Ford Focus first time drive experience

[Ducati888]

Hi all, was in Brisbane last week on one of my regular work runs and was provided with a Ford Focus from the car rental company.

This was the first time I've had one, usually I get given an I30 Hyundai. Well, I was quite impressed with the Focus. Being a rental, it was a base model, but that didn't detract from my liking it a lot.

In comparison to the I30, I think it's a way better car. Things I liked:

Really comfy seats
Didn't seem to torque steer
Smooth auto changes
Well put together
Quiet inside at highway speeds
Looks good
Sound system is pretty good

Dislikes:
No cruise control (on base mode);
The driver's side convex mirror doesn't go 'out' far enough when you are tall and have the driver's seat a fair way back;
Left side indicator controls (no biggie really but I've been confusing it in my own car for a week since I got back).

That's it. That's all I disliked about the car. These things are not unique to the Focus - they are in all European cars or cars designed for LHD markets.

I can't figure out why the i30 is so awarded - I think the Focus is a way better car, given my limited experience in them both. Maybe it's price. It also reminds me of something that I've said before and I'll say again - to this day I've never driven a Korean car that was memorable or great in any way.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this with you all. The Focus is a damned fine little shopping trolley.

[max]

I guess the yundi I30 is a fair bit cheaper no?

[vik351]

Anyway, I just wanted to share this with you all. The Focus is a damned fine little shopping trolley.

Ya got that part right...

Had mine for four years in August... No issues with it cept for a AC leak which was tightened and re gassed under warranty...

Had a BA turbo with all the problems in the world... !!!

40,000 ks, first set of tyres front discs and pads...

vik...

[Qwik6]

Originally Posted by vik351

Had a BA turbo with all the problems in the world... !!!

vik...

Thats what you get for buying plastic **** miss vikky

[vik351]

Thats what you get for buying plastic **** miss vikky

Well the Seuth Efrickan plastic is better quality then...

vik...!!!

[XR Martin]

Dunno about being well built, the ones ive seen have been pretty nasty.

[duaned]

Agreed. The ones I have been in have sounded nothing short of a tin can inside. NVH was well below it's competition. Maybe this has been retified now.

[Danny]

And the i30 is a good car. Would love to have heard the opinion of the OP if there was a blue badge on the i30. I've driven a couple of examples and they are very impressive for what they are.

[prydey]

i recently drove a 06 LS focus back from sydney to adelaide, and i'd have to agree with the OP. i'm the first to admit i'm not a small car person and yet i was very impressed with how it drove. it really sat well on the road and felt like a much larger car. they are a bit heavier than your average small car so maybe this contributes somewhat to its more solid feel. i wouldn't call it noisy or harsh either so maybe it depends on the car.

the only thing i don't agree with is the seat being comfy. to me they were a bit hard and after 14+hrs on the road, it starts to tell. i guess they're not really made for travelling the highway though, although it did it with ease. also i'm 6'2 in the old money and i didn't have any issues with the mirror adjustment.

the indicators took about 5 min to get used to and then i was right. then when i hopped back in my bf2 i kept doing that the opposite for the next 5 min.

a great little car, and after my experience, there's a good chance the missus will end up with one as well (the one i got was for the in laws).

[XR Martin]

I agree they drive nice, but IMO the interior is rubbish. Nasty plastics, ill fitting trim (check the piece around the bottom of the cluster, I havnt seen any that fit right) strange holes in the carpet etc.

[prydey]

i didn't have any qualms with the interior on the one i had either. had 120000km on it and apart from needing a decent clean, it all looked ok.

i guess it depends on how you look at it though. if you buy a car new, and you have high expectations, then for that sort of coin you want everything just right. on the other hand, if you buy it 4 yrs old for less than $10k, then i'm more than happy with it.

[smee323]

Loving the LV XR5.
German built, so fit is a bit better.
Better I think than the i30 and the MPS3.

[Stoney!]

I test drove the focus before buying the golf, also test drove mazda 3, i30 and Cruze.

I agree with other comments, the interior was just absolute rubbish, it even affected the stereo's performance with it's tinny like build. The i30 was better built. The Mazda 3 and Holden Cruze came In a tied second behind that fantastically well built golf and beautiful materials they use, nothing touches it in its class and some cars from class's above.

The i30 drove pretty nice, enjoyed an under steer on corners with the crappy tyres it had on it but was pretty quiet inside for a cheapy and got along ok too. The interior was attractive and neatly laid out.

Mazda drove very nicely but NVH for a car of its class sucked, interior was OK, not a massive fan but didn't dislike it either. The SP25 got along very well also. It was deff my second choice. Styling was well..... yeh, lol. Not a fan of the 'big grin' Seats weren't overly comfie either.

The Cruze surprised me, well built interior, miles or room in it, Crap petrol engine really let it down though, but the 6 speed auto was a big plus and quite nice. It held the road well and was prety quiet inside. The lack of being able to options sat nav and stuff into it was a let down after driving the mazda and the golf though and it became a no brainer after that. Loved the styling of the car to, optional Talon body kit looked a treat.

The focus I didn't like the second I looked at the dash and blinkers, shame though cause its a very attractive car outside, drab interior colors let it down and the thrashy engine note at high revs was terrible. Manual shift was ok. But spending most of my time isnide the car i just couldn't handle the interior.

The golf simply ticked every box, amazing interior quality, attractive inside and out, awesome stock stereo. 1.4 turbocharged and supercharged engine goes better than all of them and drinks less fuel than all also, also sounds bigger than all of them with a meaty growl at high rpm along with a supercharger whine up to 3000 or so RPM when into it. The manual shift is smooth and precise even with the sloppy linkages you can sometimes hear in more enclosed area's that are quiet. I got to option it with leather, sunroof sports pack, Sat nav, reversing camera and premium bluetooth and was stoked with my overall package.

Stoney!

[buickman]

Originally Posted by smee323

Loving the LV XR5.
German built, so fit is a bit better.
Better I think than the i30 and the MPS3.

My daughter bought a very low kms LT XR5 over a new Focus Zetec, VR Lancer or Mazda Maxx as it drove better and had great seats .

She had a budget so a new Mazda 3 sp25 or Golf was out of the price range.

As for buying a Hyundai after the Getz she hired in Qld the name Hyundai was of the list even though cheaper

[Stoney!]

Originally Posted by buickman

As for buying a Hyundai after the Getz she hired in Qld the name Hyundai was of the list even though cheaper

2 COMPLETELY different cars!

Stoney!

[buickman]

Originally Posted by Stoney!

2 COMPLETELY different cars!

Stoney!

Once most drivers have an unpleasant driving experience or dealings with a particular make of car it puts them of the brand name as would be the case with some people that have had an unpleasant experience with a Ford.
My daughter had her Lancer from new in 2001 and the car had been very reliable so her 1st point of call at looking at a new or demo car to purchase was a Mitsubishi Lancer and most likely had I not had influenced her to check other maker’s cars out as in a Ford Focus or Mazda 3.
The Mitsubishi dealer would have got a sale out of her with the 5 year warranty to match any Korean car but Japanese build

[Stoney!]

Originally Posted by buickman

Once most drivers have an unpleasant driving experience or dealings with a particular make of car it puts them of the brand name as would be the case with some people that have had an unpleasant experience with a Ford.
My daughter had her Lancer from new in 2001 and the car had been very reliable so her 1st point of call at looking at a new or demo car to purchase was a Mitsubishi Lancer and most likely had I not had influenced her to check other maker’s cars out as in a Ford Focus or Mazda 3.
The Mitsubishi dealer would have got a sale out of her with the 5 year warranty to match any Korean car but Japanese build

That's a really silly way of thinking, Just because the most budget car of the range wasn't so nice to drive (what a surprise) that the rest of the cars in the range a ****. I had a Yaris years back when I was working at Dominos, and I thought it was the biggest heap of **** I had ever driven, obnoxiously loud, poor handling, O.K. ride, lifeless steering, horribly cheap hard plastic interiors and no power.

WELL DUH! look how cheap they are, I hated it, but I didn't expect much more from it. I had one 9 months ago when my car got written off while I was waiting for the golf and still hated it so stepped up to a Tiida, much nicer to drive, even if it is ugly lol.

I then recently had a Camry (base model) as a courtesy car and although it was still lifeless and detached and loud, It was still a much nicer car to be in. I'm told the Corolla is slighlty Nicer again because its not AU made and all.

Toyota is a bad example cause all their cars are nasty and boring, and I'd rate the Getz above the Yaris any day.

Stoney!

[Ducati888]

Originally Posted by Danny

And the i30 is a good car. Would love to have heard the opinion of the OP if there was a blue badge on the i30. I've driven a couple of examples and they are very impressive for what they are.

Opinion would have been the same if the I30 had a blue badge - unimpressed for all the hype, though I would not have been spruiking it on a Ford forum.

The i30 is a good car for what it is, but from the limited time I had in it and the Focus as well, I liked the drive and the handling of the Focus better, as well as the comfort of the driver's seat.

I would not have taken the time to write about the i30 on a Hyudai website (if one even exists) and I'm not a die hard rusted on Ford man. I've only ever had one Ford on the road, my first car which was a '71 Capri. I'm here now because I'm rebuilding an XB Fairmont coupe and this forum is an awesome resource full of very knowledgable people.

In all honesty, if I were going to purchase a new shopping trolley I'd be looking at a whole lot more than two cars, but I'm not in the market for one at the mo.

[BOSHOG]

i like the direction Hyundai is heading. however, it may take a fair while longer to win back consumer confidence after the last 15yrs of putting out substandard cars.

[Velociraptor82]

I think the Focus is a brilliant car. That's why I bought one. However due to my extreme bias I didn't test drive cars from other makes so I can't make any comparisions. The only faults I've had with my focus have been due to the modifications.

XR6 Matin: The strange holes in the carpet on the front seats are for the installation of Floor mats which use a plastic braket going through those holes and connecting to the floor pan. Good idea for keeping the mat from moving about however the edges of the holes get a little frayed if not look after.

The standard stereo in the 06 model was pretty ordninary, however having had upgraded mine to the Sony headunit from the LV XR5, I'm much impressed. In fact I now believe the original head unit didn't even make use of the tweeters.

In regards to the engine sound at high revs: I never though it sounded tinnie. I always thought it sounded quite solid, however the engine certainlly doesn't sound powerful. (probably becasue it isn't powerful).

I think its main advantage point is its handling. I believe I read in some mag that it is the best handling car in its class. I don't notice any torque steer under heavy straight line accel, however I have felt it when accel around a corner from a standing start, particually when turning the corner at the traffic lights.

Since the handling mods tho: ie swaybars and ajd coil-overs. I've not felt any torquesteer. In fact the only thing I've felt was a scary case of oversteer when I braked midcorner on the GOR (corner was tighter than I thought. lol)

[mik]

your volksey must have improved somewhat Stoney, i looked for a review because i know nothing about them and found this of a 2006 model, is this the same as yours?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/dri...icle754961.ece

[Stoney!]

Wow, how long did you search to find that article, no thats not my Car, thats the mk 5, Mine is a mk 6, 9 months old.

Car has won world car of the eyar award, carsguide COTY, Wheels COTY engine of the eyar award etc etc etc, so I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find at all.

Stoney!

[Stoney!]

I read that article completely and am amazed at some of the comments in there and I honestly question either the car or JC's driving abilities because the mk 5 was not that bad at all, the engine is far from jerky, you barely notice the supercharger cutting in and out. It's very powerful for a non hot hatch of that size.

Thats absolutely laughable, thanks. I'll post it on VWwatercooled right away. In the mean time try typing in VW 118tsi road test, or award or review and look at the first few you come accross, not the 92nd page that has a one off bad write up from someone who biased toward pommie fast cars.

Heck even pick up some of the recent wheels mags as they had one as a long termer and sung absolute praises for it.

Stoney!

[LTDterri]

I tested the Focus, Mazda3, i30, Lancer last year when we were looking for a car for the wife, try as I might and I did try I couldn't bring myself to buying the focus, every single one I looked had had the worst build quality....well not the worst that belongs to my Territory, old school 4sp auto just doesn't cut it anymore and other than an XR5 looked quite boring, the car handled real well though but I could not buy based on this alone, in the end we went the Lancer VRX, so much more for the money IMO great looking car unbeatable warranty and in 12 months ownership absoulutely faultless. I've now decided to stop looking through blue oval glasses when buying cars, but I still will never consider a holden.

[LOWBA6]

I had a focus as a loan car for a few hours from a dealership while waiting for my XR6T to be delivered and thought the focus was pretty ordinary.... It grew on me after a while but the whole car felt cheap, auto usually changed ok but sometimes it shifted pretty harsh, it only had 40,000kms on it and the engine made some horrible noises under accel. I will admit i did like how it handled around the city though.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Stoney!

Wow, how long did you search to find that article, no thats not my Car, thats the mk 5, Mine is a mk 6, 9 months old.

Car has won world car of the eyar award, carsguide COTY, Wheels COTY engine of the eyar award etc etc etc, so I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find at all.

Stoney!

actually it took me about 2 minutes to find lol, i will check out your review. cheers.

[prydey]

boy, some people get defensive when others don't agree with their opinion.

[Stoney!]

Originally Posted by prydey

boy, some people get defensive when others don't agree with their opinion.

Yeh thats a big trait of this site... out of the many different forums for many makes and models I am a member of.

Also, one part of that article I missed, whilst trying to skip through JC's oral runny poo. Was that he was hitting the W button = winter mode = reduce torque.... idiot.

Stoney!

[mik]

Stoney!, i looked at a couple of tests of your little rocket, and some owners thoughts, a lot of good comments, there were a few negatives, a few major ones that popped up after 12 months, i`ll be interested to see how you go in a year down the track, hopefully you have a good run.

[Stoney!]

Sweet glad you found it. ALL VW's have reliability problems, I knew that before i bought them, I've had a couple of problems, Vanity light, rain sensor. But thats what warranty is there for.

The car is still awesome to me.

Stoney!