The Ford Focus was restyled for 2008, giving it a Ford family look while not greatly changing dimensions. For 2009, the coupe benefits from further freshening.

The Focus front end is dominated by a two-bar version of the three-bar, razor-like grille that first appeared on the Fusion. The grille is flanked by headlights that wrap around to the sides and follow the curve of the hood toward the windshield.

The Focus sedan features a bright chrome grille, and the air intake below the bumper is divided into three rectangular sections, with space for black-bezeled fog lights at the extreme ends.

For 2009, the coupe gets its own face, with a darker chrome grille and a single, large opening beneath the bumper that narrows slightly toward the top. Fog lights are tunneled directly into the fascia on either side; above them, the fascia is cut away, almost like a step. It's all a bit more interesting to look at but doesn't reduce the bumper's visual mass.

The sedan's sides feature a chromed triangular applique at the back of each front fender that looks like tacked on ornamentation. This piece, which looks like an F on the driver's side, is the starting point for a pair of character lines that flow back. The bottom line leads to the rear wheel well, while the top line rises from front to rear and teams with a high tail to give the Focus the appearance of motion.

Here, the 2009 coupe drops the bright ornament and allows the character lines to flow more subtly and naturally from behind the curve of the front wheel arch. The 17-inch alloy wheels of the SES feature a dark, turbine-blade look that nicely complements the dark grille.

The rear of the coupe roofline stays almost as high as the sedan's, which makes it look a bit clunky on the SE, although this is relieved somewhat by the new roof spoiler on the SES. Both styles look best from the rear, where the simple angular shapes seem to work. The 2009 coupe adds a bit of blackout trim at the bottom center of the bumper fascia, but if anything this only seems to emphasize the bumper's mass.

Interior

Inside the Ford Focus is an aesthetically pleasing cockpit. The dashboard is dominated by a shiny plastic silver inset that covers the middle of the dash and leads into the center console. This is surrounded by black plastic top and bottom. There are no soft-touch materials here, but the graining looks nicer than it did in the previous-generation model. The center console is deep, though not especially wide.

On top of the dash is a hooded cutout that displays trip computer, radio, and, when ordered, Sync information. The instrument panel has two large gauges, the speedometer and tachometer, and two small gauges, the fuel gauge and water temperature gauge. With markings every 20 mph that light up with a turquoise hue, it can be hard to judge your speed at a glance.

Thanks to Sync, the center stack has more controls that you'd expect to find in an economy car. Along the top are buttons for 10 radio station presets. When Sync and Sirius satellite radio are ordered, drivers can store up to 60 stations: 20 FM, 10 AM and 30 Sirius.

Below the stereo presets are a group of controls that include the volume and tuning knobs, as well as six buttons around a four-way central pad, all of which control the Sync system. Or simply hit the steering wheel's voice control button and use voice commands. An easy-to-use set of climate controls is located below the stereo and Sync controls. We found these buttons easy to identify and reach.

At the base of the center stack is a nice rubberized tray. This area is important because it is where drivers keep phones and iPods when they use the Sync system. We found Sync to be genuinely useful and fairly easy to use. When an MP3 player is plugged in, Sync charges it and has access to the complete playlist. The driver can tell Sync to play a specific song, artist, or genre of music from his MP3 player. Sync will also stream MP3s wirelessly from a source like a phone/MP3 player enabled with Bluetooth technology. When a Bluetooth-enabled phone is in the car and paired to the system, Sync can access its phonebook. It can even play back incoming text messages through the speakers and allow the driver to respond with one of 15 predetermined messages, all while the driver keeps his or her hands on the wheel. Voice commands can be challenging at times, however. And in general, the system is a bit tricky to learn.

The front seats are comfortable, with plenty of head and leg room. Thanks to large mirrors and small rear pillars, the driver's seat affords a good view to all corners. The rear seat has decent room with shorter people up front, but leg room disappears as the seats are moved back for taller front seat occupants. Head room is decent in the sedan, but a bit lacking in the coupe.

The trunk is fairly large at 13.8 cubic feet. That's as big as or bigger than some midsize cars. The second row seats fold mostly flat to allow loading long, flat packages. The trunk lid uses struts, not large sickle-shaped hinges that can crush packages.