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Focus is set to unseat the Corolla as #1 seller. I cannot believe people even buy the Corolla still. Its whole drive train is antiquated, styling is blah, interior is a joke.
http://images.compucars.co.uk/112523/large/ford-focus-hatchback-petrol_7283687.j- - - - - pg
http://images.autoexposure.co.uk/SHD5090776/AETV53812646_4b.jpg
American consumers are too cheap to pay for these nice luxury equipments, especially on the new Focus III that lost adult-size rear leg room in the U.S. spec version.
There are 18" summer performance tires.
I wouldn't call that decontenting, but there is some decontenting going on for '13: the rain sensing wipers, universal garage door opener and 1 or 2 other things are gone.
Anyway, I think the new Focus holds the road well enough even w/ only 16" wheels. The only equipment I like to add is ST's Recaro seats, which I sat @ the LA Autoshow & wouldn't leave
The truly sporty Toyota GT86 (Scion FR-S) only come w/ cloth seats in the U.S.
Actually, two clutches. It's not called a dual-clutch gearbox for nothing.
So, of course it rolls back on hills. Manuals do that.
Actually, it isn't properly a manual. Manuals are manual. It's not an automatic either. It's a DCT. They're unique, as you've pointed out.
It would be more accurate to call it a computer controlled manual as opposed to a driver controlled manual.
Some manuals have 'hill-hold' like the VW's...
Always one in the crowd
An automatic manual transmission; as opposed to some automatic transmissions that you can manually control the gears
What gives...and does Ford have a fix in the works? I did really like the SEL hatch that I drove with the leather...but didn't like the auto tranny.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
The Sandman :confuse: :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Auto should always be 2...even if the tranny really is a manual being automatically controlled.
I love the auto/manual (is it?) debate...sort of like the "who's on first" routine
The tradeoff is fuel efficiency and faster manual shifting.
I didn't have the problems with the automatic that others were feeling...but I drove a few VW DSG's and corrected one of my "faults". I had a tendency to lift the gas a bit just before the shifts occurred (old habits of driving manual...) this caused it to have a jerky feeling. After I made a conscious effort to keep the gas at a consistent rate it was all smoothed out.
Read more: 2014 Volkswagen Golf Test Drive - Popular Mechanics
However, I have eliminated the Focus from my shopping list, for the following reasons;
* Driver's seat wasn't comfortable: no matter how I adjusted it, it never fit me well. If I raised the seat bottom, the seat tilted forward so my thighs didn't get enough support. If I lowered the seat for good thigh support, it was too low for my taste.
* Tight rear seat: I've noticed before that the rear leg room is pretty tight, so I tried it again today. My legs brushed the seat back and there wasn't good thigh support. Not something I need to live with given there's choices (Golf, Elantra GT) with more rear leg room.
* No 6th gear: Not an issue in itself, but 5th is geared pretty short, so engine revs are pretty high, e.g. about 2700 rpm at 65 mph. That's much higher than the Mazda3i (closer to 2000 rpms @ 65), Elantra GT, and even the Golf which also has a 5-speed. Higher rpms translates to lower FE and more engine noise.
* Confusing controls: The center stack is bad enough, but even the sales rep couldn't show me how to reset and display the FE meter. We messed with it for awhile, then gave up.
So looks like it will come down to the Mazda3, Golf, or Elantra GT. The Golf has the big advantage on price as it's available as a CPO car for thousands less than a new Mazda3i hatch or Elantra GT.
P.S. No sign of a front suspension "clunk" on my test drive.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
That's what I hate about newer cars these days, as if you are forced to get the expensive overweight motorized seats in order to tilt the thigh angle, such as the Mazda3. (Don't I miss the manual driver seat from the Volvo S40/V50, '99-00 Civic EX, old Camry LE/SE...)
Ditto (somewhat) w/ the Golf 2.5 I just purchased. But the problem is solved after I added the wood-bead seat-center cover. The seat is lowered in order to correct the angle, then this cushion-like thick cover raised it back to the desired height. This tapered-shape cover also creates some lumbar support, & supplements the "now too low" factory lumbar hand in hand. It also seems quite OK that the lateral support is reduced, as the U.S.-spec Golf already has GTI seats to begin with.
The front seats in the '12 Focus SE non-Sport also lack decent lateral support compare to ones in the SE Sport. I wonder if all '13 Focus cloth seats no longer have that lateral support?
At the LA Autoshow, I actually fell in love w/ ST's Recaro cloth seat! & it probably has a stronger thigh angle as well.
Ford should offer these Recaro's as an option on the Focus sedan. Only those who like hard ride would really go for the ST:
"The ST’s suspension was very communicative, and added a lot to the sporty character and driving dynamics, whether driving in a straight line or pushing it through corners. When headed in a singular direction, the stiff suspension transmits an enormous amount of information about the road surface into the cabin. It reacts to every bump and irregularity in the road, and moves along with it. When travelling over regularly spaced expansion joints or frost heaves, the Focus ST can exhibit a little hobby-horse behavior. It doesn’t make the car feel unstable or unready to react like it would in a luxury car or SUV that was “porpoising” due to softness in the suspension. This still felt sharp on its toes, just bouncy and rigid. It fits the ST’s personality, though; if you weren’t looking to put up with a taught ride, you could simply stick with the standard Focus, or shop elsewhere. This is meant to be communicative, and it is.
In corners, the suspension didn’t feel too brittle. When throwing lateral motion into the equation, the suspension didn’t get upset. The car remained stable, and very flat. It also never showed a tendency to skip like a stone across the pavement, as we’ve experienced in other cars with stiff suspensions (here’s looking at you, Mini). It served to keep the Focus balanced, while informing the driver of what was going on between rubber and road. We felt every bit confident in this car’s stability as we pushed it through turns."
& do you need all that power?
"The only drawback of the strong power delivery in the Focus ST was that it exhibited a lot of torque steer. Combined with the snappy steering, it made it a bit difficult to remain pointed dead ahead under wide-open throttle. Approaching the engine’s redline, we felt nervous to take our right hand off the wheel to reach over and prepare to shift."
* No 6th gear: Not an issue in itself, but 5th is geared pretty short, so engine revs are pretty high, e.g. about 2700 rpm at 65 mph. That's much higher than the Mazda3i (closer to 2000 rpms 65), Elantra GT, and even the Golf which also has a 5-speed. Higher rpms translates to lower FE and more engine noise.
The extinction of the reliable Japanese-made slushbox (as oppose to the nightmare-ish DSG) from VW actually made me collected the Golf w/ the 6-speed auto, which made this 5-cyl car leaping off the line like a V8 when 1st gear was selected in manual-shift mode. The 5-speed stick Golf can't even come close! I also doubt if those 4-cyl GTI/R 6-speed stick w/ turbo lag can achieve this But then, this "muscle car"-like performance also translates into mpg -- alway in the low 20's combined. But then, the direct-injected diesel Golf has leaking fuel injectors!
* Confusing controls: The center stack is bad enough, but even the sales rep couldn't show me how to reset and display the FE meter. We messed with it for awhile, then gave up.
Awhile? It takes less than awhile fiddling w/ the read outs before you crash.
Due to the low height of the door armrest, the Golf VI is really bad in this area, while the new Jetta is even worse.
No matter how much I hated my folks' Chevy Caprice & Chevette. At least they have high-enough door armrest for supporting the driver's elbow. Today, I wonder why only the Volvo C30/S40/V50 is truly thoughtful in this area, while the Mazda3 w/ same C-1 platform had an annoyingly low door armrest.
The "Confused Sandman" :confuse: :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
The Focus is proof that even an inexpensive car can have confusing controls.
Awhile? It takes less than awhile fiddling w/ the read outs before you crash.
Best to fiddle with controls while stopped... as I did with the Focus. In contrast, the Elantra GT has intuitive controls on the steering wheel to change and adjust the readouts.
Can you imagine what's gonna happen to the modular-platform Golf VII, which costs about 20% less to manufacture than the Golf VI?
For 2013, the Golf 2.5 w/ moonroof also includes full remote buttons on the leather steering wheel.
That's at least $2k more than a comparable Focus hatch, based on pricing I've done in the past year. Still a good deal though.
You'll probably gonna say it's pointless, as there's hardly anyone gonna hop into the back seat of the new Focus anway.
If a car has them fine, if not it's not big deal to me. It's certainly not something I even look for when buying a ca. But, like you say, I don't have back seat passengers all that often and when I do it is for fairly short distances.
Yeah, only those very few w/ short legs would bother hopping into the new Focus' back seat.
Wait a minute. That means the roomy Golf is one-size larger than the new Focus! Boy, isn't the Golf truly inexpensive? (& not "Jetta" cheapo)
No wonder by the 2014 Mk7 model, the Golf will no longer include the multi-link rear suspension as std feature! Otherwise, it'll make the Focus look really bad :P
So people are going for SUV/Van in order to get those chairs that aren't "too low for my taste"?
How many thrifty (read reliable Japanese) cars out there offer seat-height (plus lumbar) adjustment for BOTH front seats, besides those RWD premium models such as the Lexus IS?
The truly inexpensive "Focus-priced" Golf 2.5 does, while beats most Toyota's for reliability (per CR).
If you want to talk (endlessly at that) about the Golf, there's discussions for that.
It's "the Focus vs the old Focus vs the Golf" in terms of driving pleasure, & that's what sets it apart from Hyundai's, etc.
See what AUTOCAR said: (1:57-3:20)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFpmpy2FlsU
S40/V50/MkII Focus. Now it's the other way around:
MkIII Focus
Mazda3
Golf/GTI
By the way, you sure the upper inside door panel of the Focus SE is better finished than Golf's?
Plan on having the wife drive one again just to make sure that it's not on her list anymore. Her '05 Mazda3 s just went over the 113k mark so it's just a matter of time now before we'll have to finally purchase her a new sled. Am very pleased with how it has held up over the years. Also, I really like the C-Max and I would look seriously at one if the price came in at a reasonable price.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
So how competitive can the handling be w/ a higher roof like that?
Like the C-Max, the new Jetta is unreliable, w/ lots of rear leg room & available hybrid powertrain. Unlike the C-Max, its roof isn't too high for sporty handling :P