[NefCanuck]

darkpuppet,Jan 10 2007, 08:54 AM Wrote:guess I'm the only one, buuuuuut...

I like it.

sort of...

I think the fact that it doesn't absolutely suck outright has me actually tickled pink.  The rear 3/4 view is sharp, and the front end looks good from most angles.

Sure it's lost some of it's "focus identity", but it's a much better effort than the current reskin IMO.

The interior looks about a billion times better than the 05+ interiors (drove my mom's '05 in tbay this christmas, what a piece of s***t).  The interior materials are undoubtedly getting cheaper, but at least they're not trying to make it look cheaper.

It's taken nearly 3 years for the '05 styling update to start appealing to me, but this strikes some decent chords.. I know people are saying that the design borrows too much from 'this' or 'that' manufacturer, but that's not entirely a bad thing.

Now I didn't read through EVERY post in the thread, but picked up a few comments that I'd like to address.

- rear drum brakes don't make your car untrackable... lots of people race their drum-brake equiped focus just fine.  quit making excuses!

- manumatic option.. c'mon.. that's a totally useless feature on a car of this ilk.. it's a useless feature on pretty much every car it's on... get a stick if you want manual, pick up GT4 if you want to drive a ferrari, but can't afford it.

- the cupholders... what were they thinking?  I know they borrowed from the mustang design catalog for the interior, but any mustang owner would be able to tell you how useless cupholders directly behind the shifter are... then again, if you want to drink a coffee while driving, get the auto.

once again, I'm not sure if it's because I'm not totally disappointed, but I like it, and would pick up an 08 before an 05 any day.

sorry '05+ owners
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Okay, thought I would comment here because DP raises some good points and leaves me with some questions that I think need to be looked at.

I'll be the first to agree that the '05 interior is in no way better than the '08s design, hell even the cupholders are in a better place. For example, try putting anything larger than a medium coffee in the console cupholders in an '05. Even with an auto, put the car into park without paying attention and you're bathing your foot in hot java :ph34r:

Having said that I cannot see why Ford saw fit to not only illuminate the cupholders but give you a choice of colours :blink: If you cannot find the cupholders in your vehicle while the car is in motion, illumination ain't gonna help you :P

More logical I think would have been an option to personalize the dashboard colour but as another poster mentioned they even deleted that from the Mustang because there weren't many takers (due to cost I assume)

I think what bugs me most is the fact that this latest exterior reskin takes the car farther yet from its Europrean roots and the softening of the suspension is worrisome as well. One of the Focus great selling points has always been the razor sharp handling out of the box, dulling that seems a backwards move.

Regarding the rear drums. While it may strike some people as cheap to continue to insist on rear drums, solid rear disks are not a miracle cure either. Rear disks may offer slightly shorter stopping distances but at increased costs for maintenance and upkeep.

The manumatic issue - To me I can't see the justification for a manumatic option on a car that won't even AFAIK have a five speed autobox. Putting it on a 4 speed autobox is nothing more than useless frippery that won't achieve any sort of "sporty" driving feel.

As to your final comments DP, that is of course your choice as the consumer. Its why I went with an '05 at the time rather than the '04s that were available. I personally found the first gen design of the interior too "busy" and felt that the revised interior on the '05 suited my needs better.

I will sit in an '08 when they become available and see how it feels, who knows, I may find myself so taken by the interior that I'm willing to put up with a "less than Focus" exterior :huh:

NefCanuck