My previous car was a Volkswagen Jetta VR6. I "upgraded" the suspension to European GLI levels; the shocks and struts were Bilstein and the springs were "Euro" ride height - about 1.5" lower than U.S.-specification. The car really looked better - like what the German VW stylists probably had in mind - and it cornered like it was on rails. On a smooth surface, the car was an unmitigated GAS to drive! With 200 horses and 195 lb/ft of torque pulling less than a ton and a half of car, what a rush!
That was the up side. The down side was that the ride on the typical pocked, cratered and frost-heaved Wisconsin roads nearly ruptured my spleen. What's more, a collision at 35 mph with a fresh - and at night unseen - sinkhole (about a foot in diameter, six inches or so deep) on a downtown Madison, WI street took out the oilpan, bent the right lower control arm and cracked my right front aluminum wheel. After that expensive little episode (for which the city accepted NO responsibility), I restored the car to U.S. spec and while handling crispness and steering turn-in response suffered, on these crappy streets and roads, the extra ride height suddenly made a lot of sense and my butt and internal organs gave me heartfelt thanks.
My point is that in Europe, with its smooth and meticulously maintained roads, supported by sky-high fuel taxes, low and hunkering cars with relatively stiffer springs and shocks are great - especially on the glassy-smooth German Autobahn, with its high, or nonexistent, speed limits. Lower to the ground and stiffer knees mean greater high-speed stability and better fuel economy due to less frontal area, less drag from underbody airflow and less aerodynamic lift. And because the surfaces are maintained to pool table smoothness (Hitting an American Midwest-style frost heave at 200 clicks would launch you into low Earth orbit!), the ride is not punishing.
But this is America. The sad truth about American roads and highways is that most of them really suck. So adaptations and compromises on the part of automakers become a practical necessity. That means softer and higher off the ground. In short, the Ford suspension engineers seem to know what they are doing. In my opinion, the stock suspension settings (stiffer than on S or SE models, not as stiff as on STs) on my new 2006 Focus ZX4 SES are just about spot-on for real-world American driving conditions.
By the way, I HAVE lived and driven in Europe. The motoring grass is greener on the other side of the pond NOT just because it's the "other side," or because I'm an unpatriotic "Euro-phile," but because the grass really is greener! They have no secret for great roads; all it takes is money. They're willing to spend it, and for lots of really bad reasons, we aren't.