoped, handling is excellent. Unfortunately, the price for this handling includes a ride so firm I’m not sure I could personally live with it, at least not on Michigan “roads.” If you want the sharpest handling practical hatch, period, then this is your car. If torque is of interest, the Dodge or VW will likely have more appeal.

Normally handling is much higher on my personal list of priorities than torque. However my second test drive in more typical driving conditions significantly dulled my previous desire for the Focus SVT. It remains an excellent car, but even I feel the need for more torque.

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Amount Paid (US$): 21,700
Model and Options: Loaded SVT 5-door