So, I'm on a month long business trip, and my rental car (at govt expense, not my choice) is a 2010 Ford Focus.

Man, this thing blows! On the good side, it has a nice and torquey engine, and despite being way peppier than the fit, seems to get decent mileage. The door armrest is padded. That sums up the good!

On the bad:
- Unsupportive seat
- awful, noseheavy understeer, with numb, rubbery steering
- cramped interior (the back seat is TINY!)
- gawdawful ergonomics
- spongy brakes
- every control feels clunky and poorly engaging, like the whole car needs to be attacked with WD-40.

Toss in the awful facelift the Focus got recently, and it amazes me that anyone would pay money for this thing!

 

Add to that the fact that since 2008, the rest of the world has gotten a much nicer, much better designed Focus. But due to import/export issues and the US labor unions crying about selling a foreign made car en-masse. No dice for us.

 

Yeah, a Mazda 3 with Ford emblems would be a major improvement!

This thing reminds me of a Kia Sephia. Poorly engineered, awkward styling cues... Even Kia is much improved these days.

 

Bullcrap. It has nothing to do with import/export issues or labor unions. Ford designed it that way because they think it is what Americans want.

 

It's all about cost. Ford put money into a stamping plant here in the early part of the decade to build Focus' here instead of Mexico, and they didn't want to have to retool it so soon to build a different one. The 2nd generation Focus came out in Europe around '05 actually, and got a facelift a year or two ago. Here, all they did was re-do the headlights and the dashboard for '05, kill the SVT, and then do a really hideous warming over in '08 of the styling and interior while softening up anything that had at one time been exciting about the car (and they killed the hatch). But, that's because they can sell the one they've got here for 15,000, and if they reworked it to sell the Euro one, it would have to be dumbed down and would still start at a price up near the Mazda3.

The next gen one coming out next year should be something pretty cool though.

 

Apologize for reviving this one but just wanna share my opinion about the focus ride and i hope you don't mind it guys. I've been driving this car for months and im glad no problem so far....the space alloted is just enough for the passengers and the navigational system is easy to maneuver. i couldn't question the performance as it has less mileage and excellent engine type.