2002 Ford SVT Focus

From The Driver's Seat

With its Euro-look exterior, there's a lot more of a Continental quality to this Ford than you might expect from a Michigan-based carmaker (by the way, the SVT Focus is made in Mexico).

That's certainly due to Ford's goal for the Focus, which is to sell it all over the planet. That means its thoroughly modern, sculpted shape is not only an asset but de rigueur. Americans might not be quite as fond of this design, but considering that of all the cars we mentioned in this intro only the Mini Cooper can be said to be a looker (and only in a cute, not sexy, sense), comparing the skin and skeleton of the SVT Focus to anything else in its class is a bit of a wash.

Better to get inside and have a look around.

Here you find a perforated leather-wrapped wheel, cruise control and audio switches on that same tiller, firm and sporty cloth seats with leather bolsters, metallic-flecked gauges and oil-temperature/pressure gauges unavailable in the stock Focus. All that is reasonably sorted and attractive, but trim bits in the Focus don't line up neatly and many small details like the door-lock buttons and door trim feel chintzy and don't mate well with the aforementioned extra-spiffy items.

The SVT team ought to study the Mazda MP3 we mentioned earlier; since Ford owns a sizeable chunk of Mazda they should source interior elements from their Japanese associate's parts bin until their bosses at Ford can figure out that Japanese cars sell because they look like somebody really cared when they assembled them. Ford's in the midst of a cost-cutting spree at the moment and they ought to be careful not to make cars like the Focus look even cheaper inside.

On the upside, this is a comfortable cabin with lots of head and shoulder room, easily adjustable seats and a good, upright driving position. Also swell: the $675 optional six-disc in-dash CD player. Not only does it blast out excellent, crisp sound through upgraded speakers and an eight-inch subwoofer, but it comes with a slick little pen-size locking mechanism. Remove the "pen" (it has a clip so you can attach it to your shirt pocket to prevent loss) and the sound system is rendered useless to would-be crooks.

Okay, so you're grooving to your favorite tunes, comfortably at the wheel and ready to roll. What's that like?

Impressive. Really impressive.

As we said, the usual sensation of a pocket rocket is sort of like being chained to a chipmunk on caffeine--hyper-quick reactions, but never relaxed when you just have an errand to run.

The SVT Focus is instead a pure sleeper. As you can see from the video clip here (Windows Media Player/Real Player), the car is reasonably composed on less than paper-flat pavement, but not soft.

There's lots of low-range torque (most of the 145 foot-pounds of peak churn appear at a mere 2200 rpm), so you never feel the need to flog the 2.0-liter motor on a run to the market or on your daily commute. Just drive it like a reasonably upstanding citizen and there's nary a hint of menace, despite an engine that's been worked over with variable intake timing (to give better response at all revs), new pistons, altered camshaft shapes and an increased compression ratio.

Oh, you want menace?

Then ratchet through the SVT Focus' sharp, six-speed gearbox (sourced from the same supplier that sells shifters to BMW , Getrag ) and get flying. This is not a Porsche -quick car in a straight line, but in modest bends, over undulating rollers or around all-out loops of tarmac the SVT Focus is a delight. New bushings and tuned struts as well as beefier anti-sway bars forestall body roll and you can dart around at breakneck speeds with delightful abandon. There's plenty of meat to grab the road, too: 17-inch wheels wearing 215/45-series tires. Also impressive: the very large vented front, solid-disc rear brakes. These are easy to modulate and will halt this car safely and swiftly.

Still, it's the well-behaved character of this Focus that really stands out. Push all you want and it doesn't hurt, not even on rough roads. We couldn't say that about the Mini Cooper we drove, especially not one shod with hard, run-flat tires--and the only other challengers in this mix (ride-quality wise) would be the Acura RSX Type-S and WRX, both of which cost several thousand dollars more. That's saying a lot, and despite the sheer fun of the other SVT cars like the Lightning and Cobra, the Focus strikes the best balance between comfort and performance.

We also drove this car at Virginia International Raceway, and there we got the SVT's traction control working, but only during fully abusive maneuvers you wouldn't try on the road (stab the button to disable traction control if you like). Otherwise what shines here is the same thing you feel on Elm Street: Excellent steering that transmits all the action going on at the pavement surface but doesn't beat you to death with vibration, and a rally car-imitating exhaust tone that turns to a high rasp near redline.

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