Ford Focus Estate (2014 – 2018) Review

The Ford Focus Estate is one of the key players in the compact estate market. It might not be as dominant as the hatchback, but it is still a crucial contender in Ford’s battle with the likes of the Volkswagen Golf Estate, Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer and the Skoda Octavia Estate. It also brings the key plus points from the hatchback, namely that it is arguably the best in class in terms of the driving experience. Add to that a decent amount of space for passengers and luggage, and the Focus Estate is worthy of careful consideration as one of the best compact estates in the segment.

The Ford Focus Estate takes all of the traits of the smaller hatchback model but adds a dose of extra practicality thanks to a large, flat boot with a wide-opening tailgate. It’s good to drive, affordable to run and is available with some of the best modern safety technology, making it a great choice for a growing family.

Boot space in the estate is up from 316 litres in the hatchback to 476 litres with the seats in place, but that can be expanded to a hefty 1,502 litres if you fold the rear seats down. The load area is wide and flat, and you get handy features like lashing eyes and a 12V power outlet, but in terms of outright volume it lags a little behind the Volkswagen Golf and Skoda Octavia.

That’s not to say the Focus Estate is small though. Far from it, the load area is more than capable of swallowing up large boxes, big suitcases or sacks of rubbish for the tip, so unless you absolutely have to have the biggest boot space available, you shouldn’t rule it out on this alone. Besides, the Focus Estate makes up for its space deficit with some very impressive handling – it’s one of the most enjoyable cars in its class.

The steering is very nicely weighted and gives good feedback, plus there is plenty of grip. Through corners the Focus Estate feels almost as balanced and as nimble as the hatchback. Despite there being little in the way of body roll, it rides well over most surfaces. Things only get slightly uncomfortable over very rough or potholed roads, but for the most part the balance between ride and handling is first rate.

There are lots of engines to choose from, including the impressive 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol with 100PS or 125PS outputs and a 1.5-litre Ecoboost with 150PS or 182PS. The car suits a diesel engine best if you are planning to carry heavy loads on a regular basis - thankfully there are plenty to choose from, with outputs ranging from 95PS to 185PS in the hot ST.

The trim range is broad and even basic Style models get air conditioning, a misfuelling prevention system, Bluetooth and USB connectivity. Upper trim levels gain luxuries like a reversing camera, keyless start, cruise control, automated parking and the improved Sync 2 infotainment system, although the price does start to rise when you get to the top of the range models.

The SEAT Leon ST is more nicely finished and as good to drive, while the Skoda Octavia estate is more practical. Even so, there is a lot to like about the Ford and it's an ideal family estate.

Through corners the Focus Estate can be either relaxing and easy or involving and fun, thanks to well-judged suspension that is comfortable yet keeps body roll in check.

Those who value enjoyment over comfort can opt for a Zetec S model, which gets a slightly stiffer and sportier suspension set up.

There is also a much more driver-focused ST model on offer with performance to match its handling. ST models get either a 250PS petrol or a 185PS diesel engine, both of which give swift 0-62mph times of just over eight seconds.

The Ford Focus Estate has a broad engine range, as is typical for Ford models. There are six petrol engines with outputs ranging from 100PS to 250PS in the hot ST, plus there are seven diesel options ranging from 95PS to 185PS. The latter, again, is available in the high-performance ST variant.

The basic petrol is an ageing 1.6-litre Duratec and best avoided – the 1.0-litre Ecoboost is a better bet in either 100PS or 125PS outputs.

These are fine for drivers who don’t tend to drive their car fully laden, but if you regularly tow trailers or stack the boot to the roof the more powerful 1.5-litre Ecoboost engines, with 150PS or 182PS outputs, are better.

And even better still are the diesel options. The 2.0-litre TDCi with 150PS makes light work of towing, thanks to peak torque of 370Nm. But for most, the lesser 1.5-litre diesel with 95PS, 105PS or 120PS is the perfect choice for the Focus Estate. It blends good everyday performance with impressive economy and low CO2 emissions.

In 105PS Econetic form the 1.5-litre TDCi is officially capable of 83.1mpg, with emissions of 88g/km. However we’d go for the more powerful 120PS 1.5-litre TDCi. It is free to tax, yet it’s perfectly capable of hauling along a Focus Estate even when loaded, with relatively little noise entering the cabin and enough torque to make light work of motorway slip roads or long distance driving.

Euro NCAP tested the Ford Focus in 2012 when this generation model was first launched and was awarded an impressive five star overall rating, with the 92 per cent for adult protection being a particularly high score. Child protection was given an 82 per cent score, with pedestrian mitigation at 72 per cent and safety assist at 71 per cent, a strong performance in all categories.

Available as an option on lesser models but standard on Titanium and Titanium X models is Active City Stop, Ford’s name for autonomous emergency braking, which is a big boost for active safety.

Further optional extras include traffic sign recognition and enhanced parking systems, including an automated system that is able to park the car automatically in parallel or bay parkin

Towing capacity for the Focus Estate depends both on the engine choice and the gearbox, ranging from 650kg unbraked and just 700kg braked for the 1.6-litre petrol Duratec manual up to 735kg unbraked and 1500kg braked for the 2.0-litre diesel models.

Versus a Focus hatchback, the Estate variant has an additional 160 litres of load space with the rear seats in place (472 litres in total). With the rear seats folded the load capacity rises to 1502 litres, which is more than enough for most typical estate car jobs like airport runs or camping holidays. That said, it is some way behind rivals like the Skoda Octavia, which has a maximum capacity of 1740 litres.

There is also a 12V outlet for keeping things charged in the back plus lashing eyes to keep heavy items from sliding around. Aside from the larger boot, the Focus Estate is fundamentally the same as the hatchback. That means there is a fairly spacious back row with room for adults and a much improved cabin up front.

Material quality is good, with soft touch plastics on the dashboard and durable plastics elsewhere, plus there is a neat centre stack in place of the mess of buttons on the 2011-2014 model.

The important touch points are good quality and soft underneath your fingers; leather on the steering wheel helps here, but there’s also a lot of grey and black in the cabin and you don’t have to venture too far to find harder plastics that are less appealing. It’s never going to be as plus as a Volkswagen Golf, but it’s broadly on a par with the rest of the class.

Basic versions still get a good infotainment provision with DAB, USB and AUX input as well as Bluetooth for telephone and audio streaming. The display screen on lower-spec models is quite small and requires quite a bit of button prodding to navigate, but otherwise it’s a fine system.

Top Titanium and Titanium X trim levels get the latest Ford touchscreen system, called Sync 2. This is a clear and generally user-friendly system, though some of the on-screen text can be a little small.

Thankfully it responds better than most infotainment systems when it comes to voice commands, so it lets drivers keep their eyes on the road.

The third-generation Ford Focus was replaced in 2018, so if you’re set on a Focus Estate from this era then you need to look at a used example. The good news is that most generations of Focus were very popular, so you should be able to find plenty of examples at a range of price points.

We had a look in the classified ads and found lots to choose from, with several examples from late in the production run which are frequently the best of the bunch. We found a 1.0-litre EcoBoost in sporty ST-Line trim with under 20,000 miles for less than £13,500.

As for the earliest examples, these are now well into bargain territory. The earliest example we found from 2014 still only had 50,000 miles on the clock, and was a 1.6-litre Powershift automatic in Zetec trim at just over £7000. A little more money would get you a smart TDCi model in high-spec Titanium trim for just over £7500 too.

The 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrols claim 58mpg and 51mpg respectively for the 105PS and 125PS versions, so as long as you’re sensible with the accelerator you should be able to get 40mpg on a regular basis.

Even the bigger 1.5-litre EcoBoost claims up to 50mpg for the 150PS version, so you can have the performance and still creep into 40mpg territory.

It’s the diesels that steal the headlines though, with the most frugal 1.5-litre TDCi Econetic claiming aremarkable 83mpg combined. You’ll do well to hit that on a regular basis, but you can expect 60mpg and more with relative ease, even 70mpg if you try hard.

It might be a mid-sized car with the option of relatively powerful engines, but a combination of low repair costs and good security systems contribute to the Focus Estate featuring relatively low down on the insurance group ratings. Remarkably, the 1.6-litre petrol drops into group 6 - lower than some city cars, although this is not the engine of choice.

The 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrols are around group 11 and the 1.5-litre diesels only climb as high as group 16, and even the top 2.0-litre diesel squeezes under group 20.

Style models come with roof rails, air conditioning, Easy-Fuel misfuelling prevention, hill start assist, electric front windows, 16-inch steel wheels, DAB radio, AUX in, USB in and Bluetooth connectivity.

Zetec trim adds 16-inch alloy wheels, Quickclear windscreen, heated door mirrors and front fog lights.

Zetec S trim adds 17-inch alloy wheels, styling kit, sports pedals, sports suspension, keyless start, LED running and rear lights.

Titanium trim comes with 16-inch alloy wheels, SYNC2 touchscreen, active city stop, auto lights, auto wipers, an auto-dimming rear view mirror, rear parking sensors, dual-zone climate control plus cruise control with speed limiter.

Titanium X adds 17-inch alloy wheels, enhanced park assist, with front and rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, xenon headlights, part-leather seats, heated front seats, power-operated driver’s seat along with LED ambient lighting.