Faults:

Ford uploaded a new program to the transmission. I never had a problem with the old one, but they sent me a letter, so I let them do it.

General Comments:

I was wanting a vehicle that could do it all. Comfortable enough for long trips, great gas mileage, ability to carry larger objects. I am a member of the SCCA, and needed my car to also perform well at autocross events on weekends. I checked out a number of small hatchbacks, and the Ford Focus Titanium blew me away. Having now put 5,000 miles on it, I know I made the right choice.

While it does not have the HP of the Mustang (or gas bill), it is quick enough in straight lines to allow me to pass or merge in traffic without issue, and be a fun car to drive. Take a corner though, and this car starts to show off.

The cornering is very precise and predictable. The modest horsepower means you can be sloppy with throttle control and still not get into that much trouble. Get really silly and the computer will jump in and help out. While many people complain about that, I have to admit, every time I have hit the brakes only to find them already applied, the car has been right. "Yeah, I should have hit them back there."

At autocross events, I am often asked by sports car owners that can't catch me, "What mods did you do to it?" Got a second set of wheels with some performance tires is all. It is FWD and it will push, but I have yet to feel any torque steer, and it is far more balanced than any other FWD I have driven.

Trying to find a Titanium with a manual trans was like looking for Bigfoot, so after a "spirited" test drive in the automatic, I decided to take a chance and go that route. Glad I did. Put the trans in Sport mode and it lets me run clear to red line in any gear. Need more power coming out of a tight turn, I can hit the minus button and drop down a gear.

The transaxle is a basically a dry clutch manual that is shifted by computer. The shifts are quick (faster than a human can shift) and barely noticeable, but like anyone that has ever driven a manual knows, sometimes at slow speeds you will feel a shift. People that have only ever driven slushy automatics have be bothered by that.

Went from my home in central Kansas to Colorado, and all the way to the top of Pike's Peak, and never complained about comfort. Was able to pack anything we wanted, and knew it would fit.

If I watch my driving style, I average 29-30 MPG and can get 35-41 on the highway doing 75mph; wind being the variable. Poor planning on my part left us desperate for a gas station once, so I dropped it down to 65mph and stayed behind a truck, and it stayed around 50 MPG.

When I sat down in the Focus and hit the start button (keys are so old fashioned) and saw the 4" screen light up in the middle of the gauges and the 8" touch screen come alive in the dash, I actually said, "Wow". The voice activation is not perfect, but works well enough in most cases.

If my Focus got totaled today and I needed to buy a replacement, I would be right back at the Ford dealer to get another one.

Faults:

Nothing, though can be hesitant when cold.

General Comments:

The new Ford Focus is great, however this engine is shocking; it's one of the slowest cars I've ever owned, which is probably why it's been replaced by the new 1 litre turbo unit.

The car is a very nice drive, and would be great with a turbo petrol or diesel lump in it. The 1.6 in my car is so flat, it feels as though there is a potato rammed up the exhaust; even the slightest incline will have me changing down 1 if not 2 gears. It reminds me of the 1987 1.1 Fiesta I had when I passed my test.

The fuel economy is terrible; 28 round town, and you can just creep it up to 40 on a steady run. I've just done 200 miles on the motorway and 100 round town, which has resulted in 36 MPG. The car is supposed to do 48 combined. The only way to do that is to drive at 50 mph on a flat road.