Mark 2 Initial impressions
Discussion
Hi all
I collected my New Focus last night and thought I would give my initial impressions.
I collected a 3 door Zetec Climate 1.6 Ti-VCT, Jeans Blue on 17" wheels.
My impressions of the car will be a little coloured as I moved up from a 1991 Peugeot 205 XE so the step has been a pretty big one!
First thoughts (apart from yippee I've bought a new car and it is a "New car" only 7 miles on delivery!) The car is really, really very good. I can see why this car is marked as having best in class handling, it corners so flat and once the steering has tightened up at speed it is very direct, changing direction instantly.
The car feels very well planted, and although I am running it in it feels like it'll take a hefty dose of throttle to start to unlodge it around tighter corners.
As for the power, I am going to have to get used to keeping it in range as it is a little lazy at lower revs although "on cam" it behaves very nicely indeed. Some of the laziness I suspect will be down to the fact that it is so new, I hope it will liven up a bit after some driving. The gear change too is nice, a light clutch compared to my old car but very easy to change gear, the throw is short and accurate.
I've had to force it a little into 3rd and fifth gears a couple of times, but again I suspect that that is new car niggles.
The car looks great outside and looks very purposeful on the 17s. 18" wheels will look very good indeed on the car but I wonder if that will start to compromise handling a little and road noise a lot? Not something I'll be looking at for a while at least anyway!
Inside I was a little brave and bought the cream and blue interior "Sight unseen", but I am very pleased with it - the interior is now light and airy, the controls are all very tactile and feel of a decent quality, everything is easy to reach without braking concentration too. I haven't found a perfect driving position yet but then the permutations of wheel and seat adjustability are many and varied so I am taking that as it comes! A long drive to Birmingham and the Lake District this weekend will undoubtably mean that I find the right position before too long!
I have a couple of minor problems about material quality inside the car the centre arm rest/storage is a little flimsy and cheap feeling, as are the 2 rear passenger storage compartments. Also without the dash storage there is nowhere to keep CDs so I will have to buy a wallet for those.
That's all for now I think - the above impressions formed in a 3 hour period os driving and sitting "fiddling" with controls etc etc.
As mentioned I am on a mission this weekend so if anything crops up I will let you all know.
Overall however I am very very happy with the car and feel that it'll do some good service once it's run in.
Cheers
Phil :)
I collected my New Focus last night and thought I would give my initial impressions.
I collected a 3 door Zetec Climate 1.6 Ti-VCT, Jeans Blue on 17" wheels.
My impressions of the car will be a little coloured as I moved up from a 1991 Peugeot 205 XE so the step has been a pretty big one!
First thoughts (apart from yippee I've bought a new car and it is a "New car" only 7 miles on delivery!) The car is really, really very good. I can see why this car is marked as having best in class handling, it corners so flat and once the steering has tightened up at speed it is very direct, changing direction instantly.
The car feels very well planted, and although I am running it in it feels like it'll take a hefty dose of throttle to start to unlodge it around tighter corners.
As for the power, I am going to have to get used to keeping it in range as it is a little lazy at lower revs although "on cam" it behaves very nicely indeed. Some of the laziness I suspect will be down to the fact that it is so new, I hope it will liven up a bit after some driving. The gear change too is nice, a light clutch compared to my old car but very easy to change gear, the throw is short and accurate.
I've had to force it a little into 3rd and fifth gears a couple of times, but again I suspect that that is new car niggles.
The car looks great outside and looks very purposeful on the 17s. 18" wheels will look very good indeed on the car but I wonder if that will start to compromise handling a little and road noise a lot? Not something I'll be looking at for a while at least anyway!
Inside I was a little brave and bought the cream and blue interior "Sight unseen", but I am very pleased with it - the interior is now light and airy, the controls are all very tactile and feel of a decent quality, everything is easy to reach without braking concentration too. I haven't found a perfect driving position yet but then the permutations of wheel and seat adjustability are many and varied so I am taking that as it comes! A long drive to Birmingham and the Lake District this weekend will undoubtably mean that I find the right position before too long!
I have a couple of minor problems about material quality inside the car the centre arm rest/storage is a little flimsy and cheap feeling, as are the 2 rear passenger storage compartments. Also without the dash storage there is nowhere to keep CDs so I will have to buy a wallet for those.
That's all for now I think - the above impressions formed in a 3 hour period os driving and sitting "fiddling" with controls etc etc.
As mentioned I am on a mission this weekend so if anything crops up I will let you all know.
Overall however I am very very happy with the car and feel that it'll do some good service once it's run in.
Cheers
Phil :)
Phil, i drove a 1.6 TiVCT ghia not so long ago, i too came to same conclusion. it really is a nice car. interior quality is nice, but i'm not convinced by the sea of hard plastic on the rear door trim!
the engine is lazy at low revs, but it certainly goes some after 4000rpm. it does handle very nicely. the only thing i didn'tlike was the tyre noise. other than that it is a very quiet car.
the engine is lazy at low revs, but it certainly goes some after 4000rpm. it does handle very nicely. the only thing i didn'tlike was the tyre noise. other than that it is a very quiet car.
Phil, i drove a 1.6 TiVCT ghia not so long ago, i too came to same conclusion. it really is a nice car. interior quality is nice, but i'm not convinced by the sea of hard plastic on the rear door trim!
the engine is lazy at low revs, but it certainly goes some after 4000rpm. it does handle very nicely, it just a shame i don't seem to like the shape. the only thing i didn'tlike was the tyre noise other than that it is a very quiet car and possibly the best in the segment.
the engine is lazy at low revs, but it certainly goes some after 4000rpm. it does handle very nicely, it just a shame i don't seem to like the shape. the only thing i didn'tlike was the tyre noise other than that it is a very quiet car and possibly the best in the segment.
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