2004 Ford SVT Focus

The Focus interior is amazingly roomy with plenty of headroom.

The Focus interior is amazingly roomy, and is one more reason why, if you could have only one car and price, size and performance were important considerations, this would be a worthy choice. With its somewhat vertical configuration there is plenty of headroom, and the rear seat will allow two reasonably sized adults, not members of the NFL or NBA, mind you, but still adults, to sit comfortably, feet on the floor, spines erect, hairdos not crammed into the headliner. And the side windows are plenty big enough to give those rear-seat passengers a clear view of the passing scenery.


The rear seats are split on a 60/40 bias, and will fold nearly flat. However, it takes some doing, because there are three headrests that must first be removed and then stashed somewhere. Since the headrest adjustment mechanism requires two hands, the removal procedure is more awkward than it needs to be. But, once everything is cleared away and the rear seats are folded down, there's a surprisingly amount of room for bringing home a new TV set or taking off for the fall term at college.


Up front, the seats are highly bolstered and do a great job of holding driver and passenger in place. The prominent side bolster can interfere with the right arm or elbow while shifting gears, but the gearbox is so nice to use, we say, deal with it, OK? On the silly side are audio system controls located not on the steering wheel but jutting out from the steering column, below the turn signal stalk. The location is puzzling; the controls are difficult to see and somewhat of a nuisance to operate. The purpose of this conglomeration is beyond us, and we found it much easier to just reach over and operate the radio the old-fashioned way. And the traction control button is 'way down on the console, where it's also difficult to see and just waiting for someone to spill a soft drink down into its electronic innards.

The 2.0-liter DOHC 16-valve four-cylinder engine gets pumped up from a normal 130 horsepower at 5,500 rpm to 170 horsepower at 7,000 rpm.

But none of these nits would deter us from promoting the SVT Focus as an absolute sweetheart to drive. The engine is just flat wonderful, quick, eager, smooth, fast, willing to rev smartly all the way to its 7300-rpm redline. And it's hard to imagine the gearbox could be any better. The ratios are right on the money, and the lever selects gears like a very precise, but just slightly overgrown, toggle switch. The steering is terrific. The big tires grab hold of the pavement like a pit bull on a T-bone. The driving position is great for driving quickly and the bolstered seats really do hold you in place. It's just a blast and a hoot to drive; throw it into a sweeping off-ramp or down a mountain highway and it feels downright racy. If you consider yourself any kind of car enthusiast you can't help but love this little honey.


Yet it does all this without having to terrorize Mother Nature's bucolic splendor or bust your bank account. The one we drove, which had basically "everything on it," carried a window sticker bottom line in the low twenty-grand range. All that, decent fuel economy, easy to park, and a sweetheart to drive; what more could you want? If you're in the market for a car in this pocket-rocket category, chalk up the SVT Focus as one of our favorites. (www.fordvehicles.com)