First Impressions: 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe
- This exact car will come into the Cars.com fleet for a full review in just a few weeks, and I can’t say I’m waiting with baited breath. First off, I prefer the styling of the sedan to the coupe, and I assume most people will buy the four-door. That said, I liked the new interior, especially the center stack. Ford has really made strides there. The highly touted Microsoft Sync multi-media system seemed to respond to voice commands well, although I couldn’t figure out why the provided iPod — no Zune, Ford? — chock full of dozens of artists would only play one: the Doors. Ugh. Don’t worry, folks, I’ll be testing it out more extensively, with a Zune, in the coming weeks. As for the driving experience … if you don’t have anything nice to say … let your colleagues do it for you. — David Thomas
- This car has some upscale elements, like a leather steering wheel that has a nice feel to it. Overall material quality is only so-so, though, and unlike Dave I'm not a fan of the Focus' new dash because of ergonomic issues introduced by the design. The busy-looking gauge styling also makes it hard to determine your speed at a glance. More annoying, though, was the gas pedal's vibration that was easily felt through the sole of my shoe. That's not the kind of thing that makes you think “quality.” — Mike Hanley
- The interior made no real impression on me, apart from the fact that there are still no head restraints in the backseat — though I found it pretty accommodating back there for a coupe. The Focus hasn’t lost its remarkable steering and handling, but the shortcomings of a four-speed automatic aren’t solely on paper. I’m starting to sound like a broken record here (a scratched CD?), but any automaker that doesn’t use its redesigns and restyles to leapfrog the competition is in trouble. The Focus competes with the likes of the Honda Civic and Scion tC, and this 2008 doesn’t even live up to, let alone overtake, them. That means every model that’s redone before the Focus’ next turn will be better still. This is another lost opportunity by Ford — a mistake Chevy is unlikely to make with the next Cobalt. — Joe Wiesenfelder
- I hate to dump on this car — like Joe said, it still has the handling magic that made the original a hit — but there are just too many misses. The metallic dashboard is interesting, but the lack of backseat head restraints is inexcusable, and the leather seats in our test car felt like aftermarket vinyl covers. Six airbags are standard, but antilock brakes are optional, unlike what you get in a Civic or Hyundai Elantra. Instead of the sleeker key-integrated remote on the Fusion and Taurus, our test car had Ford’s age-old square keyfob. If it breaks, at least you might be able to repurpose the spare from your brother’s ’99 Mustang. — Kelsey Mays
More First Impressions
2008 Infiniti G37
2008 Subaru Impreza WRX
2008 Nissan Rogue S AWD
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The same people who buy Zunes will buy this car. Actually not a bad strategy. Bad mp3 player for a bad car.
LM,
Remember I own a Zune! I'm listening to it right now actually. It's not that bad.
"u never get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression..." hmm...
Daz,
every car gets a fair review on cars.com but because so many of the cars we were driving last week are driving a lot of consumer interest we figured these quick nuggets would answer some questions early on. Obviously we have to spend much more time with each vehicle to give a full and honest review.
Ugh... we're still stuck with the first generation Focus with a mildly interesting rehash, and given the new Corolla's introduction and the Chevy Cobalt redesign, this probably will stutter and fall in the first few months without of course, Ford's massive rebates and fleet sales to rental car agencies... sigh...
But however, the Sync system does seem interesting and hopefully, it will trigger an industry move towards more integrated electronics and entertainment hubs....
Happymantis, the cobalt is getting redesigned?
Actually, Dave I wuz ref. 2 the car & Ford not making a good 1st impression with this "rehashed" Focus that the US market must endure. At least the interior looks a bit better but the car reminds me of the old "ZX2"!
Maybe the US will get Europes current 2nd gen car in about 4-5 years?!
I have a feeling the U.S. will get the next Ford Fiesta that will be in Europe and the focus won't be in our market at all in the future.
Ever since its introduction, the Sentra was redesigned once, the Civic redesigned twice, the Corolla redesigned once(going to be twice after Halloween), the Impreza redesigned twice, the Protege was replaced by the Mazda3, the Sunfire was replaced by the G5, the Cavalier was replaced by the Cobalt, the Neon was replaced by the Caliber; and we still got the same old Focus.
Like one of you guys said, if the makeover couldn't put it in front of the pack, it is doomed.
It's kinda plain looking but, I like it.
id hate to admit it but even some japanese cars like the versa are better than this...at least they have head restraints. Even the Aveo sedan would probably be a better choice than this car.
Let's see, now they no longer offer the hatchback or the wagon. And still no diesel! That kind of thinking means that I and many others like me will rule out the Focus as a choice, and continue to spend more money on VW's or other brands. It's so irritating to me that the American carmakers can't seem to get serious about spacious, practical HIGH MILEAGE quaity small cars. Always reverting to the sedan or SUV style, useless wheels and tires getting ever bigger and bigger, useless high-revving excess power at the expense of good low rpm torque. I could go on, but I guess that's enough venting! It's hard to be sympathetic to the current financial woes of Ford. They sell the good stuff in Europe, why not here?
PS, I heard from some people on some internet forums that Chevy is redesigning the Cobalt soon enough. Hopefully, from all the strides GM is making against imports, the Chevy Cobalt will be competitive enough to make me sway from buying another Corolla...
Dave, it's possible whoever uploaded that "complementary" iPod might have used an improper directory structure or uploaded them as non-recognised formats. (I have the same problem with my MP3 players, some days it will play the .WAVs, other times the Mediaplayer, or the Realplayer)
BTW, For some reason I'm smitten with the looks of the old ZX2, and they're so cheap right now I could get one for almost nothing. Escorts made good Auto-X cars in the 90's although they weren't as prevailent as Civics and Neons.
We brought back the Taurus,,, why not the 'Scort or the ZX2?
(Besides, when I think of Focus, I think funky Euro hatchback, it's time to reture the name)
If you compare the Focus "2" to the last Escort, it's an improvement.
Sorry Dave, did not mean to insult you, just your Zune. ;)
It just seems fitting - two stodgy brands (Microsoft and Ford) teaming up. Leave Apple to VW and BMW.
Infosaur,
I don't know if you're pulling my leg but as a former ZX2 owner I will say it offered a lot of value for the price and was a lot of fun to drive and I never had one problem with it mechanically. It's sad that the Focus coupe doesn't look anywhere near as thought out as the ZX2 did as a two door version of the Escort.
LM,
around these offices I'm used to Zune scorn. Actually, besides that artist problem the system worked great and streamed music via bluetooth in a provided cellphone too.
Dave...who paid who? Did Microsoft pay Ford to pump up the Zune or did Ford have to pay MS?
My guess is that Ford is more desperate, as MS still has plenty of money.
The partnership was just that a partnership. Microsoft wanted to get into mobile products, Ford needed a cheap, easy "plug and play" product it could easily add to its lineup and tout as an advantage over the other carmakers. A win win as they say.
Obviously MS would expect the Zune to be in press photos etc. But Ford is always touting that it syncs with the popular iPod. So I think it's a pretty fair partnership. It would be annoying if every time Ford said, Zune, only and never brought up the much more popular iPod. But they haven't done that at all so far as I've noticed.
But, don't we want MS not to touch auto industry? I mean, who wants to "crash" often?(Just kidding)
I think the reason for why the US automakers are not offering diesel in small cars is because they suspect they will sell.
I have a basic 99 ZX2, manual, only with air conditioning, nothing fancy else, and I love it as an everyday driver, fast, economical... I am going to need a 4 door soon, but I want to keep the little Ford.
Who cares about backseat head restraints? This is MY car the backseat is for hauling things not people. I don't want people riding with me. They have their own cars.