I drove the I-5 this past weekend. If you haven't been on it at night, it's like any other long interstate in the middle of nowhere. Basically if you closed your eyes for a couple of hours you'd see more than I did during my drive through the Central Valley.
My girlfriend was asleep in the passenger seat so the music was turned off, it was near midnight with another couple hundred miles to go and I was bored out of my mind...
Thankfully the Focus had something for me to keep some brain function going, a selectable color light array. About every ten minutes I pushed the button to get another color. Dumb? Yes. Pretty? Yes. I had nothing better to do other than arrive safely at my relatives house.
Yeah the colored lights are cheap thrills. But even the little stuff can make an otherwise boring drive fun.
Scott Jacobs, Senior Photographer
greenpony says:
04:32 PM, 06/ 5/08
Nice pictures. Love the use of high angle light and long exposure.
pengwin says:
07:55 PM, 06/ 5/08
that picture actually makes the interior look decent.
cruiserhead1 says:
10:06 PM, 06/ 5/08
That multi-choice lighting is pretty cool. It would also come in really handy if you upgrade the stereo later on. If the stereo had RED backlight, bam! you can match it.
The dash looks like a single huge blow molded piece of plastic. Even the pretty lights and nice photography can't hide that
johnmarco says:
11:24 PM, 06/ 5/08
That would go great with my lighted up hi-tops!!
brn says:
05:31 AM, 06/ 6/08
I wonder how much of a selling point this is for the car.
dougtheeng says:
08:22 AM, 06/ 6/08
My Mini Cooper has this too, it constantly impresses people.
ewilfong says:
08:27 AM, 06/ 6/08
So what are the color choices in the Focus and Mini? I'll buy whichever one has the best colors. Okay, no I won't, but I am curious.
dougtheeng says:
09:18 AM, 06/ 6/08
The Mini has 5 colors I believe, in a range from Orange to Blue. I think it goes....
Orange
Pink-Orange
Pinky-Red
Purple
Blue
The Focus I think has more lighting though. The Mini doesn't have light up cup holders. Instead, there are lights in the door panels, the door handles, and in on the pillars above the seat belts. It looks pretty cool at night.
g__ says:
10:30 AM, 06/ 7/08
Cute yes, the safest use of interior lighting on a dark highway? No.
Saab Night Panel/Black Panel = best application of interior lighting. "This function blacks out the instrument panel, apart from the speedometer. This reduces the risk of distraction while driving at night. All the systems still work in the background and the appropriate guage or lamp will light up when the driver’s attention is required. A good example of our aircraft heritage."
http://www.saabhistory.com/2007/11/16/saab-night-panel-saab-innovation/
I would take it any day over a muti-hued cup holder.
cx7lover says:
11:32 AM, 06/ 7/08
That would make me want to sleep more than anything, the CX-9 rental I had, had super dark lights at night, I turned them all the way up to the daylight setting just because it helped me be more alert.
carmizvi says:
09:06 PM, 06/ 8/08
I'm having flashbacks to a 70s-era Ford LTD, for some reason. I remember the barely-there dashboard lights that barely lit up the dusty-when-new speedo.
Ah, those were the days.
A little bling can't be a bad thing as long as the basic engineering on the stuff that matters has already been worked out. If the transmission holds and the engine doesn't drop out, then the flighty lights are a bonus.
Now, if only we could fix those snakeskin-salesman dealers.
milt721 says:
01:35 PM, 06/ 9/08
Don't forget, on most Fords the multicolor LEDs are an option. And one of the color choices is "off."