Ford Focus Estate review - Practicality, comfort and boot space

 Jump into the front seat of any new Ford Focus, and without looking over your shoulder you’ll never know whether it’s an estate or hatchback – up front the two variants are identical. That means you get a great driving position with plenty of adjustment, and a slim centre console to maximise available space for people.

There’s a minor difference for rear seat passengers as the arc of the estate’s roof means they get more headroom, but unsurprisingly it’s the boot space where the real advantages are to be found.

Storage in the front of the car is good for the class. There are door pockets, a glovebox that isn’t entirely occupied by the manual, and a deep bin under the centre arm rest. The cup holder arrangement is adjustable to fit cups of various sizes and there’s a large shelf below the central screen with a charging mat for your phone.  

Leg room, head room & passenger space

The old Mk3 Focus always suffered with cramped rear accommodation, but the Mk4 model – hatch or estate – benefits from extra length in the wheelbase. As a result, six-footers can now travel comfortably in the rear of the car, while a flat floor makes the centre rear seat more usable too.

18

Space in the back really is very good with leg room for two adults plentiful, even behind a tall driver. You could sit three kids across the back of the car but the middle seat is going to be narrow for an adult on a long journey. Estate headroom is better than in the hatch as well. 

Boot

Careful suspension design has helped to maximise the space available in the Focus Estate’s luggage compartment, which is among the largest in the class. Even with the rear seats in use you get a massive 575-litres of load area, which compares well to just 443 litres in the hatch, although you get 611 litres in the Volkswagen Golf Estate.

If you fold the rear seats down and you’re rewarded with a flat load space with a huge 1,620 volume. The 60/40 split seat backs can be released with catches on the seat shoulders or via levers in the boot itself. On the latest Focus Estate models there’s an adjustable boot floor that can fold up to partition the boot into two areas, the first having a rubber floor to store wet or muddy items.