2008 Ford Focus Coupe: Interior Missteps

I agree that it's not a great design, but I guess I've just gotten used to the 20 mph increments in my car. It did take some getting used to.

To add a little to Tryan's comment: The GTI does have a similar number layout on its gauges, but the numbers are outboard rather than inboard and printed in a more ledgible font. Furthermore, the hatch marks are defined more clearly so that the intermediate speeds are more discernible.

At least they actually put a red-line on the tach. For the longest time they didn't, and I guess you had to guess.

gauges arent attractive at all, but that's the case for many Ford products so its no surprise.

I think the guages would be better if there were two more in the middle. You know, the kind that say "oil pressure" and the like.

It's amazing to me that ford can't get things like this right. All they have to do is take a look at the gauges of cars that compete against the Focus and do a better job as a small car -- Mazda3, Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Corolla, etc. -- to understand what they're messing up.
 
"Form" over "function" should only apply when the form looks much better than the function. Ford's "form" looks worse and functions worse.

that open space is a bit odd there in the middle. It looks like it is missing something there.
 
Good thing the speedo goes to 120. I know, I know, people didn't like the 85 mph top that cars had for awhile but realistically do they really need to go to 120? I remember reading about one place that was cracking down on speeders so much that anything over 90 got you a night in jail.

Does anyone else remember when American automakers put out speedometers with 10-mph increments, Japanese automakers put out 20-mph increments, and the Germans always had tachometers that started with 10 instead of 1? Those were the days.

I think the ford "corporate" guages are ugly... and they use them in just about everything.

So, how do you close & open door in this car? Do you use the Lever as a handle?? The handle is certainly in a very awkward position. The closer one is to the hinge, the greater the force (momnetum) required to close the door.
 
Also, the guages are are UGLY! And this thing is to compete against Civic, Corolla & Elantra?
 
BTW, a buddy of mine recently purchased a Hyundai Elantra. The blue guages of the Elantra is plain gorgeous!
 
But hey, atleast the Focus has those fake 'Fender Vents'!!

I don't think I'd call the Elantra's gorgeous, but they are better than the Focus's. The blue interior of the Elantra is awful at night. I personally think the VWs have some of the nices instrument clusters around.

I agree those door handles are too far forward. On my dad's Camry there is a little hole in the armrest which replaces the handle for pulling the door shut. It also makes a nice juice box holder. Ford should have learned something from high school/colle physics about torques, etc.
 
IMO those gauges are ok, but I prefer the electroluminescent ones used in Hyundais and Toyotas.

the gauges are fugly...and what is up with the door? it looks weird and there is no "handle" in the armrest which sometimes doubles as a change/candy/cellphone/key holder.
 
horrible design for form and function

Isn't there more serious issues to address with Ford products than I have read here. I've read of maintenance issues with everthing from Hondas to Audi's here but everything with the Fords seems to be stupid petty things. I guess you need to find something negative to write about a domestic product. At least it isn't in the garage all the time!

Okay here is some clarification.
First of all, the gap between the gages, that is where the trip computer info shows up - gas milege, trip distance, etc.
I may be mistaken but im almost positive that the door handle is a place to kinda rest your hand. My friends Rav4 rear seats are the same way even though they are a bit closer to be able to close the door with it.
HOWEVER, I will agree that I'm not understanding Ford didn't put a little secondary handle to close the door with.

Such nit pickers.. I mean honestly.
 
It takes some getting used to but for what the car is priced for you don't have much room to complain.

That number orientation really is idiotic. Look at that "7" on the tach! LOL!
 
I guess one too many executives slept through that meeting.

I agree, the 7 and the 120 are upside down. Morons.

The handles on my '99 Chevy truck are way forward too. I always hated that, as the doors take two hands (or an elbow) to push open. Poor design.
 
It's ironic because the F-series has a wonderfully ergonomic system. You clutch the handle, the door clicks, and you simply push. Easier than a door knob.

The space between the gauges are where the idiot lights reside.

Looks like they spent more time reworking the gauges than the entire rest of the car.

Uh are you seriously going to ever reach the 7 on the rpm count and the 120 on the mph count?
 
didn't think so. it's for looks.
 
and just to say I think the whole speedo looks kinda cool. It certainly fits the Focus profile.

"didn't think so. it's for looks."
 
But it looks bad.

objective, I think it looks sporty, especially at night.
 
Again, this is a Focus, if you're buying one how the gauges 7 sits on the tach shouldn't be an issue.

If it soothes your soul, you can imagine the upside down 7 is an "L" and stands for "Limit".

Why oh WHY does a site the purports to cater to "enthusiasts" have a Ford Focus in its long-term fleet? If you tried to find a car more boring than a Toyota Camry or the Saturn, congrats. You've done it.
 
Not saying that loads of people don't buy these cars. Of course they do. But if this is an enthusiast site, why are you wasting your time on cars that might as well say "Frigidaire" on them?
 
Why does the same site have blog entries titled "such-and-such car "hearts" the desert?"
 
Or another entry justifying taking the Focus out instead of the Ferrari?

Is everyone here freakin' dyslexic or something?! How much harder is it to read numbers that follow the curve of a dial? The answer is: None harder.
 
The funny thing is, I looked at the pictures before I read the post, and I thought: "Hey, Ford finally made a decent-looking set of gauges." I mean, compared to the awful gauges in the rest of their portfolio, these are sublime.
 
And are we going to have to hear from the middle-aged yuppie Ferrari apoligists EVERY time Inside Line blogs about the Focus? Sheesh!

I like this post. It points out a couple of things that this particular editor doesn't like. I don't think the point is that these are dealbreakers. What I took away from this was that Brent has been driving this car around for two weeks, and when choosing to blog about the negatives of a car, he chose these two rather insignificant points. If this is the worst he could find, I'd say Ford has done a pretty good job. At least the steering wheel shroud isn't popping off.