So I've kept relatively mum on the focus since I bought it. The reason? I knew relatively quickly with the Mazda- 1 month to be precise, that I wasn't going to keep it, I didn't like it enough, plus the extremely high monthly payment kind of sunk in.
Well, here I am, 3 months and 4,690 miles later, and so far, I'm 100% satisfied with my purchase. I am extremely happy with the car. I average 31-32mpg on my daily commute, which is some city, 20 mile at 79mph, and 10 miles at 69mph. And then some city. I'm very pleased with the gas mileage, and can't wait to see what it can do on long trips. I have a trip to boston, and a trip to Hackensack NJ coming up in the end of May and early June so we'll see what happens with that.
But the other thing is that it's comfortable to me. The seating position I like, it's comfortable to me even on my commute and my few hundred+ mile drives. The steering wheel is my preferred layout- 4 spokes, and it's well designed and large enough to be comfortable for me to hold. Those were my two big complaints about the Mazda in terms of what I did and didn't like.
Others, the power is very good, it really gets up and goes when you put your foot in it. The transmission took a little getting used to, but it's pretty much perfect now. It's still got it's quirks due to being a DCT, but it works fine. No shuddering/shivering off the line. In reverse, if you give it a certain amount of gas, it will, but idleing backwards, and creeping using the brakes, or give it a lot of gas, and it's fine. It is smooth pulling away from a stop, and it does shift quickly, and smoothly 97% of the time. Occasionally it gives a harder shift. Not jerky, just more abrupt than usual, and it's usually under moderate throttle. The transmission is overall
a million times better than the programming on the Cruze.
Most of the time, you would never realize it's an automated manual. I really am pretty impressed. I will admit I was a little leery after a lot of the stories I'd heard, but to date it's been about as perfect as I would expect. Under heavy to moderately-heavy throttle, the shifts are pretty much instantaneous (I looked it up- 8ms shifts!). It will hold on a hill for a few moments and it will creep forward with foot off the brake. On steeper hills it will release the clutch slowly and roll back, but it's not sudden or anything. It does have a hill hold feature for when starting out on a hill, that's part of it I think
The interior is well made, no squeaks or rattles of any kind. The only complaint, like with my original focus, is the radio is less than great. I'll remedy that in the next couple months with an Amp and new speakers. (thinking Infinity Kappa 6.5 coax (fronts are component but not worried about the tweeters) and a Alpine 300W amp. But other than a stereo which I knew going in, for once I can't think of any real critisism. The backseat is a little bit tight I guess, but it's not intolerable. The heated cloth seats are AWESOME in the winter. The whole car just feels solid.
The highway ride is excellent, it's smooth and composed, conforms to the road well. The OE contis are probably the best OE tires on any car I've driven. Made in France, oddly. The highway ride is smooth and quiet, but when you throw it into a corner or an onramp, it grips and is predictable all the way to the point of understeer. About as perfectly tuned as I would want. It's also quiet on the highway, too.
If you have any questions, please ask.
Well, here I am, 3 months and 4,690 miles later, and so far, I'm 100% satisfied with my purchase. I am extremely happy with the car. I average 31-32mpg on my daily commute, which is some city, 20 mile at 79mph, and 10 miles at 69mph. And then some city. I'm very pleased with the gas mileage, and can't wait to see what it can do on long trips. I have a trip to boston, and a trip to Hackensack NJ coming up in the end of May and early June so we'll see what happens with that.
But the other thing is that it's comfortable to me. The seating position I like, it's comfortable to me even on my commute and my few hundred+ mile drives. The steering wheel is my preferred layout- 4 spokes, and it's well designed and large enough to be comfortable for me to hold. Those were my two big complaints about the Mazda in terms of what I did and didn't like.
Others, the power is very good, it really gets up and goes when you put your foot in it. The transmission took a little getting used to, but it's pretty much perfect now. It's still got it's quirks due to being a DCT, but it works fine. No shuddering/shivering off the line. In reverse, if you give it a certain amount of gas, it will, but idleing backwards, and creeping using the brakes, or give it a lot of gas, and it's fine. It is smooth pulling away from a stop, and it does shift quickly, and smoothly 97% of the time. Occasionally it gives a harder shift. Not jerky, just more abrupt than usual, and it's usually under moderate throttle. The transmission is overall
a million times better than the programming on the Cruze.
Most of the time, you would never realize it's an automated manual. I really am pretty impressed. I will admit I was a little leery after a lot of the stories I'd heard, but to date it's been about as perfect as I would expect. Under heavy to moderately-heavy throttle, the shifts are pretty much instantaneous (I looked it up- 8ms shifts!). It will hold on a hill for a few moments and it will creep forward with foot off the brake. On steeper hills it will release the clutch slowly and roll back, but it's not sudden or anything. It does have a hill hold feature for when starting out on a hill, that's part of it I think
The interior is well made, no squeaks or rattles of any kind. The only complaint, like with my original focus, is the radio is less than great. I'll remedy that in the next couple months with an Amp and new speakers. (thinking Infinity Kappa 6.5 coax (fronts are component but not worried about the tweeters) and a Alpine 300W amp. But other than a stereo which I knew going in, for once I can't think of any real critisism. The backseat is a little bit tight I guess, but it's not intolerable. The heated cloth seats are AWESOME in the winter. The whole car just feels solid.
The highway ride is excellent, it's smooth and composed, conforms to the road well. The OE contis are probably the best OE tires on any car I've driven. Made in France, oddly. The highway ride is smooth and quiet, but when you throw it into a corner or an onramp, it grips and is predictable all the way to the point of understeer. About as perfectly tuned as I would want. It's also quiet on the highway, too.
If you have any questions, please ask.
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