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Future Vehicles 2008 Ford Focus future vehicle
79 messages, Last post on Dec 03, 2007 at 1:44 PM
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Replying to: creakid1 (Jan 13, 2007 12:28 am)
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Replying to: readerreader (Jan 07, 2007 4:08 pm) I understand the business reasons to use the existing platform for another three or four years, but there are significant business reasons to NOT continue to turn out one refresh after another on the same tired car. We are in the middle of a small car resurgence. All the major imports are redefining the low ends of their portfolios. And you have a lot of people coming to showrooms looking at the new Fusion who may decide they don't need that much car, so you need to have something there that will catch their eye. And more than anything for Ford, you need a car to generate some positive buzz--the benefits of which for that company right now can't be calculated in mere sales numbers. And while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I'm wagering that most buyers aren't going to look at this design and see a lot of beauty. They are going to see a car that is every bit as plain and modest as what they have come to expect from Ford, and so they are not going to attract the young, trendsetting people they need to try to get in the Ford stable right now. |
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Replying to: gypsy_tech (Jan 13, 2007 8:16 am) 
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I like the current Focus well enough to own a 2005 ST. It's not pretty, but it does look purposeful and European. The ST is a real joy to drive. The 2005-2007 Focus certainly looks better in person than it photographs. The tall architecture makes for great interior room, but also makes the wheels and tires look smaller than a lower slung car like the Civic. The new 2008 has much more surface detail going on, maybe too much as the front end looks fussy to me. The '08's higher beltline does look longer, but the tires and wheels still look small. Perhaps it too will look better in person than in photographs, but it doesn't appear to have been a winner on the Detroit exhibit floor where people did see it in the flesh. I understand the business case for simplifying the model line, but the 2008 refresh may be too little and the 2010 total redo may be too late for Ford. The interior appears to be a big step up from the 2005 refresh. I just don't know if the outside styling will get enough people to sample that new interior. The real Ford news may be that a new B-class (next size smaller than the Focus) is slated for the US market no later than 2009. The B-class may be where Ford's limited money and resources are focused. I've got my fingers crossed, Ford is running out of time for a hit. No matter how good the 2008 Focus is, the new Saturn Astra is going to get more attention and is likely to seize the space that could have belonged to a truly new Focus. Ford lacks momentum. GM for all its troubles has more mo and more hope. A Saturn Corsa may not be far behind the Astra. Ford has to be better than the new Corsa and Yaris. Equal or also ran will not be enough. |
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Ford has their site with more information and images... 2008 Ford Focus |
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Replying to: lmgt1 (Nov 29, 2006 7:08 pm) The grass is always greener on the other side, but is it really? Our '08 Focus may be embarrassingly ugly. But Europe's bulky expensive alternative isn't as mighty as you think, especially when the nose is heavier than 4 cylinders: http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/61251/ford_focus_st.html "However, the ST can't disguise its turbocharger as effectively as the Golf. There's small but noticeable lag when you first get hard on the power, and between full-bore shifts the engine takes a moment or two to catch its breath and resume the accelerative fireworks. Through a sequence of corners where you're often switching between strong throttle applications and then calling on some useful engine braking, the delivery can get a little jerky, too. The ST's ESP system has to work hard to contain the power despite the broad 225/40 R18 Continental rubber. And although it's certainly very efficient at trimming any excesses, you soon feel that it's perhaps a little too eager. Switch it out and the front tyres can easily be overwhelmed once you've clipped an apex and gunned the engine. Eke out the power more gently and the ST stays nice and neutral, and only when the corner has really opened out and you hit full power do you feel the front wheels tugging from left to right. Torque-steer in a front-drive car of this potency is almost unavoidable, and the Focus is certainly no more prone to it than, say, the Mégane Trophy. Even so, you sense that Ford has tried to soften the effect before it reaches the steering wheel. The result is that much of the textural feedback that you'd experience in a cooking Focus has been lost. Push harder, give the engine a free rein, and that five-cylinder unit really begins to dominate. In terms of raw speed it's very impressive, effortless when you're stroking it along and relentless when you're asking for all it's got to give. Unfortunately, for all the power it generates on the straights, it seriously hampers the ST through the corners. The nose-heavy balance and fairly marked body-roll means that understeer arrives earlier than expected, and it's pretty tricky to neutralise completely. Get out of the throttle and the weight shifts, unloading the rears and progressively restoring grip to the front tyres. It all feels great, until you realise that the Focus's inherent adjustability isn't enough to fully overcome the weight up front. By mid-corner the rear tyres are gripping again and the fronts are pushing-on, away from your chosen line and bleeding away the bulk of the forward thrust through rampant wheelspin. If you've got the room and the right corner ahead of you, the ST can be made to steer from the rear rather than the front, but it takes a fairly extreme lift-and-lob or heavy braking into the heart of the corner to unsettle the car enough to need opposite lock. In the real world this is not such a huge problem, but the fact that when you're driving quickly and smoothly the ST predominantly understeers and feels just a fraction stodgy is disappointing. I'm loath to criticise the ST because it really is an excellent package. There's ample performance, it looks great and the ride and general feel of the car at anything up to eight-tenths is spot-on. As a car to own, I think it would be a pleasure. However, just when you want it to throw off its sensible shoes and goad you into really going for it, the ST gets a little sulky, a little detached. The Golf GTI remains the benchmark. evo RATING: +: Value, performance, integrity -: Big engine compromises handling" No wonder the Mazdaspeed3 didn't follow the big bros -- Volvo/Ford -- & used 4-cyl turbo instead. Perhaps that's why Ford didn't even bother to import the C-1 Focus here, where buyers are too cheap to pay higher than Fusion's price unless it's got a Mazda/Volvo badge. |
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Wow!!! 4 out 5 stars rated by EVO magazine for Euro Focus. And EVO magazine, as we all know, really only reviews high-performance cars. Very impressive. http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/61251/ford_focus_st.html Wonder how many stars the bastard US focus would received?? hmmmm... maybe 1 out 5 would be kind.
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Replying to: lmgt1 (Jan 19, 2007 6:21 am) I, too, wish Ford would "get the message" and bring the Euro Focus, and other Ford products like the current Mondeo, over to the USA. I know I would buy one, but I won't buy the new Focus. It's really unfortunate that Ford's management is really out of touch with consumers' desires and wishes. I would gladly pay over $20K for a Euro Focus. I think the basic problem is that all domestic manufacturers still equate small to cheap - Big Mistake on their part. |
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Replying to: w9cw (Jan 19, 2007 6:48 am) So, where's the Euro-Focus!?! What makes the Europeans so special that they deserve the premium model while we have to dance with its ugly cousin? And how much money is wasted designing, engineering, manufacturing, and supporting two models rather than one world-car? That has never made sense to me. The idea of a single platform for each market level seems to have caught on (Mazda3, Volvo S40, EuroFocus plus some GM models), but Ford continues to drag its feet when it comes to the US Focus. Why? Import it from Europe if you have to, but please offer a car worth buying! Or give up. Either way is okay with me.
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