But he then found a contemporary and surprising problem: “The major problem is resisting driving too quickly.” Thanks to the automobile’s tall gearing equating to only 3750rpm at 85mph in fifth, plus its 1.6-litre Zetec engine’s supreme refinement, explicit care was wanted to keep away from setting off the pace cameras that even then had been a part of M25 life.
Goodwin’s drive was additionally accompanied by a touch of frustration: “I’m driving a car with one of the smoothest gear changes in the business and I hardly need to touch it.”
But we had already handled the extra dynamic properties of the Focus at that time. In truth, it had turn into one in every of solely two vehicles in 1998 that had achieved a five-star highway check score, with its trick multi-link suspension, glorious packaging and Ford’s ‘New Edge’ design all conspiring to place it entrance and centre in what was then the UK’s biggest-selling automobile class.
Still extra plaudits got here in because the hours and miles rolled by, with then particular correspondent Andrew Frankel admiring the check automobile’s ergonomics: “Focus controls allow me to get my position absolutely spot on… Even the mirror adjustment knob on the A-pillar is mounted just high enough that you don’t need to take your eyes off the road to know where it is.”
The Focus was flawed at occasions throughout this mighty schlep, although, as editor-in-chief Steve Cropley famous in his second drive of the automobile: “The ride seems a little bony on the M25’s concrete sections… [and] the engine is more audible above 5000rpm than I remember.”
