2010 Ford Focus XR5 Turbo Review

Now this is more like it. After driving the asthmatic but frugal Focus 1.6 the NZ$44,990 XR5 turbo is a breath of fresh air, or rather an intense rush of slipstream if you happen to have your head out of the window.

We all know the Focus has a brilliant chassis, and the problem with much of the range is that there just isn't enough power to exploit the car's abilities to corner with eye watering g-forces. Now Ford has inserted the five cylinder turbocharged 2.5 litre engine donated by Volvo, with a whopping 166kW of power - and it still isn't enough.

That might sound harsh, but what we have here is one of, if not the, most balanced hatchback on the market today. Sure the Mazda3 MPS has more power but show it a wet road and it suddenly decides to go all wobbly at the front as the tyres reach their limits.

The XR5 on the other hand is just powerful enough to be a rather quick car, and has enough control to allow you to place the car exactly where you want on the road, regardless of the conditions.

And it's all done to a wonderfully gruff off beat, odd cylinder count noise that reminds you of the old Audi quattros. Of course there's no four wheel drive, but then again this car doesn't need it. In fact, the even quicker Focus RS being developed in Europe remains front wheel drive thanks to suspension design and very good limited slip differential.

But back in the Focus XR5, it's a comfortable place to be. The seats grip you just hard enough without being constraining and the steering wheel and driver's seat are so adjustable almost anyone can get comfortable behind the wheel.

The close ratio six speed manual gearbox initially feels a little too loose and inaccurate, but once you've got the hang of it it's easy to slam through the gear ratios and keep the engine on the boil, which isn't that hard anyway because there's plenty of torque across the rev range - the result of starting with a big displacement motor in the first place.

The only thing that really holds the Focus XR5 back is that it's a four seater for some odd reason, or at least the one I drove was. Essentially the same car can be had with a less powerful engine and five seatbelts so I can't understand why the lack of a centre seatbelt.

Another feature which falls firmly into the gimmick slot is the keyless start. You press a button on the dashboard to start and stop the engine, but you still have to pull the key fob out of your pocket to lock and unlock the car. It would be much better to also have buttons on the door handles that lock and unlock the car. If it can be done on the likes of the Nissan Micra, it should be possible in a Focus.

Small concerns at the end of the day though, as the Focus XR5 is by one of the most fun cars I've driven in years.