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The new Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec Duratec

JUST as "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" (so the saying goes), nobody was ever disapp-ointed buying a Ford.

But while Big Blue (IBM) is the safe but unexciting choice, the Blue Oval's products feature snappy design and driving dynamics that combine safety and fun in equal measure.

Hence, not only do you get the com-forting Ford image, with its aura of quality and reliability, you also get something that can be a hoot to drive once you've dropped the kids off.

This is the recipe that has seen Ford's Focus monopolise the top of the sales charts in its sector since its launch in 1998.

To keep it there, the Focus has just had a makeover, having been freshened-up with Ford's latest design language called Kinetic Design, bringing it into line with big brother Mondeo, S-Max and other models in the range.

The new look - every exterior panel has been changed, apparently - is considerably sharper than its slightly dumpy predecessor.

The new "mini-Mondeo" front end fades rearwards via some sexy swage lines to a subtly sharper rear treatment, compete with "bling"-style rear lamps and a neat new spoiler housing the high-level brake lamp.

The effect is to make the new car look lower and more streamlined than the outgoing model, although if you were to view them side by side, you would realise that the diff-erence is mainly a clever optical illu-sion, as the basic body shape remains largely unaltered.

The interior has had a spruce-up, too.

There are some smart hooded dials on either side of a cent-ral information dis-play - their indicator needles encased in little globules of chrome.

Spec check

Ford Focus Zetec 1.6 Duratec Price: £15,295 0-60mph: 11.9secs Max speed: 107 mph Engine size:1,596cc Max power: 98bhp Insurance group: n/a Features: Electric windows and mirrors, trip computer, Quickclear heated windscreen, alloy wheels

These, plus subtly changed vents and controls and new seat designs, give the cabin a classy, contemporary air, without resorting to some of the sad gimmicks that several of its competitors use in a sad effort to look "funky".

The version we tried was the four-door Zetec, fitted with a 1.6 petrol motor end-owed with just over 98bhp.

Despite a lack of big numbers, the "cooking" petrol unit has enough urge to keep with normal traffic and comes into its own on motorways and dual carriageways, where it allows the Focus to easily cruise at, ahem, motorway speeds.

Lurking near the mid-dle of the range, at £15,295 (OTR), the Zetec still comes with electric windows and mirrors, steering column stereo controls, trip computer and a very useful Quick-clear heated windscreen, not to mention smart alloy wheels.

One other welcome feature, now standard across the Focus range, is an electronic stability programme for added safety.

The result of this gentle-but-effective makeover is to keep the model fresh and relevant without doing anything too radical to scare off traditional Ford buyers.

After all, why change a winning formula?

For more information, contact Gowrings Ford on 01256 697888.

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