Story: RICHARD DAVIES

THIS is for those, and I was one of them, who can’t quite believe that Ford is now putting its extraordinary and award winning 1 litre 3 cylinder engine not just in a Fiesta, or a Focus, but a monstrous great big Mondeo. For goodness sakes!

My Focus has topped 10,000 trouble-free miles and I’m perfectly used to the idea that it’s only powered by 1000cc. But a hundred miles after getting it as my business car I just didn’t believe the 1.0 litre 3-cylinder thing. I thought they’d delivered the wrong one. Must be some sort of boring old 1.8; perfectly good, but hardly novel.

• After 100 miles I really thought they’d delivered the wrong car. Surely the Focus couldn’t go like this with a 1.0 litre 3 cylinder engine?

I even stopped for a look and after a bit of rummaging, found the spark plugs and yes there were three of them. Maybe Ford had somehow slipped another one under there and I was actually driving a 2 litre V6? That made far more sense. Far more believable.

Nonsense of course. It’s the 1 litre 3-cylinder Ecoboost. Just as I was told. Accept it, and move on.

And as a driving experience the Focus is undeniably terrific, perfect for the mountain roads that make my part of Wales a favourite with the car testers.

This little engine gives absolutely nothing away to much bigger units. It’s torquey, smooth, flexible, and it sounds great too.

The Focus corners on rails and the seats are wonderfully supportive so you can crack on while staying firmly in place. And it’s equally at home on long boring motorway trips.

What about the costs?

So much for how it goes – the Focus ticks the ‘heart’ box. Now what about the business head?

On paper it works (have a look at the table below). On the big ticket item of company car tax, it’s great for a car of this size. Road tax is cheap too – free in the first year, then £30. That leaves fuel economy….

This engine is supposed to be the petrol answer to diesel. And the official consumption figure is just shy of 57mpg. Pretty good.

My experience is mixed. According to the Focus’s own fuel consumption readout, when I picked it up it was doing 35.5mpg. That’s pootling around Hampton just south west of London.

Taking it easy through France in the summer it returned between 41 and 44mpg – but that’s with a full load, and the aircon working overtime.

Set the cruise control to 60mph and drive up hill and down dale through the middle of Wales and I get the high 40s.

Sit on the motorway with the cruise control at 70mph and that elusive 50mpg is just within reach.

But on average, with my real world mix of country lanes, rural A roads, and many miles on the motorway with some city driving at the other end, the low 40s is what I get. I overtake when I need to, and it’s mostly business miles so I need to get there, but by and large I stick to the speed limits and I use the Focus’ admirable torque – it’s very rarely revved hard.

That’s perfectly acceptable economy – and better than most petrol engines would return. But’s it’s not quite diesel beating.

So when your head makes the decision, it may well come down to your own business mileage. The 1.0 litre Focus is £850 cheaper than the nearest Focus diesel, and it’s a tad cheaper in business car tax too. If you’re not a really high mileage driver, it’s got to be on the list if only for the fun of the thing.

How the 1.0 litre petrol Focus compares with a 1.6 diesel Focus

Fuel cost worked out using official Ford Focus fuel consumption figures based on the cost of fuel at September prices according to the AA (petrol at 140.2 per litre; diesel at 144.6 per litre).