Ford Focus:
Quality, Performance and Refinement

Since Focus was launched in North America as a 2000 model, auto enthusiasts have frequently praised the car for its sporty handling, modern design and exceptionally roomy cabin.

 In each model year, Ford advanced the basic concept, and improved quality. Today, J.D. Power and Associates ranks Focus well above the industry average in its Initial Quality Study.

New for 2005, a Focus ZX4 ST performance sedan has been added to the line up. This sedan will marry chassis components from Ford of Europe's Focus ST170 and the SVT Focus with a 150-horsepower, 2.3-liter Duratec engine.

Clean, Modern and Refined Design

Focus designer Larry Erickson calls the new look more upscale and aspirational. The new hood and fenders fall away less sharply than the original design so the car appears more substantial, particularly in a three-quarter view.

Detail changes include new headlamps with reshaped clear lenses, a larger grille with a new crosshatch pattern ringed in chrome, and a new fascia that incorporates a wide lower air intake and new round fog lamps. To better resist dents and dings, a new harder steel alloy is used for the hood, and the plastic fascia is 11 percent thicker.

Sedan models also receive new taillamps and a new rear bumper fascia that looks sportier and has a more finely detailed lower valance.

Cleaner, Greener and Meaner Engines

The 2005 Focus, like all other vehicles Ford will launch in 2004, will benefit from the company's "Revolution Under the Hood" - a massive undertaking that began about four years ago to improve powertrain performance, refinement, fuel economy and emissions.

A 150-horsepower 2.3-liter Duratec 23 DOHC I-4 engine will power the new Focus ST performance sedan, which will be available in all 50 states. This free-revving engine is derived from the same family as the Duratec 20 but its larger displacement and performance-tuned exhaust help it produce 10 percent more horsepower. Torque is 153 foot-pounds, a 16 percent increase for exceptionally strong off-the-line and mid range acceleration.

The Focus ST is offered with the Duratec 23 engine and a five-speed manual. Ford estimates that the 2005 Focus fleet will produce 32 percent less smog-forming pollution than its 2004 fleet - which was already exceptionally clean. But at the same time, base horsepower will rise 24 percent and fuel economy is expected to improve slightly.