Ford Focus Vignale review

It’s a Ford Focus – and we all know what they look like. The latest Vignale has supplemented the distinctive, handsome exterior design of the standard Focus with a few well-executed styling tweaks that give this deluxe version a sportier, slightly more rakish appearance.  

Standard spec chrome has been replaced with more body-coloured trim, while 18-inch alloys fill out the wheel arches nicely, giving the Vignale a more aggressive, planted look. Slick LED headlights top off its premium intentions. As we said, a dressed-up Focus.  

As with the standard Ford Focus, there’s a good driving position featuring impressive forward visibility. The Vignale also shares its driving dynamics with the standard car, and that’s no bad thing. There’s plenty of grip and weighty, direct steering, so taking high speed B-road corners with the minimum of fuss won’t pose much of a problem.  

The Vignale rides well too, making light work of rough surfaces and potholed city streets, while the cabin is pleasantly insulated from excessive tyre and wind noise, making longer journeys a breeze. 

The Focus Vignale’s range of petrol and diesel engines offer an attractive combination of refinement and power, with enough oomph to handle back road blasts and motorway driving with equal aplomb. Especially surprising is the three-cylinder, 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine, which, with the assistance of a turbocharger and mild hybrid electric power, is rapid enough for most driving conditions. 

Just like in the standard Focus, it’s easy to get comfortable behind the wheel of the Vignale. There’s a wide range of adjustment for the driver’s seat, while the steering wheel is adjustable for reach and rake, so finding your perfect position won’t be an onerous task. 

The whole purpose of the Focus Vignale is to provide a larger range of equipment than you’ll find in the standard car, and in this respect it doesn’t disappoint.  

There’s an eight-inch display with Ford’s latest SYNC 3 infotainment system, featuring built-in sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a wide-view reversing camera, a head-up display and Active Park Assist. The Vignale also features full leather trim with Vignale badging, contrast stitching on the dashboard and seats, an audiophile B&O sound system and multi-colour ambient lighting. 

Apart from that stitching, the rest of the interior is as you’d find in the standard car. That means it’s well built, with quality plastics and pleasing soft-touch materials that are almost on a par with the premium German competition. 

The Focus Vignale offers near class-leading amounts of cabin space, with plenty of leg and head room up front and also in the rear compartment, which was not the case with the previous generation Focus.  

Boot space is not quite as impressive, although it’s still in line with rivals in the family hatchback class. It will happily swallow a couple of mid-sized suitcases or the weekly shop - and the standard 60:40 split rear seats can be folded flat if you need to carry more luggage or larger items.  

The Vignale comes with a handy load-through ski hatch for more carrying flexibility. There’s an acceptable amount of interior storage, with a decent-sized glovebox and a cubby in the central armrest as well as large door pockets and two cupholders up front. 

When it comes to fuel economy and efficiency, the Focus Vignale is a strong contender in its class. The three-cylinder, 1.0-litre EcoBoost hybrid petrol engine version returns over 56mpg, while the 1.5-litre model delivers 57.mpg. Emissions figures for the petrol engines are impressive when compared to the competition. The Vignale’s diesel engines also deliver strong fuel economy figures, although CO2 emissions are more in line with rivals.  

While older Focus models occasionally suffered from reliability issues, Ford has made a concerted effort to improve its build quality of late, so we don’t foresee any problems with the Focus Vignale being dependable. However, you may want to consider cinchCare for added peace of mind. 

We love the Ford Focus already, so there’s even more to like in the luxurious Vignale trim. There’s lots of standard safety kit as well, including emergency brake assist, enhanced electronic stability control and hill start assist. And to top it all off the Vignale has a maximum5-star Euro NCAP safety rating too.