2010 Ford Focus Review – The compact car that can!

Safety First, Second and Third:

Focus offers all the great features of the voice-activated Ford SYNC® System* plus 911 Assist™ and Vehicle Health Report. And now, Ford SYNC includes traffic, directions and information services.

With the 911 Assist feature, within seconds after airbag deployment, SYNC uses your cell phone connection you programmed into the system to make a call to a local 911 emergency operator. A pre-recorded message will then play when the call is answered, and you’ll be able to communicate with the 911 operator.

SYNC offers a Vehicle Health Report feature. SYNC gathers information from the vehicle’s control modules and transmits it through the cell phone connection you programmed into the system to Ford by way of an 800-number. You can receive these health reports free of charge by e-mail or text-message alerts.

And now, SYNC with Traffic, Directions and Information provides in-vehicle traffic reports, turn-by-turn directions and business search service, as well as news, sports and weather. Access it with either touch or voice commands. SYNC is optional in Focus SE and standard in Focus SES and SEL.

New standard safety features on all Focus trims for 2010 are AdvanceTrac with Electronic Stability Control, four-wheel ABS,  tire pressure monitoring system, and the MyKey system.

Ford “MyKey” System

With every 2010 Focus, MyKey lets you encourage safer teen driving with programmable settings defined by the parents. Thus, you decide how your car is driven no matter who’s behind the wheel. The system works by programming specially coded keys to encourage safety belt use and safer, more fuel-efficient driving. MyKey can mute the audio system until safety belts are buckled, limit top speed to 80 mph, set the traction control so it can’t be deactivated, and set a speed alert chime at 45, 55, or 65 mph.

Performance:

Not much to say here, except that it performed above expectations.  The Focus isn’t a performance car, by any stretch of the imagination.  But most buyers of the Focus are more interested in the following paragraph.

The Focus got really gets really good gas mileage!  Not only that, I was able to get up to speed when entering traffic, was able to get slowed down when exiting the freeway, and I got from point A to point B safely.  It’s not a hybrid, but the mileage puts the Focus owner into the “green” category, without the expensive hybrid technology and heavy batteries.

Handling:

I didn’t try to drive it fast on any curvy roads, or rail an off-ramp, nothing crazy.  But in day-to-day driving conditions, it held its own and was not a choppy ride.  I’m not sure that I noticed it, but I’d imagine the rear stabilizer bar offered some advantages over the older models without it. Also noted was a good turning radius. Something very useful when you have to perform a fast U-turn to grab that valuable parking spot on the opposite side of the street.

Styling:

While it still has a couple of clunky items (mainly the weird “Focus SEL” badge between the front door and the front quarter panel), the Focus has gone through some needed re-designs the past few years.  The Focus is significantly more stylish than the first generation Focus from 2000 (which I thought was one of the top 10 ugly cars at that time)! The halogen headlamps and taillights look really nice now.  While looking at the view of the car from both the front and the rear, the car looks are fairly generic.  By that, I mean nothing really stands out from the crowd.  BUT, that’s not a bad thing, and I liked the look of this car.  The SEL model came with chrome-tipped exhaust pipes and chrome door handles.  Given that the test car was “Sterling Gray Metallic”, it was a really sharp combination.

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