We put a 2010 Ford Focus Zetec up against a 2013 Vauxhall Astra GTC, road-tested over a two week period. Given the exact same driving conditions, read on to see which takes our crown.
Ford Focus Zetec Hatchback 5dr (2010) –
- MPG – 42mpg
- Insurance Group 10
- Engine Size 1596cc
- 4 Cylinder
- 0-60mph – 11.5 seconds
- 98 BHP
- 55 Litre Fuel Capacity
The Ford is a very competent car, Safe is the word that sprung to mind after having driven it for a few days – it simply does everything really quite well and I struggle to find fault with it. Perhaps a little slow on the uptake until the turbo has spooled but overall – Excellent. Used for the best part commuting along our beloved M25 I managed to average 55 miles per gallon, meaning for £50 it could return almost 650 miles every time, quite a feat for a car now 6 years old and without stop-start technology. I feel confident the Focus would provide even more MPG however the car got plenty of B-Road and town driving too. It’s worth noting how impressive the steering is making it comfortable and easy to drive given any situation.
Vauxhall Astra GTC Coupe (2013) –
- MPG – 68mpg
- Insurance Group 14
- Engine Size 1686cc
- 4 Cylinder
- 0-60mph – 11.3 seconds
- 110 BHP
- 56 Litre Fuel Capacity
This stylish looking hatchback on the face of it should give the Ford Focus a run for money and upon seeing it, its a good looking car with an impressive interior. Comfortable and spacious, notably the boot space is bigger than the average modern hatchback. Averaging a similar MPG to the focus, slightly less to be accurate I was quite impressed, however, the car feels looser than the focus and some understeer by comparison. Being the newer car, it has the Eco Stop-Start technology, something I was keen to try out on the stop-start nature of the M25 but I really did struggle with this feature, It stopped but didn’t always start again – consistently stalling the car. It was happening so regularly at one stage I thought it was my driving but, fortunately (for me) it was not.
Probably no real surprise here that the Ford Focus, despite its being slightly older came up trumps – and quite simply is slightly better in every area, although it is worth noting the rather terrible build quality throughout, everything that shul.