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Ford Fiesta

636 messages,  Last post on Mar 06, 2012 at 11:43 AM

You are in the Ford Fiesta Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Fiesta, Hatchback, Sedan

Messages Page 51 of 64

#498 of 636 2012 Focus by aladdinsane

Oct 07, 2010 (7:25 pm)

I may be in the minority here, but I don't find the 2012 Focus 5 dr or sedan all that interesting.
Speaking for myself it's a shame that Ford chose not to have a 3 dr version of the new Focus.
I'm reminded of a Subaru Impreza upon viewing pix of this upcoming machine.
Boring.
The Fiesta is nice, but not the styling powerhouse I thought it would be.
IMHO the Mazda2 is far more attractive, eventhough it lacks Sync and a sunroof option.
Please don't misunderstand: I'm no fan of the new Chevy Cruze either.
Again, I speak for myself.
Peace!<-AladdinSane-<- -

#499 of 636 Re: 2012 Focus [aladdinsane] by akirby

Oct 07, 2010 (8:10 pm)

Replying to: aladdinsane (Oct 07, 2010 7:25 pm)
You are definitely in the minority on both vehicles.

#500 of 636 Re: Ford Fiesta [farout] by creakid1

Oct 08, 2010 (11:14 pm)

Replying to: farout (Oct 07, 2010 12:17 pm)
I still am in sticker shock!
 
How about "close to £24,000 ($38,000?)"? These furnitures front & back alone will cost a fortune. But then these Recaro seats don't necessarily absorb road bumps that comfortably.
 
Do these future Euro-designed Ford compacts suppose to look like low-price cars? No!
 
The future VW's do. Their Control Blade suspension (engineered by the original Focus engineer) introduced about 1/2 a decade ago will no longer be standard equipement, ditto the padded dashboard! You can only get these features in the stiff-riding "GLI package" on the next Jetta! The $15,995 made-in-Mexico Jetta 2.0 will be priced to compete w/ the made-in-Mexico Fiesta w/ similar suspension set up. The Jetta will trounced everyone else in rear leg room, including every Focus/Fiesta/Golf through out the history, but..."The average consumer couldn't care less about steering feel, and the Jetta's on-center sensation delivers with a light touch and an overall lack of feedback. Compared to the electronically controlled tiller on our TDI, the hydraulic rack's steering effort is Corolla-light from lock-to-lock, with only a slight tightening when pushing through the bends."

#501 of 636 Re: Ford Fiesta [creakid1] by puffin1

Oct 09, 2010 (6:09 am)

Replying to: creakid1 (Oct 08, 2010 11:14 pm)
I just bought a VW Golf (never thought I would) Quiet ride, nice cabin 2 MFD settings, lumbar support, moonroof,bluetooth and mutilel heated seats.
                      It's a 2.5, 5spd and the milage is 27 around town to 32 on hi-way not bad for 170 hp.
                       Mazda did away w/ lumbar plus the road noise is still the same. I traded in a 2008 Mazda I New Value. The VW was priced right and absorbs bumps better and the handling is sensational.
    The fFiestas do not have Lumbar support or Multi level heated seats and are way over priced and the Fiesta isn't 4 wheel ABS.The golf has alot to offer

#502 of 636 Re: 2012 Focus [akirby] by aladdinsane

Oct 09, 2010 (7:32 am)

Replying to: akirby (Oct 07, 2010 8:10 pm)
Good...
I'm glad not to be following the "herd"...
Peace!<-AladdinSane- -

#503 of 636 Lumbar support? [puffin1] by creakid1

Oct 09, 2010 (10:45 am)

Replying to: puffin1 (Oct 09, 2010 6:09 am)
Just after the turn of the Century, the U.S. Focus had both the lumbar support & the stability control (Advance Track) options available, but consumers in this country got no taste to buy them...
 
Some of the seats are even imported from Europe w/ lumbar adjustment, pwr seat height, heated...like this stripped Focus SVT, which has superb steering feel no GTI/GLI these days can come close!
 
But then, some seats w/o lumbar adjustment still got sufficient lumbar support.
 
The Rabbit/Golf became a great car about 5 yrs ago after VW hired the original Focus engineer to engineer their suspension (read the cost-effective multi-links -- the Control Blades). But soon, VW will be too cheap to continue w/ this std feature.
 
So the current Rabbit/Golf is a collector's item b/c it's the only expensively-built VW compact w/ a comfy ride!
 
However, in 2007 I was on the way to a VW dealer thinking of trading in my '05 Focus ST 2.3 sedan for a new comfy/quiet Rabbit/Jetta. But VW's numb electric pwr steering appalled me so much that I've changed my mind
 
The exterior & weight of the current Mazda3 are bulky like a mid-size car, but w/o the quietness, smooth-ride or rear leg-room of a mid-size

#504 of 636 Where have all the five speeds gone? by hdbahn

Oct 10, 2010 (8:45 am)

It's kind of a big deal that I would have to drive 50 miles outside of Charlotte to find one. Maybe I'm showing my age, but no amount of online jabber will give me a hands-on experience with the different trim level controls, either. I've been wanting this car for more than two years now (thanks Autoweek-no thanks to all the SUV/Taurus ads in the mail from Ford), and thankfully it has some merits in driving dynamics (documented mostly by journalists and relatively little by the vast "movement") so it may still give me an excuse to use the OZ wheels off of my SVT Contour someday since they won't fit anything else besides the outgoing Focus. I hope that there will be a little more discounting for this car, since my idea of smart tech/value is the winter package, not SYNC or push button start (and no place for my SONY harddrive head unit). At 6'3" I used to think moonroofs were helpful at badly positioned traffic lights, but I never use the one I have and prefer headroom. I also can't reach the center stack (by 6"!) in a Fiesta from my seating position but the steering column is the only one I have ever not needed to pull out to the max. I will have one of these, but I'm sorry Ford put so much content in it without offering a sport suspension with the current engine, for those of us who don't drive daily in Michigan.

#505 of 636 Re: Where have all the five speeds gone? [hdbahn] by creakid1

Oct 10, 2010 (8:32 pm)

Replying to: hdbahn (Oct 10, 2010 8:45 am)
I guess Ford used up the 5-sp manual tranny inventory when the Focus ST sedan was produced a few years ago. Every Focus ST sedan only came w/ 5-sp & sport suspension. The std traction control became optional for '07, but for only a few tokens just like the optional heated seats.
 
The discount/factory rebate was steep. The resale value is...it's a steal to get an used one now.
 
As I said before, the compact-exterior '05-07 Focus ST sedan, w/ the reliable & torquy 2.3 developed by Mazda & the multi-links, is the new Fiesta's biggest enemy.

#506 of 636 Re: Where have all the five speeds gone? [creakid1] by akirby

Oct 11, 2010 (6:53 am)

Replying to: creakid1 (Oct 10, 2010 8:32 pm)
Strictly from a performance perspective - maybe. But the new Fiesta is much more refined with many more bells and whistles and slightly better mpg.

#507 of 636 I've driven them both side by side [akirby] by creakid1

Oct 11, 2010 (10:54 am)

Replying to: akirby (Oct 11, 2010 6:53 am)
It was more than a year ago, when Ford allowed us to test drive the made-in-Germany stick-shift Fiesta hatchback in S California.
 
On the way there, I was driving my '07 Focus ST sedan, which I paid just a little over $14k (plus tax & lic.). There's no way that Fiesta's little engine gonna rev quietly just to match my 2.3's normal acceleration. But what bothered me, besides the restricted rearward visibility width, are the electric pwr steering's less feel & the simple suspension's more body roll w/o having a softer ride.
 
I also had a chance comparing to the Focus SVT hatchback from another test driver. Boy, the SVT's steering feel was so delicious it's worth a million... That car's std driver seat even got pwr seat-height adjustment. Too bad it doesn't come w/ a reliable engine developed by Mazda.

Messages Page 51 of 64

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