Fokus 20165/24/2023 ![]() Much of the current switchgear continues on in the MCA Mk3, so the familiar feel carries on, but some areas are much improved – the repositioned handbrake lever doesn’t feel out of place any more, and the streamlined centre console has, at least to me, more functional appeal and usability, with the trade-off being a smaller capacity and less efficient console box.Ī word about the steering – the EPAS has been retuned and feels lighter in the first third of the turn, which should be a boon in city use for most drivers. Glaringly, no navigation on the MY-spec car, but otherwise it’s quite an advance from the primarily mechanical operation/small screen layout on the pre-facelift. It looks the business, though if you want to nitpick, the resolution could be higher than it is.Īs for SYNC2, it’s a cinch to use operation is an easy affair and the interface is intuitive in use. The smaller acreage taken up by the Sony audio system works very well visually compared to the heavily-dotted landscape of the outgoing car, and the eight-inch touchscreen is a significant jump from the 4.2-inch TFT unit in the current Focus. Many of the improvements have come in leaps and bounds. Trim and material levels are good, and though still missing some element of premium at points, these are mostly off the direct line of sight. The perception of the revised interior continued where it left off from Down Under – it’s not the lightest and delicate cabin frontage-wise, but the reduction in clutter makes the overall layout easier on the eye and offers much more polish and snap to the presentation. In absolute terms (and also with regards to interior trim and plushness) the Focus arguably still hasn’t gotten the measure of its primary competitor – the more expensive Volkswagen Golf – in outright refinement, but the gap has been narrowed significantly. Secondary ride aspects are likewise very good, and on the whole the car feels well sorted out and immensely coherent. In a nutshell, it feels tauter and more integrated dynamically, and primary ride running off the sports suspension and 15-spoke 17-inch alloys (as seen on the Oz Sport variant, and shod with 215/50 Michelin Primacy LC tyres) is firm, yet supple. The car turns in crisply to input, and there’s plenty of mechanical grip. Much to like with regards to overall balance and poise, as a series of mechanical changes in areas involving steering, NVH and ride/handling make the Focus a better drive than before. While the drive time wasn’t extensive, the back-to-back sampling of the duo offered many points of note – some of these were not observable on the Australian drive (mainly related to performance), but the more pertinent element was the insight gleaned on the different characters of both body-styles. Separate from that was a run with both the Series 15 Sport+ and Series 40 Titanium+ to grab the photo sets as seen in the launch report. He’s no stranger to the facelift, having also driven it previously (we were both at the Asia-Pac regional drive for the car that took place in Adelaide last year, though he was then working with another publication). ![]() The Trend rolls in at RM118,888, while the Sport+ and the Titanium+ sedan go for RM139,888,Īs is the case with the rest of the APA region, the new Mk3 gets a new drivetrain and powertrain combo, in this case a turbocharged 1.5 litre EcoBoost engine and a six-speed torque converter automatic, which replaces the 2.0 litre normally-aspirated Duratec mill and six-speed DPS6 PowerShift dry dual-clutch transmission that equipped the pre-facelift.įollowing the launch, there was a drive session with the Focus in its Sport+ form, which Gerard will offer his musings on. To recap, three variant forms are on sale in Malaysia, the MCA (mid-cycle-action) Focus range now made up of two five-door hatchbacks (the entry-level Trend, essentially a mid-line unit, and the Sport+) and a sedan (the Titanium+). The facelifted third-generation Ford Focus was officially introduced in Malaysia on Thursday, and having covered the car’s specifications and trim in detail in our comprehensive launch report, it’s time to look at the performance aspects of the refreshed C346 Focus from a local perspective.
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