[ANTHONYD]

It just feels like they could have put a little more thought into the front clip.
Nothing special. square lenses, boxy looking scoops....and the lines on the side of the car are ripped right off the tibby.

Not impressed with it yet.

The interior is alright.

[focusracer]

That whole car looks freakin cheap. I'm sorely disapointed with it. I think someone at ford had some bad sushi for lunch one day and blew chunks all over his drawing, wiped it off, smearing it, ran out of time and had to deliver something to his boss.

[NOS2Go4Me]

Frost__2001,Jan 9 2007, 01:29 PM Wrote:I don't personally care of the WRC bulls*** your hyping,

I could continue to rant more but I choose not too, and I'm leaving my reply as that.
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And I don't care how many soft and fluffy people you're stuffing in your car. The WRC is the main reason the Focus handles and responds as well as it does, and you've enjoyed that all along without knowing, caring or both.

I never mentioned the Mk2 Euro Focus as it's a no-brainer. We'd all drive one.

Your prioritization of civilities over all else should lead you into the Chrysler 300 crowd nicely. Have fun playing in the lardbox... I mean sandbox.

[Drivesthebeast]

I bought the Stang because I knew Ford was going to go down the wrong path with the Focus with each generation. I was also tired of waiting for them to decide if they are going to make a performance variant of the Fusion. I like the SEL AWD V6 a lot, especially in black, but it's just not awe inspiring...

I didn't like the front clip on the 05-07 Focus...looked kinda bland, or they went "safe" with it...something they have a bad habit of doing with all their great cars. I also dislike the dash and console in the 05-07's, with maybe the ST being the only exception. The 1st gen had a bold and edgy interior design, and again, with the 05 facelift, they chose to play it safe, and make the interior like an economy asian car.

Will I stick with Ford, more than likely will...They disappoint lots of us lately, but we all hope that they'll give in and create some stunning vehicles. They've done it before, and will likely do it again. The Ford GT is the "blue collar hero" for the folks that have to have an exotic...a real world beater. The new Mustang is also a "blue collar hero", a real world beater, with a lot of value. I think Ford has the potential to do great things will more of their vehicles, and that they are just lost in translation with some of them...for now...

[NOS2Go4Me]

I liked the first-gen Focus interior... until I saw the 2005+ interior. The huge driver's console (humpback of Detroit?) was gone and you could actually see over it. The center console works a lot better for me than the first gen, although all of the changes are really aesthetic. They're also minor when compared to the first gen, especially when you put them side by side.

Otherwise it's business as usual, inside and out. The 2008 is a rather significant departure from the current Focus and I guess that's what makes it so galvanizing. The enthusiasts are whining because it's being softened, and the softies are whining because the enthusiasts are whining.

[Frost__2001]

NOS2Go4Me,Jan 9 2007, 11:13 PM Wrote:Otherwise it's business as usual, inside and out. The 2008 is a rather significant departure from the current Focus and I guess that's what makes it so galvanizing. The enthusiasts are whining because it's being softened, and the softies are whining because the enthusiasts are whining.
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Actually your just wining because you think people honestly care about your opinion, I know I don't along with others. Is it so scary for other people to have differing opinions?

As for the 2008 Focus I like it, and I am not afraid to say I like the sedan version a lot even though it lost one cubic foot in the trunk., however the coupe looks too 2000 - 2006 Caviler-ish to me. But again I will say that the new 2008 Focus is not in my books because there is no wagon anymore.

[oldeguy]

just puttin' my two cents worth in.
One cent. Personally, I think Ford is trying to do what everyone else is trying to do, make there cars look recongnizable as their brand from the front. Every new car I see these days has some distinctive front end look which screams what brand it is. I don't know, some cars as well as people, look better in real life than in pictures, the opposite is also true. I'll wait to see when they start coming out on the street.

Two cent. As a person who uses my car as an office, restuarant and everyday hauler, I think the interior will be a big improvement for the interior abusers, like myself. I really like the optional lighting stuff.

Two more cents. Sorry, the cobwebs are starting to clear, (either you use it or you lose it )

Instead of complaining or moaning about the new Focus, all of us should be looking at the ones we have and continue to take care of them, modify them, and enjoy what we have. All of you who have a ZX3, ZX5 or ZXW, remember, that Ford doesn't make them on the next Focus, so be extra careful, it may be worth something in the future.

Last thing. I bet that all the companies that are out there making aftermarket parts are already working hard to get some stuff on the new Focus.

[NefCanuck]

oldeguy,Jan 9 2007, 11:49 PM Wrote:Last thing. I bet that all the companies that are out there making aftermarket parts are already working hard to get some stuff on the new Focus.
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I sure hope you're right but I've noticed a distinct lack of external appearance parts for the 05-07 sedans (Most of the external goodies are for the hatchbacks now)

I fear that the aftermarket is going to shrink even further as the enthusiasts move away from the Focus and on to something else :(

NefCanuck

[oldeguy]

NefCanuck,Jan 10 2007, 12:55 AM Wrote:

oldeguy,Jan 9 2007, 11:49 PM Wrote:Last thing. I bet that all the companies that are out there making aftermarket parts are already working hard to get some stuff on the new Focus.
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I sure hope you're right but I've noticed a distinct lack of external appearance parts for the 05-07 sedans (Most of the external goodies are for the hatchbacks now)

I fear that the aftermarket is going to shrink even further as the enthusiasts move away from the Focus and on to something else :(

NefCanuck
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I've seen stuff being sold for some really odd cars, (99 Escort)
so, I'm sure somebody will modify the new Focus. The Drivetrain and the Engine are still the same, so...........

[darkpuppet]

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!

- the interior is so much better than the current gen's.. I can't state this enough.... and stereo upgrades being difficult? They've been doing them in mazda 3's for years... it's possible.

- 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

[dabigmandan]

I LOVE that interior! The exterior? Well, if you don't have anything nice to say...

[ANTHONYD]

I have a tough time believing the WRC has anything to do with the fact theat the Focus handles "okay"

I could be qrong.

Doesn't cure the fact that the 08, looks like poop.

[Drivesthebeast]

In the Stang, I just make sure that I use the REAR cupholder, if I have to carry any kind of drink, so that way I don't have to reach over it to shift. I Don't mind that the 08's interior takes sytling cues from Mustangs and from Asian cars. It looks more modern, and more classy to me. The accent lighting is kinda gimmicky, as is using MYcolour for it (they dropped this feature on the Mustangs after the late 06-early 07 Mustangs, as it was seldom ordered).

I think the coupe could potentially look awesome with some Argent cloured rims with or without polished lips, especially on blue, black, or tungsten coloured ones. That, and with some sort of skirt kit and a tint.

The sedan, think it's a bit more fussy overall, and I think that if you shaved the louver things from the fenders, it'd look cleaner.

[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

[Drivesthebeast]

Yeah, they ditched the MYColour because it cost a lot extra to make it and install it in the vehicles, and also not enough people were ordering it because it was a too costly option for what little it did. I have it in my car, since it's an 05 Premium, and it's kinda neat, but I usually just leave it set to standard green to match the console illumination, though I've thought of setting it to something else for a change (have 125 colour choices possible with custom setup).

Maybe more people wil opt for it in the Foci, because almost all of the illumination in the car has MYColour, instead of just the guages.

Oh yeah, when you have less than 15km's of fuel left (or 30, can't remember), or lose oil pressure or voltage, etc, the guage will change to red, to help alert you something is wrong, or is about to be, in addition to the audibles. Wonder if this will happen in the setup in the Foci too...

[ZX5focused]

Drivesthebeast,Jan 10 2007, 12:04 PM Wrote:Yeah, they ditched the MYColour because it cost a lot extra to make it and install it in the vehicles, and also not enough people were ordering it because it was a too costly option for what little it did.  I have it in my car, since it's an 05 Premium, and it's kinda neat, but I usually just leave it set to standard green to match the console illumination, though I've thought of setting it to something else for a change (have 125 colour choices possible with custom setup).

Maybe more people wil opt for it in the Foci, because almost all of the illumination in the car has MYColour, instead of just the guages.

Oh yeah, when you have less than 15km's of fuel left (or 30, can't remember), or lose oil pressure or voltage, etc, the guage will change to red, to help alert you something is wrong, or is about to be, in addition to the audibles.  Wonder if this will happen in the setup in the Foci too...
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that wouldnt be good for my chronic engine and would prbly get annoying real quick

[darkpuppet]

I love the myColour thingy... I was never a big fan of green gauages, and even less a fan of red... so a nice calming blue suits me just perfect.

it was bundled with the message center, which is worth the money in and of itself. I would have been baffled had my car just blinked the tire light instead of telling me it couldn't see the wheels.

Guess, like advance-trac, I seem to be interested in the nifty, but under-utilized options.

It's interesting tho, since the new focus reskin seems to really be shifting the focus of the focus away from the 'young, practical car' crowd to the 'young, yuppie wannabe' crowd. Can't wait till someone slaps an aluminum wing on one.

but all in all, I think the car looks good.. maybe a bit too respectable, but whatever, it doesn't need the edge as much as it did when it first came out... seems everyone wants to drive a chrysler 300 or at least look like they are...

[NefCanuck]

darkpuppet,Jan 10 2007, 01:25 PM Wrote:I love the myColour thingy...  I was never a big fan of green gauages, and even less a fan of red... so a nice calming blue suits me just perfect.

it was bundled with the message center, which is worth the money in and of itself.  I would have been baffled had my car just blinked the tire light instead of telling me it couldn't see the wheels.

Guess, like advance-trac, I seem to be interested in the nifty, but under-utilized options.

It's interesting tho, since the new focus reskin seems to really be shifting the focus of the focus away from the 'young, practical car' crowd to the 'young, yuppie wannabe' crowd.  Can't wait till someone slaps an aluminum wing on one.

but all in all, I think the car looks good.. maybe a bit too respectable, but whatever, it doesn't need the edge as much as it did when it first came out...  seems everyone wants to drive a chrysler 300 or at least look like they are...
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Yeah, I remember when you were having the issues with the new wheels, a blinking idiot light would have told you so little as to be useless. That's one thing I think should get put in every car, a message centre that actually says what's wrong.. wonder if that'll be available for the '08 Focus? :huh:

I wonder though, could they be moving the Focus slightly upmarket with these new changes in order to leave room at the bottom for a subcompact fuel sipper? Aside from DC, every major manufacturer has one in its lineup (Even if GM's is a rebadge of a craptastic product)

I dunno, I see a Chrysler 300 and I honestly can't see myself driving one, the styling including the gunport windows just turns me right off. Gimmie a nice big greehouse so I can see all the idiots on the road thanks :D

NefCanuck

[Flofocus]

NefCanuck,Jan 10 2007, 03:22 PM Wrote:

darkpuppet,Jan 10 2007, 01:25 PM Wrote:I love the myColour thingy...  I was never a big fan of green gauages, and even less a fan of red... so a nice calming blue suits me just perfect.

it was bundled with the message center, which is worth the money in and of itself.  I would have been baffled had my car just blinked the tire light instead of telling me it couldn't see the wheels.

Guess, like advance-trac, I seem to be interested in the nifty, but under-utilized options.

It's interesting tho, since the new focus reskin seems to really be shifting the focus of the focus away from the 'young, practical car' crowd to the 'young, yuppie wannabe' crowd.  Can't wait till someone slaps an aluminum wing on one.

but all in all, I think the car looks good.. maybe a bit too respectable, but whatever, it doesn't need the edge as much as it did when it first came out...  seems everyone wants to drive a chrysler 300 or at least look like they are...
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Yeah, I remember when you were having the issues with the new wheels, a blinking idiot light would have told you so little as to be useless. That's one thing I think should get put in every car, a message centre that actually says what's wrong.. wonder if that'll be available for the '08 Focus? :huh:

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Youd think so....I have it in the bmw and its a 20 year old car. Low on coolant, it tells you, brake pads starting to wear thin, it tells you, low on waser fluid, it tells you....Im sure electronis have come down in price since then :P

[D-Dub]

"Maybe my next car will be a WRX (if they bring back the autostick)"

May god have mercy on your soul.......... :blink: