WHEN a particular car model has as many engine and specification variants as the Ford Focus, it’s often easy to disregard the humble entry level option.

High time, then, to give the $20,290 Ambiente a crack.

The Focus range as a whole has a lot going for it – above-par ride and handling comes first to mind – however our Ambiente’s comparatively weak 1.6-litre engine and five-speed gearbox failed to make the best of it.

Furthermore, given the lack of several features including cruise control and parking sensors found on all other Focus variants, we can’t help but think the extra $2000 asked for the more powerful and better-equipped Trend variant would be money well spent. , , Click the yellow button below to continue...