Review: 2009 Ford Focus

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The Focus really rocks when the Sync is augmented with an upgraded audio system (part of a $1,270 Moon-and-Tune package that includes a moonroof) and Sirius XM satellite radio.

For now the Focus comes in only two body styles, a four-door sedan or two-door coupe. With the 2008 redesign, the company ditched the hatchback and station wagon versions of the car. The sedan comes in four trim levels, the S, SE, SES, and SEL, while the coupe is available only in the SE and SES trim. There's just one choice of engine, a 2.0-liter inline four-banger rated at 140 horsepower. A five-speed stick shift is standard, and a four-speed automatic is available as an $815 option.

The Focus earned four- and five-star ratings in most categories in government crash tests, as well as the top "Good" rating in frontal crashes from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Six airbags come standard, but stability control and antilock brakes are a $745 option.

Like just about every other model on the market, the Focus isn't selling well. In the first four months of this year, sales fell 42.7%, to 41,747. Then again, such once hot-selling economy cars as the Toyota Yaris (sales down 43.9%) and Prius (down 49%) aren't doing any better. During the same period, the Mazda3's sales fell by 14.5%, to 31,083; the Corolla's by 20.7%, to 78,132; the Hyundai Elantra's by 21.8%, to 26,479; the Civic's by 30.6%, to 76,782; and the Chevy Cobalt's by 51.9% to 32,065.

The only compact model I could find with rising sales is the Saturn Astra, which had an increase of 24.4%, to 2,968.

Behind the Wheel

The most practical version of the Focus, obviously, is the four-door sedan. That's because getting adults (and even kids) in and out of the two-door coupe's cramped rear seat is a struggle. But the coupe is a lot more fun to drive. The SES coupe comes with 17-inch wheels (other versions of the Focus come with 15- or 16-inchers) and a sporty exhaust system that gives the engine a bit more growl. For '09, Ford also redesigned the front and rear fascia so the coupe looks less dorky than it did last year.

In some configurations the Focus coupe's engine even has an extra three horsepower, giving it a tiny bit more zip than the sedan. The car still isn't fast: In accelerating from 0 to 60, I timed the coupe at 9.6 seconds. But it feels quicker than that. The steering is responsive, and the car is surprisingly nimble. The larger tires bite the pavement during hard cornering. The stick shift is relatively tight for an economy car, and Ford rejiggered the shift ratios in the automatic transmission to make the '09 coupe a tad more responsive than the '08.

The big negative about the Focus is its cheesy cabin. My test car had leather seats, but they felt cheap, and their looks were marred by tacky white stitching. The dash was clad in down-market black vinyl with an unattractive grainy texture. And I really could have done without the ambient lighting system that allowed me to program the lights in the cupholders and footwells in seven different colors, including purple, green and yellow.

On the plus side, the Focus' 13.8 cu. ft. trunk is as capacious as the trunk in many midsize sedans.

Buy it or Bag It?

After the $2,000 rebate, the '09 Focus coupe sells for an average of $15,303, according to the Power Information Network (PIN). That makes it nearly two grand cheaper than the average compact coupe and nearly three grand less than the average compact sedan, PIN figures.

In comparison, the average price of the '09 Civic Coupe is $18,893, the Mazda3 sedan $16,637, and the Corolla sedan $16,516. Korean carmakers have made great progress in recent years, but you won't save much by going with one of their compacts. The '09 Hyundai Elantra sedan sells for an average of $15,764, and the Kia Spectra sedan costs $14,413, according to PIN. (PIN, like BusinessWeek, is a unit of the McGraw-Hill Companies.)

The other strong domestic small cars are the Dodge Caliber and the Saturn Astra. But the Caliber is a wagon that's bigger and more expensive than the Focus, and isn't as fuel-efficient. The made-in-Europe Astra is a niche model that GM plans to phase out.

So if you're shopping for a compact car from a domestic company, the head-to-head competition is between the Focus and the Chevy Cobalt. Their average cost is about the same, according to PIN, and in my opinion the Focus has a slight edge over the Cobalt.

Click here to see more of the 2009 Ford Focus.

Thane Peterson reviews cars for BusinessWeek.com.

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