2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe: Introduction

Fantastic 24.6 mpg on a compact car!
I could never achieve that in my Chevy Suburban!

^ rofl

I feel so bad for you guys.

Lol, the intro for the Focus went up after it was already blogged on.

I have a feeling this car is going to get assassinated. Should be entertaining.

did you say no available disc brakes with ABS?

Well good, one thing you guys don't have is a compact coupe. At least its not another crossover.

I am looking forward to your evaluation of the SYNC system. My wife keeps asking me questions about it. She could care less about the car around it, just the system.

If the radio gets stolen, is the test over?

I'm glad you bought one. That means the total sales for the focus are now >0.

I was going to say that Sync will probably be available in other Ford models soon, and y'all should have waited for something better. But I can't really think of any other new Fords that are any more interesting at this time...

billt9,
 
A Surburban can't get 24mpg at idle much less driving it anywhere. :)

"did you say no available disc brakes with ABS?"
 
I believe the corolla has drums in the back and its the best selling compact in the US. Only recently have SOME compacts come with discs standard.
"
I was going to say that Sync will probably be available in other Ford models soon, and y'all should have waited for something better. But I can't really think of any other new Fords that are any more interesting at this time... "
 
sync is on Fusion, MKZ, MKX (they already have Edge though) and will be on Flex and MKS. I believe its on Mustang as well. There are interesting Fords that will have the system. There was no reason for them to rush out and get this car just for Sync when they dont even like the car.

One of my neighbors just got one of these. It doesn't look any better in person.

why not a Fusion? Would be a good comparison with the Aura, Accord (kind of), and the Altima. Not to mention it has Sync and available AWD- would be interesting to see if its even useful, but I doubt that's possible in Cali. Darn you SoCal and your amazing weather!

the only reason I see the focus being the best option is because its the cheapest way to get the Sync. but it's going to become the staff commuter appliance I'm sure since it's pretty basic with an auto... If it was white it would be the Hertz Special Edition package!

Over $19,000 for a Focus?
 
I'm still amazed that Ford didn't bring the updated Focus over here. It can't be a question of cost either if they're charging $19k for the old platform.
 
What's the base price of a Mazda3? (which uses the updated Euro Focus platform) ... checking... a 2.0 automatic transmission model is about $15,000 MSRP.
 
Sync may be interesting, but as a car, there appear to be (many) far better choices for the money.

"did you say no available disc brakes with ABS?"
  
I believe the corolla has drums in the back and its the best selling compact in the US. Only recently have SOME compacts come with discs standard."
 
Correct.

Using voice commands to control the stereo does not appeal to me. I'm happy just using buttons.
 
I polled a few of my friends and they were not excited either. But we're a bit old (late 20s) for the portable music craze this seems aimed at.
 
Remember that joke about what would happen if computer companies made cars? Something along the lines of, every few hours it would crash and kill everyone inside... Well, it's happening!

4 wheel disk brakes in this segment is still hit or miss

It's an interesting experiment, Ford is relying on Sync to sell the Focus (since there's no other reason to buy one over its competitors), so Edmunds buys one just for Sync. Will it be worth it? I think I know the answer...

No headrest in the rear seat?! I rode in a friends Taurus, and i could not belive that a 2005 car did not have rear headrests. I think this is a ford-wide problem.

Almost $20 grand for THIS?!

Hey if it is as entertaining as wy wifes old 99 escort zx2 with a 5 speed, edmunds might be able to live with the car for a year. I'm really interested to see how it holds up. I also want to see if SYNC is that good.

I see tons of these cars sitting idle on Ford dealership lots. And the American auto industry wonders why they're losing marketshare?! It's clearly obvious. When you put out a desireable, good, reliable product that is priced well, people will naturally buy it. I wonder how this car will match up against the Opel, oops, I mean Saturn Astra. Man, this thing reminds me of the now defunct Toyota Echo...

Not coming to America :(
 
Ford Focus RS details: http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/Ford-Focus/230434/

Okay everybody, give this car a chance before you filet it.

why does the euro Focus look nicely styled and the US Focus look so generic? Destined to be parking lot fill in the next Godzilla movie.
 
At least Toyota is honest about their generic cars and no pretense of 'boy racer' additions like the faux vent.
 
This car is truly awful. I am offended by it's absolute unwillingness to be anything.

It is sad that in 2008, most economy cars do not have 4 wheel disc brakes.
 
As you all know, my 93 Saturn SL2 had 4 wheel disc brakes back then, along with fuzzy logic for the 4 speed auto. In addition, it had traction control along with the anti-lock brakes. It seems in some regards, cars have gone backwards.
 
This applies to all auto manufacturers.

"why does the euro Focus look nicely styled and the US Focus look so generic? Destined to be parking lot fill in the next Godzilla movie."
 
Euro focus probably costs $10k more than this focus. That is one reason its superior. Would you pay $30k for a focus even if it was designed to Euro standards? I doubt it.

Quit knocking the Focus. People are stressing fuel economy a lot these days, and the Focus is near the top of the pack. Only the Corolla, Sentra, and Civic have any chance of being more efficient -- and the Focus beats the Senta and Civic on the highway with a manual tranny. Pontiac, Chevy, Saturn, VW, Mazda, Kia, Dodge, Subaru, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki all produce less efficient compact cars. So the Focus really isn't that bad.
 
Having driven both manual and automatic equipped '07 Focuses, I can tell you that Edmunds erred by getting the automatic. The auto saps so much power and "fun". But maybe Ford changed that with the '08 models...
 
It's unfortunate that already it's proving to be unpopular among the Edmunds staff. I haven't seen any more blog postings since 1-23.