When I write a review, I first gather all of my thoughts, feelings and anecdotes that go through my brain and try to make sense of all that mumbo-jumbo; I filter out what I want, what I need, and what I should say about the vehicle. Finally, I like comparing the results of my brain vomit with a period-correct review, before I piece everything together. 
This is therefore the process I used for today’s review of a 2010 Ford Focus. Following my steps, as mentioned above: I drove the car (quite a bit actually as it’s my father-in-law’s car), I gathered all of my brain’s opinions on the experience, I procrastinated a bit, and then I read on Topgear.com a review of a Ford Focus of the same generation. 

For the first time, and much to my surprise, Top Gear and I disagree.

The world-famous car magazine praised the ride quality and (this is their words) the sports car handling of the Ford Focus. Now, one’s mother must have rocked one too close to a wall to think that the MK2 Focus has sports car handling. The steering is heavy. Which is a trait that one could argue is shared with real sports cars.
I can understand that an inexperienced driver could mistakenly think that the car feels athletic; Heavy steering isn’t the only aspect of the Focus that mimics the feeling of sportiness, such as the stiff brake+ pedal with a short throw, a twitchy engine with a huge amount of turbo lag, a great chassis (more on that later) and finally, the Titanium trim comes with bucket-seats, which is arguably the sportiest thing about the car.

We’ve talked about modular chassis here before. Most auto manufacturers have a chassis that can be slightly modified to suit any car of the same-ish size. The Audi Q2 and the VW T-roc, for example, share the MQB platform. 
Ford has the same thing, their version is called the Global C-car Platform, shared with Volvo and Mazda. All three manufacturers use the platform to make what they call “Compact cars” or “Small Family cars”, like the gigantic Ford C-max or the massive Mazda CX-7… Therefore, because it shares the same platform, the Focus is also a relatively big car and it feels like so. 

The interior design adds to the sensation of heaviness. The dashboard and the steering wheel are bulbous and take a lot of interior space. The latter is also larger than most, and although that is usually a positive attribute, what I’m saying is that the thickness of the steering wheel is a contributing factor to the sensation of heaviness felt in the Focus.

A heavy car isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Matter of fact, Richard Parry-Jones, who was the Group Vice-President of Global Product Development, Chief Technical Officer, and Head of Global R&D Operations at Ford Motor Company, made sure that that wasn’t the case. Besides having an insane resume, he was also a strong believer that a driver should be able to enjoy the benefit of a well-engineered car not only at high speeds but also at low speeds. 
The Focus (a product of Mr. Parry-Jones) doesn’t want to be driven by a Dominic-Toretto-wanna-be living his life a quarter-mile at a time, mainly because the power train isn’t suited for this, yet, it enjoys being driven on technical roads. Thanks to a well-balanced and thoroughly engineered chassis that feels capable of much more – the ST and RS versions are proof of that. 
Our man PJ made a chassis that despite its weight, isn’t destabilized by a hole, a bump, or an idiot like me at the wheel.
This, paired with the great suspension engineering that Ford gifted the Focus, has me agreeing with Top Gear, it is a comfortable ride. But it is not, under any circumstances, a sporty car. 

The 2010 Ford Focus is a great car that is relaxed and comfortable but that can sometimes feel a little confused. We know the ST and RS visions are great sport hatchbacks, and that same DNA flows in this Focus as well. The chassis is therefore very comfortable in a tight corner at 45mph, but the rest of the car simply can’t match what the chassis can do unless you spend a lot of extra dosh to get the ST or RS.

What is interesting about the pickle I have written myself into, is that I now need to convince you, the reader, to believe me instead of the household name that is Top Gear. And while that may sound complicated at first, it’s actually pretty simple. You see, they may have the fame, the reputation, the photographers, the editor, and the hundreds of people working hard to make their magazine and TV show one the best the world has ever seen, but when talking about the 2010 Ford Focus, they are wrong. And I, with my computer, Google Docs as my editor, and my lonesome, am right. 

It’s that simple.  

Max.

Here is the Top Gear article.