First Drive: Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet

Review by Feann Torr - 15/November/2007

Australian drivers are expected to buy more than 10,000 convertible cars in 2007. That's a fair bit of folding metal by anyone's measure.

With close to 30 convertible models available on the new car market in Australia today, we're spoilt for choice when it comes to open air motoring and now that Ford has launched a new Focus drop top this week, you can add another to the list.

The increase in demand for convertible cars has come about as more and more automakers began developing and selling affordable models. It used to be the Mazda MX-5 or nothing if you had $50,000 to spend, but now the choice has grown exponentially.

Convertibles used to be a sign of prestige (and still are to a certain degree), the reserve of the luxury marques; if you wanted a drop top before Y2K you'd usually have to pay through the nose for a premium badge. But there are now plenty of affordable models on the market.

Priced at $45,490, Ford's new four seater convertible has been launched just in time for the Aussie summer and will rival the likes of the Holden Astra Twin-Top and Volkswagen Eos. 

Based on the Vignale concept car design shown at the 2004 Paris Motor Show, Ford will begin selling the Focus Coupe Cabriolet in Australia from today, priced from at $45,490. There is only one model, powered by a 4-cylinder petrol engine outputting 107kW and is available with both manual and automatic gearboxes.

Ford may have dragged its feet in offering buyers a Blue Oval-badged convertible in this country, but based on the award-winning Focus platform this new sunny boy has a clean pair of heels. It's also a class leader in a couple of respects, so let's take a look:

Priced at roughly $10,000 over the XR5 Turbo, you'd want to hope that the Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet has something to show for it. Thankfully it does.

Walking around the vehicle in the trendy beachside suburb of Glenelg near Adelaide, it becomes clear that this is no garden variety small car. There are various chrome accents that allude to its prestige persona such as the chrome fog light bezels, the grille surrounds, and an elegant horizontal bar at the rear of the car.

If the top is down you'll spot a few more premium appointments that make the sticker price more palatable, for example the heated black leather seats, the upmarket flush-fitted Sony stereo system and a digitised dual zone climate control system.

It looks the goods, no doubt about that, and has fairly storied DNA to boot. Based on the the Focus platform, one of the most accomplished drives in the small car segment, the Focus Coupe Cabriolet was engineered in Germany. The design, however, comes from the same country that makes Ferraris - yep, Italy. 

Designed and built by Pinifarina in Turin, this is one imported drop top that won't fade into the crowd. Especially when you drop the top at the traffic lights.

The Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet features a two-piece metal roof that folds quicker than Superman on laundry day. Okay, maybe that's a bit rich - try 29 seconds instead, which isn't class leading, but is quick enough retract at the traffic lights nevertheless. 

You just hold down the 'roof retract' button on the centre console, watch the little LCD progress meter on the dash, and it's all done before you can put your sunglasses on.

The front end looks good, with just enough difference and a splash of elegance to ensure it won't be mistaken for a base model Ford Focus, and the 10-spoke 17-inch alloy wheel rims give the car a sporty grounding. 

At first I was a bit concerned about the rear end styling but I think Pinifarina did a pretty good job overall, and during our drive along the South Australian coast on a gloriously sunny day, little by little I began to appreciate the integrated brake light design.

Initially blessed with the 5-speed manual version on the first leg of the drive, true to form the manual Focus was very smooth. The 5-speed manual shift is a real charmer, with barely any notchiness when shifting and very short throws between gears and it gives the car a far sportier feel than it ought to.

It's not the fastest car on planet Earth, especially considering the drop top version is a good 140kg or so heavier than the standard Ford Focus hatch. But it's not slow either.

With 107kW of power at the top end and a willingness to rev cleanly past its 6300rpm redline (you even get a little flashing red light indicating 'change up'), the manual version feels fairly spritely and though I will admit I was disappointed to hear that no diesel is to be offered in Australia at this stage, the petrol engine does a good job of motivating this convertible.

Peak torque of 185Nm for this 4-cylinder engine is enough to shift the car's weight if you're in a hurry, though the 4-speed auto has more widely spaced gears and does struggle somewhat when climbing hills. It does get a tiptronic 'semi manual' mode though, which comes in handy.

The Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet is also one of the more frugal models in the convertible car market, as the manual version sips 7.5L/100km for the combined city/highway cycle. The auto is slightly thirstier at 8.3L/100km.

Based on the Ford Focus platform, the Coupe Cabriolet is a smooth cruiser. It's not overly firm in terms of ride and will absorb most road imperfections, but it's also quite dynamic and on some of the more challenging sections of the launch drive in South Australia it proved to be quite entertaining.

Ford says that torsional rigidity was important in this model, in order to keep the driving dynamics of the Focus brand intact. But because it's significantly heavier that its siblings, Ford made the decision to use the rear suspension and bushings from the ultra-sporty XR5 Turbo model firming up the damping rates as well.

All you need to know is that this suspension jiggery-pokery adds up to a very composed drive. The Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet handles very nicely, and feels every bit as German-engineered as its siblings. It exhibits remarkably low levels of body roll through corners and good levels of grip from the 17-inch (205/50) tyres. 

Before you fob this car off as a handbag, try tipping it into a corner. It's not bad at all.

The steering is likewise pretty good which combines with the confident suspension to make for a sporty driving experience if that's what you're after. It seems to hold a dedicated line through a corner, but at the same time it's still a nice little cruiser that'll won't spill your flat white on the drive to work.

Interestingly, the electro hydraulic power assisted steering system (again taken from the Focus XR5 Turbo) has three different steering assistance settings which is a nice touch, especially when the roads start to twist and turn and you set it to 'sport'.

I did notice a bit of roof shake when the roof was raised in one of the cars, but this seemed to be an isolated case as several other models didn't exhibit this. 

With the roof lowered and the wind in your hair, the experience - as always with convertibles - is a lot of fun. 

You can smell your surroundings and feel the wind and it's more like the freedom experienced when astride a motorbike -- except that you've got four airbags, traction and stability control, an 8-speaker Sony CD stereo, dual zone climate control, heated seats, rain sensing wipers, a monochromatic (self-dimming) rear view mirror and room for three others. Not a bad feature list that.

The rear seats are pretty tight though. 

For instance I wouldn't want to put people I had respect for in the rear seats for more than a short journey, with leg room being the key issue. There's plenty of room for kids and the rear seats are on par with the competition from Holden and Volkswagen so it can't really be seen a deal breaker.

One area in which the Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet does excel is boot space, which is a big deal with convertibles. It's got a class leading 248 litres with the roof folded down, and a rather copious 534 litres when the roof extended, which is more space than the VE Holden Commodore's boot. It's also got best in class shoulder room (1216mm).

Getting back to the way the car drives, I was surprised with this vehicle. It's doesn't dishonour the Focus badge, which would be easy to do because the Ford Focus is one of the best handling automobiles in the small car segment. It's the kind of car where I didn't realise how much I was enjoying driving it until the road straightened out and it was time to hit the cruise control button and head back to the airport.

I must mention the brakes before I wrap this up, which are larger than the standard Focus model's by around 20mm (300mm fronts 280mm rears) and they do a tip top job of slowing the car - and rapidly if needs be.

Some of the other aspects I found impressive were the leather seats - suitably comfortable with a good range of movement, especially vertically to keep your head out of the wind swirl when the roof is folded into the boot.

The air-conditioning is also pretty good. The temperature was a fairly warm 31° and very sunny during the launch drive in South Australia, yet even with the roof open the air-con did a good job of cooling driver and passenger.

It also comes with an tricky anti-theft system as a standard feature. As well as a perimeter alarm that arms 20 seconds after you lock it, it also gets a high tech interior scanning system that will go troppo if it detects movement inside the car after you lock it. Good for security, and a painfully loud reminder not to lock Cujo in the car too.

Conclusion

The new Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet has been well received in Europe, and will no doubt extend the appeal of the Focus range here in Australia as the new premium flagship model.

From this first test drive I quite liked what I found. Obviously an all-season convertible is a cool gadget to have come rain or shine, but somehow the Ford chassis engineers have managed to keep intact much of what makes the Focus hatchback one of the best handling small cars on the market.

It's a very entertaining car to drive and feels nicely balanced for a drop top, and though I reckon it could handle a bit more power under the bonnet it's still got a very sorted chassis - I'd go so far to say one of the best in its class.

Ford could be criticised for getting into the convertible game much later than its rivals and missing out on an opportunity to help shape the market, but because the car is well equipped, has a strong safety suite, is easy on the eye and a lot of fun to drive, I don't think it's going to greatly hurt the car's chances. 

Ford hopes to sell about 100 of these Italian designed and built drop tops per month and by the time the fireworks go off at midnight on the 31st of December, you can expect the price of sunscreen to skyrocket. No, I'm not really sure what that means either...