Runout model Focus 2.0L auto curtesy car.... impressions

[Danny]

Well sorry to chuck this in here but Me Fez is at Courtney patterson Ford as we speak gettin tinted windaz, and they gave me a curtesy car: A 2004 Focus LX auto 2.0l sedan.

To put it bluntly its goes really bad! Its not fast at all and i'm spewing they didnt give me a manual one as I know their reputation. Its so slow (I've driven the 1.8 and its worse) like a grandma car too with the fat sedan end on it!

Dont get me wrong, it felt a lot more stable over mid corner bumps than does the Fez, and its not as harsh a ride. You cant hardly hear the suspension noise transmitting into the cabin and as said before, it feels more stable round corners.

I'd loooove to drive a manual 2 litre hatch baaad! Unfortunately, the auto did not impress me.

-Danny

[Smoke Pursuit]

Likewise... Id have a Fiesta any day over the current focus if i was looking for that size vehicle.

[jonbays]

Go Fiesta! they are pushing **it uphll to get rid of the Focus

[Danny]

More impressions i had of the car was that the stock stereo is poor (Nothing compared to fiesta, however that can be easily fixed), and the interior is not to my taste, looks like someone took to it with a blunt samurai sword, then painted each remaining piece in alternating black and white and grey....

It looks nowhere near as euro as the fiesta and the new focus (which id pull out a front tooth to get hold of...)

By the way, my tint looks good ;) :

[Teki04]

.... Dont think the Focus owners want to start a ing_sm

[Danny]

Theyre my impressions....

i want to hear what gripes some focus owners have of their cars. Im sure if the car was a 2 litre manual hatch my story would be different.

[melbzetec]

Originally Posted by Danny

Theyre my impressions....

i want to hear what gripes some focus owners have of their cars. Im sure if the car was a 2 litre manual hatch my story would be different.

What!!??? Has does the interior change if it's a 2.0 litre manual??? If you don't like the interior and think it has been cut with a "Samurai" sword, it aint going to change with a manual gearbox. So you don't like the car ? Fine. But nobody is looking for a slanging match.

I think the Fiesta is far too tiny for my needs. So what?

Your opinion is valid and welcome, but if you are only throwing rubbish comments in to generate some arguments......then grow up

[Danny]

Originally Posted by melbzetec

What!!??? Has does the interior change if it's a 2.0 litre manual??? If you don't like the interior and think it has been cut with a "Samurai" sword, it aint going to change with a manual gearbox. So you don't like the car ? Fine. But nobody is looking for a slanging match.

I think the Fiesta is far too tiny for my needs. So what?

Your opinion is valid and welcome, but if you are only throwing rubbish comments in to generate some arguments......then grow up

Before you go off your head and tell ME to grow up why dont you read the thread again. I complained that the auto was slow and boring, IN ADDITION to that I hate the dash. I did say that they ride and handle better than Fiesta as a plus. The wheels are nicer as well.

: Never did I say that in a hatch the dash would change you idiot learn to read everything before you open your mouth. I wanted some feedback on the owners of the manual hatchbacks on what theyre like becasue I havent driven one and I've heard theyre great (not to mention seen some of the ones on the forums like timmeh and Matt) and I DIDN'T want to base my opinion of the focus on a grandma spec auto sedan that I drove. You choose to take it the wrong way then THATS YOUR PROBLEM :

I didnt ask for your stupid baby whinges mate, go have a cry.

[Teki04]

I guess.... i cant handle stock Focus though.... looks weird and ugly in my opinion... but the Zetec R limited edition model was hot. I was tempted to get one....

[brother]

I've never seen the point in coming into a particular car forum and telling everyone what's wrong with it. It doesn't acheive a thing.

[Danny]

Hmmm Ok take it how you will. I'm not gonna lie, I gave my impressions the good and the bad. Can't handle it? Don't answer. OK?

[b2tf]

Haha I always love these sorts of threads!

Being an auto Focus owner myself I can tell you yes it is slow compared to MANY other cars, as it is now for what I want it to do it does the job ok, not awesome, but ok. Hence why I am modding mine.

[Bucknaked]

My Manual 1.8 goes ok for what it is. I'm pretty happy with it. It definatley has more grunt than my manual 4.1 XE wagon :

I drove a fiesta and was really impressed. But they were offering a focus on road the same price as the fiesta. So I made the choice to go focus as I think it has a little more room. Still, both cars are great.

[Teki04]

Yep.... has more room, and is family oriented...

[melbzetec]

Quote 1.

"More impressions i had of the car was that the stock stereo is poor (Nothing compared to fiesta, however that can be easily fixed), and the interior is not to my taste, looks like someone took to it with a blunt samurai sword, then painted each remaining piece in alternating black and white and grey...."


Note: word "crap" and other derogatory remarks edited out by Danny at 3.20pm

Quote 2

"I'm sure if the car was a 2 litre manual hatch my story would be different"

Can an administrator please have a word to this fool

[Bucknaked]

Originally Posted by Teki04

Yep.... has more room, and is family oriented...

Family of leprechauns :

They are not too bad for size. I have a few grips about the focus, but nothing that can't be fixed. Overall, great car.

[b2tf]

Ok, time to add to my opinion from before.

I have a Focus CL Auto 5dr hatch. In my opinion (and thus the only opinion that counted when buying) its a great looking car - Ink Blue with the 17's suits me quite fine, and is a nice step up from an off white EF Falcon with god knows how many chips.

Now about the go of it - look, yes in stock form it's not going to break any records. I read pages upon pages of reviews about how the Focus auto was crap, i drove it for myself and thought "hey, it's not as bad as everybody thinks". I won't break any speed records with it, but for the vast majority of driving I do - commuting to work, going out to the gf's farm etc etc, all of which are reasonably long (bout a half hr or so) trips in 100km/hr zones, it does absolutely fine. I dont have much experience with manuals, I dont like the idea of constantly grappling for gears and if I'm really in that much of a hurry to take off I'll just floor the bloody thing.

Yes I make no secret of the fact that I want more go in my car, hence my plans for a chip and an exhaust, but even when i get that I still wont change my driving style. Im doing it cos I want to be different, I dont like cars in stock form, and because I want to see what results I get.

I really feel that sometimes people who get on here and shitcan a car just cos it's "slow" (compared to what anyway?), need to re-evaluate their main criteria in selecting a car. You can only go a certain speed anyway!

[KJGH]

We have an auto CL (nicknamed Clarry) and a manual Zetec (nicknamed Zoomer). Both are good cars in their own right. We use the CL for daily runs. We found the auto crap to begin with but we also had major problems with it revving too hard going up gears and thudding up and down gears. Dealer #1 of 3 thought that it was computer related so they made a change to the gearing. It didn't fix the thudding and revving but we noticed the car was much better at gear changing. Dealer #3 knew straight away that it was mechanical and took the transmission out and sent it away for repair. The car is quite good for an auto now. We drove someone elses auto CL and we're happy to say that we're more than happy with ours now.

The Zetec is more comfy, handles better, brakes better, performs slightly better and is safer in my opinion. To appreciate a car its sometimes good to drive a worse car but I wouldn't say the CL is that bad compared to a Zetec. The only time I felt that I wish I had the Zetec to drive was when I had to drive a Hiace manual van for 2 days which needed bribing to get into gears and needed a good push of the throttle. Got into the Zetec and yikes! Thankfully the Focus chimes your way into a seat belt.

[Mick K.]

Remember that the Fiesta is a much newer design, having only been release in about 2002 or so in Europe, while the Focus design has been pretty much unchanged since 1997 or so. Note the "new edge" styling of the Focus has quite a few similarities with the AU Falcon. Look at the BA interior and look at the Fiesta interior - different, but you can tell they're from the same era. Comparing the new model Focus with Fiesta and other current era Fords should lead to a better comaprison.

Currently with runout pricing, the superseeded model Focus is very good value. I'm sure if an auto gearbox was a must have, and a choice had to be made between a 5-door 2.0 Focus CL/SR/LX and a 5-door 1.6 Fiesta LX - a lot of people would choose Focus for similar money over Fiesta.

I personally chose 18 month old manual 3-door Focus Zetec over new manual 3-door Fiesta Zetec last year and don't regret the decision. Each to their own.

MK

[zetec]

Well said Mick, very well said.

As a geriatric member of these forums myself, Danny, I appreciate your passion and comments, but please resist from flaming another member for their opinion. You are both justified in what you feel, we're all here to voice our opinions. We've all had our spats and tiffs, but please, keep it impersonal. If you hate the car, then say it. But to quote a very wise man, "Hate the game, not the player". I'm glad you can openly criticse the Focus but still point out areas where it's better than your own in your opinion, let's just leave it at that!

My opinions are as follows.

Stock stereo cranks hard for me, I've never had more than a Sony Headunit and 2-way speakers in my old Festiva (now that's old school Fiesta-daddy, respect!!!) and this stock system tickles my ears quite adequately. I find the solidity of the doors to be a very positive feature in making an otherwise featureless sound system actually sound beefier than what it is, serious bass and good clairty for a stocker. Anyone can upgrade it with better speakers, however what sounds better I couldn't say, haven't spent enough time in a Fez. I've driven plenty (used to sell 'em).

You're spot on with the handling, but Focus would want to handle better, it has Control Blade IRS. It feels very composed on everything.

With regards to looks, I like a more stock look, I dumped it on it's guts and tinted the windows, now it's perfect in my eyes. For Tim, it's hot in a 5-door with a bodykit and some phat rims, for Russ it's punchbowl style big rims and nice-n-low. We're all different. That's why some weirdos even buy Fiestas...

The dash is different. I'm so over intolerant people slagging it off black and blue. You don't like it, then that's fine by me. I do, I own one, I'm happy. Don't show your intolerance to what was the most highly sold Passenger vehicle on the entire planet for around 4-5 years. Yes that's right. So clearly a couple of people liked it. Clearly many people don't like it either. The joke's a bit old now...

Driving a manual 2 litre would mean a manual Zetec. You suddenly get a leather wheel, sports seats, better sports suspension, better dash treatment... it's a big difference to an LX, lots of sublt changes that add up to the end result. I'll take you on a drive sometime in my car to show you how 2.0L Manual Focus goes... ;)

No car is perfect, just the Focus is more perfect than others Please keep your posts open, honest and constructive as destructive comments will only serve to create tension in an otherwise fantastic little section of the Forums. Keep up your enthusiasm champ, just make sure you channel it towards the cars!!

[zetec]

In terms of gripes, the only things that really annoys me are as follows;

No rear light for rear passengers (easy fixed, just get an ST170 rear light).
No footwell lights for front 2 seats (fixing this weekend, it already comes pre-wired, just with no bulbs!!)
No trip computer (also easy fixed, just retrofit from a Ghia)
Cruise is incompatible with the VDC AdvanceTrac but who am I to complain, I have Traction Control and Stability Control in a hatch!!!!!!!

Oh, and no Turbo.... Bring on the ST!!!!

[Teki04]

Must agree with you all here.... i think danny just wanted to point out how the LX in auto form is slow (compared to his fiesta i guess?)... but yea, its true that a base focus doesnt look all that great (Timmeh's when he first picked it up....)... but with a few mods (as you mentioned matt.... lowering, tints) the car looks damn fine!!!! I especially love optional 17s on the focus... I almost got one myself. Reason i didnt get the Focus..... Im young, i wanted something smaller, good economy.... relatively easy to use (ie park etc etc). And yes.... the fiesta was new (well here anyways) and the focus was due to be replaced (resale values you see).

My mother was in love with the Zetec R... Sales guy was ready to make negotiations.... but my mind was set!

From what i have read and seen, the Focus was and probably still is the benchmark in handling for a small FAMILY hatch (only pointed out family, as im sure 206 Gti 180, clio Sport etc handle a lil better)... We all have different wants and needs in a car. Sure, if i was older, and had 1 less car in the family, i would probably get the bigger Focus, but we had 2 cars already, so smaller was best.

But yea.... the focus was known for having love or hate styling (everyone here loves), handling, value.... and mind you handling also brings about safety benefits, and was adequate in engine capacity and power.

[Danny]

Thanks for the comments guys, glad to see that the rest of you didn't take my comments the wrong way, as thats all I wanted here.

Oh and for those of you who think i'm comparing the focus to the fiesta, I'm not. I was after opinions of 2 litre manual hatch drivers so i could make my own comparison to the auto SEDAN (Which I wasnt impresed with. DOES NOT MEAN I HATE THE ZETEC HATCH as i havent seen or driven one to make judgement, but fk I'd have one tomorrow, Interior and all)

Control Blade IRS ey? That would explain how I could throw this thing places where the Fiesta would bounce and bump and shake! EXTREMELY impressed with the handling. There's no doubting the fact the Two brothers are from the same family.

I cant wait to drive one of the 2 litre manual hatchbacks. I love the look of em from the outside (unlike the sedan) and hear that theyre great.

Melbzetec you super forum hawk good spotting, I did indeed change my wording after I realised that my comments were not being taken in an In your face open mind critical kind of way, my aim was to be honest, it was taken so far out of proportion that it annoyed me hence the anger. No administrator needs to talk to this fool, Mate.

Good to hear your other gripes guys, I must admit that some of mine are similar (specially to yours Matt).

[zetec]

Originally Posted by Danny

There's no doubting the fact the Two brothers are from the same family.

I cant wait to drive one of the 2 litre manual hatchbacks. I love the look of em from the outside (unlike the sedan) and hear that theyre great.

I'm being quoted now... I feel wise. :king:

As for HAVING a drive, steady on sunshine... I don't love Fiesta drivers THAT much!!

[Danny]

I didn't ask to drive yours Matt..... Relax.

I prefer to call myself and EX- EF falcon pilot :