THE famous hill climb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is an unlikely place to find an estate car being put through its paces.
But when that estate is based on one of the sharpest handling hatchbacks on the market the 1.16 mile course was an unexpected home from home for the new addition to the Ford Focus line up.
Since its launch in March the latest Focus has soared to the top of the charts notching up more than 10,000 sales.
Now the estate version is being released and Ford predicts it will be even more successful than its predecessor.
The run up the hill at Goodwood showed well and truly that this is a medium sized estate which can cut it with the best.
Like the hatch it is fitted with what Ford calls torque vectoring control – electronics which balance the power to the front wheels delivering exceptional grip through corners.
If anything, it feels even more composed than the hatch and that’s down to the rigid body which is eight inches longer although it sits on the same wheelbase.
Priced from £17,100 for a 1.6-litre petrol in entry level Edge trim to £25,100 for a two-litre diesel Titanium X with a Powershift auto box the 17 model line up features the same engines as the hatchback range.
That includes the new 150bhp 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine which is tuned to deliver plenty of performance with average fuel economy in the region of 47 to the gallon and emissions of 139g/km.
Although marginally slower than the hatch when it comes to 0 to 60 acceleration – it’s 0.2 of a second off – both the EcoBoost and the two-litre diesel are sub nine seconds yet all versions are lively to drive.
Most economical is the 1.6-litre diesel which Ford claims will average 67.3mpg with CO2 emissions down to 109g/km. On the run down to Goodwood we managed to achieve 57mpg overall according to the onboard readout.
To give the estate added practicality the width of the body has been increased by four inches to reduce the impact of the rear wheel arches into the luggage area.
The result is a cargo capacity ranging from 476 to 1,502 litres with the rear seats folded – which is on par with its main rival, Vauxhall’s Astra Sports Tourer.
The luggage bay has a low lip and is wide and flat sided, all of which helps loading, and the tonneau cover can be released to fly back just by a single touch.
Roof rails are standard and set off the Focus’s sleek looks while luggage nets, load restraints and floor liners are options.
As with the hatch, the estate can be fitted with high tech features such as blind spot alerts, automatic high beam, traffic sign recognition and a lane departure warning system which also prevents the car from drifting – all of which are class leading – and are bundled together in a Driver Assistance pack costing £750.
An automated parking system is a further option which comes as part of another extras pack at £525 and many drivers will find it handy, especially when manoeuvring an estate.
Standard kit includes air conditioning, a digital radio, Bluetooth phone connectivity and electronic stability controls while with family use in mind another option pack includes remote control childproof rear door locks, rear seatbelt reminder lights and one-shot electric windows all round for £250.
As all rounders go the Focus Estate is poised to make quite a mark and with the popularity of estates growing, Ford has come up with a model which fits virtually every bill imaginable.
It’s stylish, drives brilliantly, has exceptional levels of technology – and can take the kitchen sink.