Focus Coupe Would Make a Great Teen-Mobile

2009 Ford Focus SES

model as tested $20,615

Test Drove 3/19/09 – 3/26/09
reviewed by Sara Lacey

Ford’s got the right idea: Give people something that makes an inexpensive car feel upscale, and you’ve got another opportunity to earn their business. The 2009 Ford Focus SES proves my point. This two-door coupe looks sporty and drives nicely, but the feature that had most people talking was its black leather seats with white top-stitching. A car that my friends and neighbors wouldn’t normally have been interested in got a second look after they noticed the seats.

I confess the seats were the first thing I noticed, too. If the Focus had a couple other surprises like the seats in it, it would have made my week test-driving this coupe — with two kids in tow — a little more bearable. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an advocate of sedans as family cars, and I live for the day I can own a sporty little coupe in lieu of the family truckster, but just like any other car style, some coupes are better than others.

The Focus is a four-cylinder and gets an EPA-estimated 24/35 mpg city/highway with the standard five-speed manual transmission; a four-speed automatic is available. Driving the front-wheel-drive Focus was better than I expected; it felt tight and well-constructed. The manual transmission let me have more power when I wanted it (merging onto the highway), but it’s a four-cylinder, so it’s not over-the-top speed-wise. The Focus’ engine noise sounds sporty and not too loud.

You know what I’m thinking? The Focus isn’t a perfect mom-mobile, but it might be a perfect teen-mobile.

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