Ten years. That’s how long it’s been since the Ford Focus was Britain’s biggest-selling car over a full calendar year. That, to me at least, seems like ‘blink and you’ll miss a decade’ territory.
It seems like just a moment ago that Ford so memorably imposed such a reassuring state of order on the UK car market, at least to road testers like me – one that lasted a full decade. The Blue Oval created a family hatchback that was a much better drive than anything else like it: the original 1998 Focus. Britain had some of the best roads in Europe on which to demonstrate its qualities. And, sure enough, Britons responded. The Focus became this country’s biggest-selling car.
And still, even though for every calendar year since 2008 the car has been beaten by its little brother the Fiesta (and increasingly by one or two other big-hitters) in the UK’s annual registration charts, the launch of a new-generation Focus – this the fourth of them – feels like a big occasion.
So we’ve convened a welcoming committee: not quite every family hatchback in the class – just the ones from well-known volume brands that we believe could give it some serious competition. We’ve left out the ‘compact premium’ players, on the basis that doing so ought to make for a simpler, closer and more interesting contest. But among the cars we have included is the recently introduced Kia Ceed, fresh from an encouraging endorsement in the Autocar road test, albeit in diesel-engined form.
When gathered around a common £22,000 price point, then, and propelled by similarly powerful petrol engines, which is 2018’s best new family hatchback?
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5wheels
SADLY
We used to have an excellent blog page on Autocar but sadly too many trolls and idiots spoiled it. So I can only write in the wrong places and hope to start a discussion AUTOCAR I hope you are reading this???
A couple or so years ago I write about the demise of the rubber bumbers which came after the ful bumbers and now he have NO rubber protection bumbers at all. This is obviously nothing to do with the cost of installing, or even the appearance and aesthetics. But everything to do with the bottom line. The cost of scrapped frontals and wings are now replacement parts which are exhorbitantly overpriced. For those daft enough to buy Peogeot good luck bucause their flimsy plastic wings just imlode on the least provocation.
But thats not really wanted I wanted to repeat although I am sure many will want to add a postscript.
No - today I want to mention the demise of the sunroof - a proper electric fitted sunroof. Yes we all have aircon, and sit in our little boxes in supposedly clean controlled air spaces. Sorry I love a sunroof open, listen to the birds sing (and hope they miss when the shit) - I like the country air not regurgitated chemically improved crap. But they have simply disappeared. My last car with a standard fit sunroof was the Rover 620 Ti - a superb under appreciated Q car. leather - aircon electrics all round leather, veneer and a wonderful electric sunroof. Where have they gone? Yes they cost a lot of extra but worth while. Another valid point is the roof is a little stronger and the pillars beefy enough and therefore STRENGTHEN the shall and make it much safer if in an impact or even a roll over. Your views would be appreciated
what's life without imagination
Leslie Brook
.
What are those two things that look like insect feelers hanging off the front of the Peugeot?
TS7
Leslie Brook wrote:
Lens flare, light being scattered by a camera's optics creates a dimmer, inverted, ghost image. The brighter the original light the more pronounced the effect. You can see that the 'insect feelers' are a an inverted image of the L.E.D. running lights.
Leslie Brook
.
You're missing the point. A "Family" hatchback is not improved by bigger wheels, fatter tyres and more sporty suspension. A family hatchback needs to be comfortable for the children in the back and the spouse in the passenger seat. Start testing the limits as you play the driving God, and you'll get complaints.
Jam_Sandwich
No surprises here
I completely agree. Get a family in to provide an everyday review of these cars. The Peugeot with a bigger boot, but less rear legroom? Sounds ideal for a young family? Handling a bit on the soft side? Well, the fruit shoots won't spill over. No mention of the 4G availability in the Astra. Ideal to keep kids entertained on long journeys. Who wants to pay for high end materials in the cars when a little one is more than likely going to throw up all over it?
Let's look at these cars for what they're designed to do. Ferry families around as comfortably and stress free as possible.
LP in Brighton
Perspective
I think this test result is all about the brand values of each of these manufacturers, as perceived by a British publication. So the end result is likely to be a narrow victory for the Ford, with the VW, Skoda and Mazda not far behind.
Had the test been carried out by testers from another country, or if the the cars were presented with the badges removed, then I'm sure that the running order would be different. Let's face it, these cars are so close in all measurable parameters (because all manufacturers benchmark each other) that there is little more than a few percentage points among them.
And what's all this about the Honda returning a better indicated fuel economy than the competitors; surely this was not a trip computer figure and the consumption was an odometer corrected brim-to-brim measurement over a decent distance? Fuel consumption is a basic measure of efficiency and an important once given that it contributes significantly to whole life running costs, important to most consumers.
Thekrankis
Reliability
Shame it’s an unknown in road tests.
Based on historic evidence Ford / Peugeot would be at the bottom and Honda / Skoda at the top...
Thekrankis
Don’t even get me started on Ford dealers...
... I hope they all die out and Ford only sells online.
Diego
Ride and handling
Please look:
Golf
- https://youtu.be/xSgfvwqXpm8
308 - https://youtu.be/jMzaufUquys
3 - https://youtu.be/uDe0ZpPiy6E
These megatests are quite good and I know the differences are minimal between contenders, but they should try to point out real differences and not impressions based on the background of certain brands I think...
Spywholovedme
308 1.2 puretech
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