After just getting back home from a recent vacation, I thought I'd express my opinion on a new Ford Focus SE 5 door that I rented for ten days.
It was a rental model with about 13k on the odometer. Upon looking at the exterior design, I didn't have much opinion either way....but I did think the front end was rather plastic looking. When I entered the car I quickly noticed the interior being oddly laid out with angled dials and buttons that I found to be a bit too 'artsy' and modern for my tastes. It actually took me a while to become familiar with them....I'd say much longer so than any other rental I've had. The shift lever was really strange for me as the indicator of being in park or drive etc. was in the instrument cluster (although it did have it on the center column, it was difficult to tell if it was in gear). Seems like it would not be an issue yet when I engaged this car into drive there was no feeling the car was engaged in any way and caused me to wonder if I was in drive or not....same odd feeling when placing in reverse. The seats I found to be rather hard....but they were supportive. I did feel like I was sitting low to the ground so I had to raise them substantially to feel I had a good view of the road in all directions. The electronics were highly obnoxious for me. Very busy screen. I felt I needed to study the manual first before I could even figure out the sound system. I was not impressed. As I accelerated out of the parking garage I noticed a very disconnected feel to the throttle. I would give it gas and it almost seemed to pause before moving at any speed. The gas pedal was very firm as well and upon given it more throttle I noticed the tranny was very odd acting in my opinion. Rather clunky at times....and then almost slushy at others. The engine really seemed to rev very high in the first two shifts until reaching about 40mph where it finally seemed to smooth out. The engine in my opinion was noisy and obtrusive while under any throttle at all....and reminded me of an older Subaru (as in not smooth).
I found the ride of the Focus to be more harsh than my 2009 model and the overall comfort to be less. It did seem to handle a bit better....but for me the cost in comfort and noise was not worth it. MPG's seemed good of course. The hatchback style trunk was nice.....and the a/c functioned well (but was also very loud). Braking was good. Visibility was good once seat was raised.
I know that many find the 2009 Focus that I currently own as unattractive and not very 'sporty'. But in my opinion, and especially after getting home and back into my older Focus....I MUCH prefer my '09 model over the 2012 Focus.
It was a rental model with about 13k on the odometer. Upon looking at the exterior design, I didn't have much opinion either way....but I did think the front end was rather plastic looking. When I entered the car I quickly noticed the interior being oddly laid out with angled dials and buttons that I found to be a bit too 'artsy' and modern for my tastes. It actually took me a while to become familiar with them....I'd say much longer so than any other rental I've had. The shift lever was really strange for me as the indicator of being in park or drive etc. was in the instrument cluster (although it did have it on the center column, it was difficult to tell if it was in gear). Seems like it would not be an issue yet when I engaged this car into drive there was no feeling the car was engaged in any way and caused me to wonder if I was in drive or not....same odd feeling when placing in reverse. The seats I found to be rather hard....but they were supportive. I did feel like I was sitting low to the ground so I had to raise them substantially to feel I had a good view of the road in all directions. The electronics were highly obnoxious for me. Very busy screen. I felt I needed to study the manual first before I could even figure out the sound system. I was not impressed. As I accelerated out of the parking garage I noticed a very disconnected feel to the throttle. I would give it gas and it almost seemed to pause before moving at any speed. The gas pedal was very firm as well and upon given it more throttle I noticed the tranny was very odd acting in my opinion. Rather clunky at times....and then almost slushy at others. The engine really seemed to rev very high in the first two shifts until reaching about 40mph where it finally seemed to smooth out. The engine in my opinion was noisy and obtrusive while under any throttle at all....and reminded me of an older Subaru (as in not smooth).
I found the ride of the Focus to be more harsh than my 2009 model and the overall comfort to be less. It did seem to handle a bit better....but for me the cost in comfort and noise was not worth it. MPG's seemed good of course. The hatchback style trunk was nice.....and the a/c functioned well (but was also very loud). Braking was good. Visibility was good once seat was raised.
I know that many find the 2009 Focus that I currently own as unattractive and not very 'sporty'. But in my opinion, and especially after getting home and back into my older Focus....I MUCH prefer my '09 model over the 2012 Focus.
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