[meford4u]

NOS2Go4Me,Sep 27 2006, 08:20 AM Wrote:Well, from what I've seen and briefly experienced, it's a small SUV that tries to be a car and somewhat fails at both.

In the SUV department, it can be found with AWD but the base offering has FWD - great for economy but terrible for SUV-ish stuff. In the car department, it has the weight of a (smaller) SUV to contend with at all times. Although it has a 200HP V6, the performance isn't exactly "sparkling". Fuel economy is 23 MPG on the highway, but that's the US's EPA rating, which is either better or worse than the subject vehicle in reality.

It seats 5 people, tops, and while it does well in crash ratings and can be found with a raft of options... does it really warrant moving away from a 2001 ZTS? Unless you're hauling a 2000-3000 lb trailer or in dire need of AWD, I'd say no.

If you want AWD with about the same performance, better fuel economy and much better handling, go find yourself a Subaru Impreza RS or TS.

It's also a good thing you're looking upscale in the offerings, because the 2.0L offered in base models is the Zetec (which performs even worse than in the Focus, obviously). 2005 and up models get the 2.3L Duratec from the Focus/Fusion with 153HP, which would make more sense for an economy / performance balance.
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Have you ever been in one? Driven one?
Becasue they are relatively comfortable for a cheap econobox entry level SUV.
They get decent gas mileage and are peppy enough (they'll out run an SPI anyday)
They are what they are. A simple vehicle. If you want more, pay more.