Girls generally don't smile at blokes for no reason, but I seem to be lapping up all kinds of admiring looks and wry smiles today. It can't be my clean-cut good looks because I've been parking in front of a computer for three days and, frankly, I look like death warmed up. My beany's a delightful shade of snot green and I've just realised my T-shirt is on inside out. Oh, and there's a coleslaw stain down the front and my fly is open, too. They don't care though - they keep glancing provocatively in my direction and in come cases, nodding with that 'Oh, wow' look in their eyes. Either I'm suddenly sporting Clooney-esque sex appeal or the fairer sex is really taken with this new Focus Coupe Cabriolet.
I hope someone comes up with a proper, generic name for the coupe cabriolet soon. Do you know how many hours of my life I waste writing those words? Despite the clunky alliteration, Coupe Cabriolet is what Ford insists on calling its folding hardtop Focus - not Twin Top, as Opel rather saucily refers to its convertible Astra, nor CC, as employed by the French. Nope, it's Coupe Cabriolet, so deal with it. That's not the only awkward thing about Focus CoCa (that's my new name for it) - the rear overhang is also incredibly cumbersome. It's caused by the need to put that two-piece folding roof somewhere when it's not wanted but it positively ruins the taut, teutonic lines of the rest of the Focus body. It also eats into rear seat space, which means the CoCa is really a 2+2 instead of a fully-fledged four-seater. Opel, by comparison, used a complex three-piece roof to keep the Astra Twin Top's proportions tight and the detailing just so (though it's no more spacious inside) whereas Ford opted for a cheaper two-piece set up and the results speak for themselves. You might think it's less prone to problems (and you might well be right on a longterm basis) but during the week I drove the Focus it liked to let water through point where windscreen and roof meet and drop a big dollop of it on my right forearm from time to time. Lovely.
Despite the big bum and my soggy sleeve, I'm still quite enamored by the new Focus CoCa. The optional tan leather lifts the interior ambience and makes it feel expensive and classy. In Titanium specification there are handsome 17-inch wheels and painted black, as our test car was, the chrome highlights really jump out making the CoCa seem like a very upmarket machine indeed. Powered by a 2.0-litre engine, there's reasonably go, too, while the handling is better than just about any cabrio I've driven this year bar the 207 CC, impressively rigid and sure-footed with the roof off and positely carlike when it's in place.
The Focus CoCa is just one of those feelgood cars. There's something about it that exudes quality and class, depsite the bulbous behind. Or perhaps the prodigous posterior why women like it so much. With a rump like the Focus CoCa's, your own backside is never going look anything but microscopic. Does my ass look big in this? Impossible, darling. You look fabulous.
Engine: 2.0 litre 4-cylinder, 145 hp, 185 Nm
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Acceleration: 0–100 km/h: 10.3 seconds*
Top speed: 208 km/h*
Economy: 7.5 L/100 km*
CO2: 179 g/km*
Boot Capacity: 534 litres*
Weight: 1465 kg
Base Price: €38,140
Price as tested: €40,634
Verdict: Despite the awkward proportions, the Focus Coupe Cabriolet's fine detailing and excellent dynamics (for a cabrio) make it a winner. It ain't cheap, though.
4 Stars
*Roof up
Read more Ford reviews here.
See all used Ford cars on Car Buyers Guide here.
0 comments