The estate version of the third-generation Ford Focus went on sale at the same time as the hatchback, but the load-carrying body style appeared on the Ford press fleet only recently, which is why it's taken us this long to get round to reviewing it. This is also our first experience of a current 1.6-litre diesel Focus, and one not running on 18" wheels, so even though this test lasted for just a few hours there's plenty to talk about.The estate aspect should come first, I think. Needless to say, this car has a great deal more luggage space than the hatch, namely 476 litres with the rear seats in placed and 1502 litres when they're folded, compared with 316 and 1101 litres for the more conventional five-door.That sounds like quite an advance, but it doesn't make this the most practical car of its size on the market. It's roughly comparable to the Golf estate, but the Vauxhall Astra and Renault Megane equivalents (both of which use the Sports Tourer label) are considerably roomier. Another issue is that, although the rear seat squabs can be folded forward and the seat backs folded down behind them, this is not possible if the front seats are in a position that allows tall people to use them.On the other hand, the load floor is neatly shaped, with no awkward intrusions, the tailgate opening is suitably wide and the sill is low, all of which means that you can get awkward and/or heavy items in there without undue difficulty.Creating an estate by converting a saloon or hatch leads to compromises, and in the case of the Focus they are more obvious than I'd have expected of a 21st-century car. The increased noise level is particularly surprising - you don't particularly hear the engine any more than you do in the hatch, but there's a booming effect throughout the cabin which is definitely specific to the estate, and I would hope that Ford knows about this and is developing a way of doing something about it.Another feature of estates used to be that they didn't handle as well as saloons or hatches. Generally speaking, this isn't so noticeable nowadays, but again it's very obvious with the Focus. On a fast run over a tremendous (and deserted) country road, the test car often lost track of what was going on, though I'd be the first to admit that this is not the kind of driving most buyers would consider. In less frenetic circumstances the roadholding is noticeably inferior to that of the Focus hatch but not really problematic.Tell you what, though - the ride quality is the best I've experienced so far in a current Focus. That's because, as previously mentioned, all the other cars I've tried were on 18" wheels. This one was on 16s, with correspondingly higher-profile tyres (not as shown in our pictures), and the difference is just amazing. If I were to buy a Focus, I would definitely choose the smaller wheels, and glare haughtily at any sales person who tried to convince me otherwise.The 1.6-litre TDCi turbo diesel of the test car produces a maximum of 113bhp (there's an 89bhp alternative too), and I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that this is as much power as anyone actually needs for their daily transport. A 120mph top speed and a 0-62mph time of 11.1 seconds aren't going to earn you bragging rights at the pub, unless perhaps a bunch of Austin 7 owners happen to turn up, but I always thought the performance was good enough for the job, even though the car had just 52 miles on the clock when I climbed aboard and presumably had a very tight engine.Even better news about this engine is that it gives the estate official combined fuel economy of 67.3mpg and CO2 emissions of 109g/km. I can't comment on how realistic that economy figure is, beyond guessing that just under 60mpg should be achievable in normal driving, but the CO2 rating means that annual Vehicle Excise Duty payments will be just £20 per year. Engine 1590 cc, 4 cylinders Power 113bhp Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel / CO2 67.3mpg / 109g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 11.1sec Top speed 120 mph Price £19,595 Details correct at publication date
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